This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission if you use them. I only ever recommend products that I know and trust.
As I've gotten older, I've become increasingly aware that my life will be as joyful as I make it. Period.
I don't think that I'm the first one to have this realization, so I hope you know what I'm talking about when I say that it's not really quite that simple. Being in charge of your own happiness isn't really as straightforward as it sounds; it's a lot of trial and error, of prioritizing and reprioritizing, and observing yourself as you and your desires grow and change.
My main tool through this process has been my bullet journal. By organizing and writing down my plans and my life, it's easy to quickly look at my schedule and see if I'm really prioritizing what is most important and beneficial to me. It holds me accountable to both include more things that bring me joy and exclude things that make me overwhelmed or anxious, and it’s customizeable enough that I can design special pages around specific goals or trends. It's like having a reference book and agenda in one.
Recently, I did a special spread detailing my ideal morning, in an effort to make my life a little more peaceful. I love mornings and have no problem getting up early, so in my effort to redesign my life, it's no surprise that I started there. I decided that even though my days can vary lots from day to day, that I wanted this exercise to serve as the basis for a new, daily routine that I could do, regardless of whether or not I'm working that day.
Yep, my bullet journal has pencil lines. I stress about it being perfect, and you shouldn't either!
I've noticed a really nice shift. By getting specific about all of the things that make my ideal morning, including a timeline (this should really only serve as a guide! Don't stress yourself trying to follow this too closely), I'm able to clearly visualize what my ideal morning looks like. I'm not stressing, I'm not worried about fitting my timeline, and sometimes I don't get everything done on my list, but in general, I've been able to attract & manifest a new, peaceful morning routine into my daily life.
My life isn't always perfect, and of course, things come up, but adding so much more peace and good vibes into my life has really helped take the edge off when things do go wrong. It's nice to be able to step back and react from a place of calm instead of panic when things go wrong, I even find that there's usually a better chance of saving the situation that way.
But before we get started, I've gotta let you know that I'm holding a free 5 day email challenge January 1st to 5th that will teach you how to bullet journal from start to finish! If bullet journaling is really piquing your interest lately, this will be a really chill, step-by-step way to learn the ropes and start designing your best life. You can sign up to join the challenge below!
And in case you're stuck on where to start, this is the bullet journal I use (but there are tons of options! Just check out Amazon!) and in terms of pens, try find one that won't bleed on to the back of your pages.
Now, I'm going to share with you exactly how I got super specific about my ideal morning and how it helps me shape my perfect day.
First, I had to eventually realize that when my mornings flowed easily, the rest of my days did, too. I'm someone who likes to get a lot done in the morning, so a really laid-back morning wasn't a good option for me, but neither was a super rushed morning where I finished my routine sweaty and overwhelmed at 9 am. Since I'm an early riser anyways, I decided to get up a little earlier to give me some padding, which is probably the most important part to this whole thing.
After I came to this realization, I had some steps ahead of me.
- Write down a checklist of everything you have to and want to do in the morning
- Find a great Ideal Morning tracker on instagram, pinterest or make your own! (You can use mine too if you'd like! It was inspired by this post)
- Fill in your tracker! I find that being as specific as possible is the best way to do it, setting aside separate time blocks for as many tasks as possible makes it easy to fit everything in.
When you're filling in your timeline, keep in mind that it's just a guide. You shouldn't be stressing out every morning about following the timeline to the minute; try flowing from task to task while staying focused and calm. Leaving white space where you can will help with this, but mindset will too. If I'm worried about time, I'll visualize myself calmly finishing everything I have to get done, and it really helps me flow more easily through my morning.
I really hope this was a good resource for you, and if this post gets you closer to your ideal life, can you comment about it? I'd love to know!
