2015 Preparations

Has anyone tried Leonie Dawson's yearly workbooks? I am on my second one although I didn't complete much of 2014 to be honest but I liked the style and illustrations in it and it does make you think about what your goals and aspirations are for the year ahead. I bought the one for 2015 and I am loving it!

There are parts of it that I wouldn't use, a bit too spiritual-esque for me but overall it is a great bit of kit and I have enjoyed filling it in bit by bit, I find that I keep going back to it and adding a bit more each time, which I guess is the whole idea of it. 

I think my set up for my VDS A5 Manager is evolving quite nicely and 2015 hasn't even started yet but my calendar that I got from Paperchase started on Christmas Day so I have jumped straight in!  I wasn't sure what I was going to use the calendar for as I use my Senior for appointments and the like and to date all my other A5 calendars never got used but with making this planner my 'me' planner I have already started using it to make a quick note of what I did at the gym and how that made me feel and what I am grateful for, it seems to be working - although I appreciate it is only two days in as I write this but still, it is something I think I can work with and continue to do.  I am not writing too much, just a few lines as I do have a seperate journal for innermost thoughts and feelings so this is more of a health log of how I am progressing.

Working on that alongside Leonie's workbook seems a good way to wind down at the end of the day and leaves my mind thinking of the good stuff before I go to sleep rather than everything else and that can only be a good thing!

I am looking forward to the new year and what it will bring, I am determined to get my goals especially in respect of my exams and my weight loss/body image. My friend came out with a fab saying that I love, she said "By this time next year I want to be a Christmas cracker not a Christmas pudding!" And I can so resonate with that!!

I have a few more days off work and I am spending that time researching good healthy lunchbox ideas and gathering all the necessary things I'll need such as Tupperware containers etc. my plan is to spend lunchtimes at work studying and eating a healthy lunch rather than wandering around the shops and buying pre-packed full of salt lunches...sounds like a plan don't you think?  I can go out on the lunchtime of payday to reward my efforts with a new funkier piece of gym kit, hopefully in a smaller size!

I have my first exam in April and I have to submit 6 more assignments before 20 March so I have a lot of work to do, I've already submitted the first one and got an A, which made me feel so proud of myself but has now set a precedent for my future assignments....I have to get a B at the minimum for them to count towards my overall grade. I am going to be so busy!!  That is one reason why I have set myself the task of using my lunch hour, that and it will stop me spending as I still feel a bit guilty about the gym membership!  Although I am currently spending over £15 a week on those pre-packed lunches so I will save a bit of money there too by making my own. Win win I think! 

I will be using my VDS to track my studying too and I need to work out the timetable again for when I need to have the assignments in by as I have slacked off a bit over Christmas but I really need to get back into it at the start of the year. The next exam will be in October and if I pass these two I will be halfway to fully qualified.  I want them to be over so much as that is the end of the line for me and I won't have to study any more, I feel like I've been doing it forever as it is!  The step after that is to get a better job hopefully with the company I am with already as I really like it there but if not it'll be time to move on...but I'm jumping the gun a bit, I need to concentrate on the here and now and not worry about the future yet.

At the moment I am feeling bright and positive and that's the way I want it to stay!

Until next time, take care xxx

Training Record in VDS

Inspired by recent thoughts and Carie Harling's post on "What are your why not's?" I made a list, a few of them I knew would appear but a couple of them surprised me as I got into the groove of this inspiring way of thinking.

It's almost along the lines of if you knew you couldn't fail what would you do? Because in reality, why would you fail? What do you need to do to help you achieve your goal in life? Anything is possible...unless you want to be able to fly or become invisible of course...but being realistic if someone else is able to do it, or learn how to do it then there is no reason why you can't too!

It's been a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and I am very lucky to have such a wonderful supportive family around me.  I am very grateful and appreciative of this on a daily basis.  I love them with all my heart and soul and I know they know it too.

