Developing Your Style – Start with YOU!

 KNOW THYSELF

“The essence of knowledge is self-knowledge.” – Plato

“Who am I in the midst of all this thought traffic?” – Rumi

It is important to ask questions and reflect on the answers you develop in order fully know who you are and what motivates you in the areas of Service (which I identify as Being), Syle (identified as Body) and Scholarship (identified as Brain).  

Being is how you identify yourself in relation to your contribution to the world.  It encompasses your platform which identifies the type of SERVICE you share with people and organizations.  Your BEING can be identified as your purpose; your personal mission statement and ultimately defines your STYLE.   

Brain is your (SCHOLARSHIP) educational pursuits, both personally and professionally.  Additionally, it covers areas of personal development to include your TALENT.  

Body is a large category that includes the areas of health and fitness, as well as your physical environment.  The sum of these three parts (Being, Body, Brain/Service, Style, Scholarship) is also categorized under Body/Style.  You, your style, your image is a brand and is the output of all the other factors contributing to the definition of who you are.  STYLE, then, is HOW you relate to the outside world; your family, friends, school, and community.

Hopefully, you can see how important the knowledge of who you are and what you value.  It is not only important to your core identity but it is extremely helpful in determining the what and how you plan to give, do, and be during your year of SERVICE as Miss (Local/State).

What do you know about you?  How can you share your unique gifts, talents, skills, and abilities with your community and the world at large?  Download this FREE Style Inventory and to get started on identifying your personal brand. 

One Book July 2017

Organizing thoughts into SMART actionable goals and planning them can be a daunting task for some…I know because it can be for me.  So, when I learned of the ‘One Book July’ challenge from Carie of Paper Planning Magazine I knew I had found a challenge that would help me accomplish my goal of streamlining the systems I use for project tracking.

Prior to December of 2016, I had no knowledge of the planner community.  I have used a basic calendar system for scheduling and tracking appointments and events and a plethora of spiral bound notebooks and legal pads for collecting information and (trying to keep track of) projects.  Enter memory loss and accompanying challenges stage right.  Approximately 3-4 years ago, I suffered multiple seizure/stroke-like episodes that resulted in three hospitalizations and many lost memories.  The good news was that I had no idea what I didn’t know, the bad news was that it was reoccurring and lasted for a couple of years.  In addition to losing the ability to read, write, count, cook, and a whole host of other activities that I had previously taken for granted, this left me unable to track time.  Once I started getting some memories back, I struggled with extreme anxiety as one memory at a time would slowly come back. Also, I faced the realization that I did not know how long it had been since the last time I knew what date it was…(does that make sense when you read it?). I would have periods of time, that I could not track or account for. I would wake up some days and have no idea how many days had passed since what seemed to me was yesterday but a year ago to the rest of the world.

As I began being able to consistently keep track of time again, my anxiety about forgetting again increased and I began using a ‘planner’ (read: any notebook I could find that day).  Fast forward to December and my little sister introducing me to the planner world on YouTube!!  Cue: Overhead spotlights and the heavenly choir.

As my brain has continued to heal, I have begun the process of reentering life again, taking on projects with gusto, and spending more hours than seems rational watching YouTube videos.

Follow along on my One Book July 2017 challenge as I create a workable system for me and perhaps pick up a tip or two that you can incorporate into your own goal planning routine.