*Please note this post contains affiliate links.
Welcome back to Day 27 of 31 Days to a Life of Purpose!
I love office supplies! What a shoe store is for some women, Staples is for me. I love to look at all the different sticky notes, pens, organizers, pencil holders, and especially the planners. I have bought so many planners through the years. I will spend hours writing in them, planning and making lists…that I never act on.
From discussion on seen on several of the Facebook groups I’m in, I know I’m not alone in this. We all want something that is going to help us get back on track and keep us focused. We all want to pursue purpose. But sometimes, our love of planning is really just a code for wasting time, for not really doing the thing we spend so much time planning for.
The best planner you can have is the one that you will use. It needs to actually benefit you by being a road map that you create and then use to get to your destination. When used properly, planning can be so beneficial in pursuing your goals, but if you aren’t careful, it can became yet another means of procrastination.
I recently purchased a Planner Pad (not an affiliate, just think it’s a great product), to try it out for the rest of this year before making the investment for next year. They are normally a little pricey, but now is a great time to try it because this year’s planners are on a steep discount. I am trying to make planning a habit now so that I can really rock it in 2016. I bought my planner for 2016 already from a vendor at the Allume conference. It is very similar to the Planner Pad, but I think it’s even better. I bought the My iBloom 2016 Life & Business Planner. It is BEAUTIFUL! I love that it has several pages for planning your year, setting goals, and creating a theme. It really focuses on living intentionally. Each week’s pages have a Bible verse to share. The planner is broken into an area to brainstorm projects for the week and the tasks involved, space for a daily to-do list, and timed slots for appointments. The sidebar includes a place to list goals and to list your biggest win for the week. When it comes to living intentionally, I think this planner will be very beneficial, as long as I build the habit of using it as a tool rather than a distraction.
I am not an affiliate for iBloom, but I really like what they are doing. I also want to let you know that when you purchase the 2016 planner, iBloom is offering a free 2-day online conference to help you plan for 2016 and to really think through your goals and what changes you would like to make in your life.
Living a life of purpose requires planning, but let’s not get stuck in the planning phase so that we forget to take action!
Don’t forget you can still enter to win a set of 3 amazing books that will help you in your pursuit of purpose. The giveaways ends October 31 at 11:59pm EST:
The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You by Jessica Turner
Own Your Life: Living with Deep Intention, Bold Faith, and Generous Love by Sally Clarkson
Make It Happen: Surrender Your Fear. Take the Leap. Live on Purpose. by Lara Casey
Also, in support of bloggers taking on the Write 31 Days challenge, Dayspring is generously offering a giveaway of a $500 Dayspring gift card to readers. You can enter by clicking here.