Today was the first step on a long journey towards my goal of losing weight and getting fit.  I went to the gym and had a workout, and I went for a swim and then rewarded myself with a session in the steam room and jacuzzi and I feel fantastic!!  I've already laundered my stuff in readiness for the next session.  I am feeling so determined.  I have booked in for the yoga class the day after tomorrow which will mark the start of my meditation process.

I have decided to use coloured dots in my planner for the activities that I have done:

Red is for the gym
Blue is for swimming
Green is for yoga

I will have to use this for the next week as I haven't got December in the monthly!

From January I will be using this so I can see an overview

I am looking forward to seeing all the dots!!

I am planning on rewarding myself with an item of training gear at the end of each month, at the end of January it will be a pair of running trainers.

I was going to use a dedicated filo to track my progression but I have decided to use my senior and my A5. My senior is my every day carry and I will be pleased with myself to see how much I do and to use it for motivation purposes, the A5 is to log it as this is my 'me' binder and it has things only to do with me, no appointments or to do lists etc as that is was my senior is for.

I am feeling very proud of myself.

Until next time, take care xxx

Planners and moving onto the next chapter

New Year Resolutions.  We all make them even if we are adamant that we don't...secretly to ourselves we hope to achieve all the goals and ambitions that we have been thinking about for some time - or in my case years and years and years.  

So what is going to make this year any different?  That is the question I have also asked myself for years and years and years.

I came across this quote:

It has resonated with me quite strongly and after all the courses about Life Coaching and all the other things that I have read and researched and discovered over the last few months, it has made it all the more strong.  

I do NOT want to end 2015 in the same place I am now.

So it goes without saying that if I don't sort myself out and actually do something different, I am ALWAYS going to get the same result - by eating badly and not working out I am going to end up the same as I am now or WORSE!!!  If I don't study, I am not going to pass the exams and get qualified either!

I am arguing with myself over starting yet another gym membership...the last three never worked out for me or rather I never worked out - hence why I am still in the same situation!!

The reason for my choice of gym is that this one has a lovely yoga studio and the last time that I went to it (on a month's trial) I really, really enjoyed the yoga.  I came out of the class feeling...lighter in mind and spirit.  Not only that but being scared of water, the 4ft all the way pool is also a bonus :) They have a lot of good classes on - although to be fair I think that you have to be a little bit fit to even do the beginner ones as the aching for three days after a class does not make me want to return!

Over the last two years I have suffered at the evil hands of anxiety and as a result my head has felt jumbled, foggy, chaotic and really just a bit of a mess.  This is why I got into planners quite so heavily as I was trying every which way to make sense of everything but the fuzzy in my head never let me achieve the clarity.  I'm thinking to be honest that with hindsight it made things even worse as I went overboard...turned it into a bit of an obsession...

Who needs this many sticky notes??

Crazy...this wasn't even half the collection!

And it just got worse and worse and now I feel as though - just before I exploded with confusion and despair - I made a breakthrough.

It was all I needed to stop and take stock of everything, work out where I wanted to be and how I needed to get there, the planner world is constantly repeating this over and over and over again but yet we still get sucked in to the whole madness of it all and end up not just owning beautiful planners that we can adore and treasure but in a big stinking hole of despair as to which one to use, the guilt for buying yet another one, the guilt for using a different one, the frustration of the pages not working for us, the hell of needing to erase something that has changed - and then the dilemma of do we white it out, put washi over it, use a sticker?  Or maybe just write in pencil, or frixion or use nothing but washi....this is not the most relaxing, go with the flow lifestyle I was kinda hoping for!!

All it took was a planner that I adored, that worked, that was simplistic and useful and that came with the VDS Senior.  It tells me where and when and has room for thoughts, lists, photo's, motivational/inspirational and sentimental stuff that makes me smile.

  

This is all I need, there is enough crazy going on in the rest of my life so it's a breath of fresh air to look at my planner and see it all neatly organised and a lot less complicated than my mind makes it!!

This wasn't really meant to be a planner post and I am quite surprised at how 'stuck' it must have made me feel for a while there...it's the good thing about writing these posts is that sometimes when you least expect it you get a 'lightbulb moment' and it is like a real slap to the forehead...'why didn't I think of it like that before...." kind of thing!  I was trapping myself into a world of crazy instead of just letting it all go and starting again.

I feel that there will be a shift in the subject of my blogging in the future.  I feel as though I have planner peace in my VDS's now and I have bleated on about that for long enough as it is!  I don't decorate or do anything worth showing in my planner other than use it as above...not very exciting but totally functional.

It may be with sadness that I now feel I can leave the planner world and move on to the next chapter...and I am seriously hoping that it involves a lot of fitness, health and nutrition stuff with those magical hints and tips for successful studying!!

I will be back but I don't know what with at this stage.  

Until then, take care xxx

VDS is going to Manage Me!

It will soon be Christmas Day and I cannot wait to spend the whole day with my family.  Up until this year I have always felt very stressed out on the run up to Christmas, worrying whether my gifts will be liked and whether I have bought enough for everyone and whether there is going to be enough food and nibbles and….it just went on and on and on. 

Every year my fears were totally unjustified.  Everyone always got what they wanted, there was always enough presents and more than enough food and nibbles to last us through to the New Year and beyond!

This year is different.  This year I am learning to let go of the stress.  I just don’t need it in my life.  I have made sure that everyone has the one gift that they wanted; I haven’t gone overboard on the stocking fillers – mainly because I have actually misplaced the stockings!  The food is being dealt with by my hubby who traditionally always does the cooking (all year actually, I don’t like cooking at all) and it is going to be a much less stressful event all round.

I didn’t even need to put up the decorations this year, the boys did it all – and even more remarkable is that I haven’t had to re-do anything – my OCD is being taught a lesson, I cannot control everything and I don’t even want to anymore, it’s exhausting!

So I am spending the remaining few weeks of 2014 having a good long hard think about how I want to progress my future and the ways that I can make 2015 work better for me than the last few years have…I have goals and ambitions like everyone else but I think previously I have set that bar way too high to be SMART – and in particular, achievable. 

This has led to me feeling disheartened and disappointed with myself that resulted in me basically giving up, trying to reassess and then later down the line reigniting my initial goal and having wasted all that time trying to act ‘carefree’ when in actual fact I was just in denial.  It is true what they say ‘sometimes you are your own worst enemy’ – I absolutely am!

How am I going to do things different this time?  I have no idea but I am hoping that a little honesty with myself will go a long way to helping me achieve what I want, why I want it and how I’m going to get it! 

I am dedicating my VDS Manager - Vivacious Development System Manager – to actually manage me.  I need this soooo much!!  I have the Manager for home use, getting into the nitty gritty of it all and the Senior to act as my satellite where I write down all my urgent issues, thoughts, important musings, etc. Alone we are just that, alone but together we are a team and we can help, support and guide me through this transformation of MEH to WOW!

These two are going to help me sort myself out ONCE AND FOR ALL!!

I will be documenting my progress on my blog and I may use a separate smaller planner as my fitness log that lives in my gym bag and is dedicated solely to that...with a quick marker in my calendar of my VDS Manager just to keep an eye on progress...

Until then, take care xxx

VDS A5 Manager set up for 2015

I've set up my VDS A5 Manager Touch Me and I am absolutely in love with this planner, it is very floppy and very big and is the most gorgeous piece of the most wonderful craftsmanship.  Everything about this planner is divine and it is one of my most prized possessions.  This is a definite keeper!!

I have set it up as how I feel I want to use it, and it isn't really a planner as such as there isn't really much planning going on in there!  It is more of an inspirational, motivational and reflective place that I can empty my head of thoughts and musings, a place of contemplation.

Picking it up feels special, opening it up feels magical and once inside it is a place of freedom and fantasy...it is still a work in progress and I haven't started to use it properly yet, just filled in bits here and there as I want this to start my journey into 2015 with me so although I have put some sections in, it is by far not complete and due to the mammoth rings there is so much more it can hold!

A5 Manager and A6 Senior

My dashboard - my birthday present off my Son

Huge slip pocket and secretarial pocket 

Enormous zip gussetted zip pocket!

Inspirational quote page 

Here she is again marking the personal pages

Another illustration

 

Lime Tree Fruits free monthly planner

Beautifully illustrated - love the quotes 

Yet another illustration 

Leonie Dawson's 2015 Create Your Shining Year 

And another...

 

The start of the calendar for 2015 

 

Notes section

To Do section - another freebie from Lime Tree Fruits 

Slip pocket, secretarial pocket and 6 card slots plus one

Massive back pocket!!!

So that is the set up so far of my beautiful Manager, I am sure that as the year progresses things will be added and removed but I think one thing is for sure - the binder itself wont be replaced with another!  

I have found my nemesis with these Van Der Spek Touch Me planners, I absolutely adore them and nothing will ever come close, the craftsmanship is second to none and the service is remarkable and for the cost of them, they are an affordable luxury.  There is nothing more that can be said about these planners other than amazing!!!!!!

Until next time, take care xxx

VDS Senior as a Planner Wallet Combo

I have decided to try and use my VDS Senior Touch Me as my wallet and binder combo and I think it is going to work very well - obviously I will do an update in a week or so to let you know how it is working out but I think it will be fine.

Here is some photo's of my set up...

Senior & Manager together

Front left - zipper pocket, secretarial pocket and little pocket

Glittery divider marks the start

She marks the start of my musings

Marks the start of my notes section

This is from a desk jot pad, just punched and inserted

 

Bank cards are behind the glitter! 

Coupons and notes

Change in the gussetted zip pocket 

Another slip pocket 

I think this will work very well and it saves having to have a seperate wallet so I will try this out and see how it goes, I hope it works!!  The only reason that it might not is that this binder is VERY floppy and that will either work for or against me, but we shall see!!

Coming up next is my overview of the A5 Manager in Touch Me which is now almost fully set up.

Until then, take care xxx

Am I really all Filo-ed out??

It has been a hard decision but I have decided to let go some of my collection to new homes where I hope they will be loved and used.

The first one to go was an A5 Grey Holborn who I understand is now called Gideon and lives in Canada!  

The second one was a Kate Spade pocket that is still residing in the UK and has a very important job as an assistant helper for an Etsy Seller :)

The next one to go was the A5 Grey Malden and he is going all the way to the Netherlands!!

There a still a few up for sale, the A5 Nude Original, a Compact Saffiano in brght purple and a vintage Personal Portland in classic Black.

I'm sure as time goes on I will be letting go of more but I think for now, I've been a very brave girl parting with these so far!!

This is all down to the beautiful Van Der Spek planners that I have found absolute planner peace with and I almost...almost...talked myself into ordering another one but seriously, I don't need another one.  I need to behave myself and be realistic with what I actually do need and use - these are beautiful planners and deserve to be loved and used not just sit on the shelf looking pretty and until I can absolutely justify another one I am staying with what I already have.

I have to admit that it is a bit of a relief being able to say that AND MEAN IT!!  I even think my shoe and handbag collection has reached saturation point...I must be ill.

I don't know if it has anything to do with these courses that I have been on recently or not but I feel so content with everything I have at the moment and I don't feel that I need to buy anything else...yes, I'm definitely coming down with something...this is just not me!!!!

I think I may need to have a lie down so until next time, take care xxx

Can I justify another A5 VDS Touch Me??

This week end I attended a two day workshop run by The Coaching Academy for a Personal Coaching Event and it was really interesting!

For those who have been following my blog you will know that I have a few things simmering along at the moment, my Insurance Qualifications, a Diploma in CBT and I am at college doing a Life Coach Course which is due to finish this week :(

All this is to try and work out what it is I want from my career and how to go about finding that out as I have nothing really specific in mind, just something to do with my insurance background in claims and old buildings, although to be honest, I think it will be too long and too expensive to go down the degree in Building Surveying route now and I may just have to keep the old building thing as a hobby, would probably tie in very well with the photography course I want to take next year.

But back to this week end.  I met some very interesting people and found out a few more interesting things about myself.  What I am finding very intriguing about talking about myself and my career choice/want with complete strangers is that out of the dozen or so people I had to do role play/exercises with they all came up with the same kind of job role for me and gave me similar strengths that they thought I had - which is funny because I never thought I possessed any strengths really...certainly not the ones that they suggested I had!!

Apparently my strengths came across as:  Confident, Tenacious, Committed, Personable, Organised and generally passionate about my work - WOW!!!  How on earth could they all come up with pretty much the same thing after only a few minutes talking to me??  This made me feel fantastic I have to admit!! 

This has driven me on this morning to speak to someone higher at work and ask about any future opportunities that may come that I could be considered for as I cannot see my current role as being enough for me once I get a grip of my studies...but for now I have to work out what it is exactly that I am aiming for to ensure that I am studying the correct subject.  It is all looking positive and I am feeling quite pleased with myself.

Can I just say that it has also boosted me that I got my first assignment back today too and I have been graded an 'A' so I am floating somewhere around cloud 9 at the moment. :)

I need to set up my A5 Manager Touch Me from Van Der Spek now as my motivational and inspirational planner that keeps me going on this path of wonder.  Has anyone else seen these planners?  They are so divine and so beautiful and so BIG!!!  (If not, see my previous post!)

I am crossing my fingers and toes that they come out with a red leather version of this as I am most definitely having one if they do...I love this range so much...I may have to get a black version of the A5 for my studies as although I don't currently use a filo for this I think I could absolutely make an exception for a Van Der Spek!!

Black & Brown VDS Touch Me's having cream tea

The black ones are just as delectable as the brown ones but a red one would be magnificent!!

I will do an update once I have set up my A5 Touch Me and also my Study Planner.

Until then, take care xxx

Van Der Spek Planner Heaven :)

Guess what arrived this morning!!  After the disappointment of the couriers leaving it behind in their depot yesterday when it should have been delivered and the equally unhelpful customer services who told me that they do not deliver on Saturday so I would have to wait until Tuesday...they delivered it this morning!!

Oooh, I wonder what this could be...

Yay!!  At last!!

The uber-softness cannot be pictured!

And my very own Philofaxy card!

Gorgeous, just gorgeous!

Look at that MASSIVE pocket!!

And those MASSIVE rings!!

That's going to take a LOT of stuff :)

Togetherness x

Perfect combination - Senior & Manager size

Wow, I am in awe of this planner, the feel, the smell, the craftsmanship, the everything!  I would like to thank Petra Van Der Spek for being so patient with my queries and the lightning fast delivery as I only ordered it on Tuesday evening and it should have been here on Friday so that is amazing all the way from the Netherlands!!

I am in planner heaven - if you haven't looked at Van Der Spek planners before then you should go straight away to here and have a look at the delights they have to offer - you can even get your own planner custom made with your choice of colour and texture of leather both inside and out, stitching, ring size and colour and additional items - all made with love and excellent skills!!

Mine are both from the Touch Me range which are not customised (other than the ring sizes) as I love the big back pocket and the internal layout so much.  Currently they only come in brown or black but there is talk of another colour being offered in the future...you need to keep a check out for that, and if its red then I'm definitely having another set!!

Right, I am off to play/set up my planner so I will be back with an update!

Until then, take care xxx