Preparing for the New Year With a Passion Planner & Five Year Plan(ner) Workbook
Using a Passion Planner and a five-year plan can be a helpful way to set goals and create a roadmap for achieving them in the new year. These tools are especially great assets for preparing for the new year as someone with chronic illness or neurodivergence.
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Why is preparing for the new year so important for those with chronic illness or neurodivergence?
Spoonies (people living with chronic illness) and neurodivergents need to prepare for the new year and beyond for several reasons: Some potential benefits of creating five-year plans and preparing for the new year include:
Chronic illness is unpredictable.
Spoonies may experience flare-ups or other challenges that can affect their daily routine and overall well-being. Preparing for the new year can help spoonies anticipate and plan for potential challenges, ensuring they are better equipped to manage them.
Spoonies can set and achieve goals, too.
A new year provides an opportunity for spoonies to set and achieve goals related to their health and overall well-being. Preparing for the new year can help spoonies identify their priorities and create a plan to achieve them.
Planning ahead can help you stay motivated.
Chronic illness can be overwhelming, and neurodivergents may face challenges related to their neurodiversity, such as difficulty with time management or social interaction. It’s important for spoonies and those with neurodivergence to stay motivated and focused on their goals. A five-year plan allows us to think beyond the immediate future and set long-term goals for health and overall well-being.
A flexible plan can help build resilience.
Chronic illness can be unpredictable and often requires spoonies to adapt to changing circumstances. Preparing for the new year can help spoonies build resilience and determination, skills that are essential for managing chronic illness. Of course, resilience and determination are important skills to have when managing neurodivergence, too!
Preparing for the new year can improve overall well-being.
Spoonies may experience a range of physical and emotional challenges due to their chronic illness. Preparing for the new year can help spoonies identify and prioritize their needs, leading to overall improved well-being. A five-year plan can help them anticipate and prepare for potential challenges, ensuring they have the resources and support they need to achieve their goals.
Tracking progress is important for those with chronic illness or neurodivergence.
Creating a five-year plan and preparing for the new year allows neurodivergents to track their progress over time, helping them stay on track and make adjustments as needed. This can be especially helpful for those who may struggle with executive functioning or time management. For spoonies, this is a great way to add symptom tracking into your routine.
Structure brings about its own benefits.
Our five-year plan workbook provides structure while remaining flexible, helping neurodivergents and spoonies alike prioritize their goals over time. This is crucial for those who have limited energy or resources and can help you stay focused and motivated on days when you’re poorly or feeling overwhelmed.
Why use a Passion Planner?
A Passion Planner is a type of planner that is designed to help individuals set and achieve their goals. It typically includes a calendar and space for setting and tracking goals, as well as reflection prompts and other tools to help users stay focused and motivated.
One of the key features of a Passion Planner is that it encourages users to identify their passions and prioritize them in their goal-setting and planning process. The idea is that by focusing on what matters most to you and aligning your goals with your passions, you will be more motivated and engaged in the process of achieving your goals.
Another key feature of a Passion Planner is that it encourages users to identify their passions and prioritize them in their goal-setting and planning process. The idea is that by focusing on what matters most to you and aligning your goals with your passions, you will be more motivated and engaged in the process of achieving your goals.
There are several reasons why a Passion Planner could be great for someone with chronic illness, in particular:
Time Management
Chronic illness often requires frequent doctor’s appointments and medications, which can be overwhelming to manage without the right tools. A Passion Planner allows you to schedule and prioritize your tasks and appointments, helping you stay organized and on top of your health. It can also help you stay on track with scheduling and task prioritization, which is super helpful for those with executive functioning challenges.
Goal-Setting
Spoonie life can be challenging, and it’s important to have something to look forward to and work towards. A Passion Planner helps you set and track your goals with its signature “passion roadmap,” providing both motivation and a sense of accomplishment.
Emotional Support
Chronic illness can all too easily take a toll on your mental health. You can use your Passion Planner to improve your overall well-being by highlighting gratitude, personal accomplishments, and self-reflection.
Flexibility & Personalization
Whether you’re neurodivergent, chronically ill, or a combination of the two, a Passion Planner (and Passion Planner Digital, in particular, can be easily accommodated to meet your unique needs and any limitations you might face. I especially love their undated planners, which work perfectly for those of us who struggle with consistency.
Visual Organization
Many neurodivergents (and those of us with brain fog, too!) benefit from visual organizational tools, and your Passion Planner can easily accommodate strategies like time-blocking to help you make sense of your schedule.
Overall, Passion Planners are designed to be a comprehensive tool for helping individuals set and achieve their goals, while also fostering personal growth and well-being. It can be an especially powerful tool for spoonies and those with neurodivergent minds as we start preparing for the new year and beyond!
Why should you use our five year plan(ner) alongside a Passion Planner?
Like the Passion Planner, our five-year plan workbook, Create & Execute Your Five-Year Plan can help someone with chronic illness or neurodivergence when preparing for the new year in several ways:
Setting long-term goals:
A five-year plan encourages you to think beyond the immediate future and set long-term goals, including goals for your overall health and well-being. This can help you stay motivated and focused on your priorities, even during times of uncertainty.
Planning for the future:
Chronic illness and neurodivergent life can often be unpredictable, but your five-year plan(ner) can help you anticipate and prepare for potential challenges or setbacks. It can also help you identify the resources and support you may need to achieve your goals.
Tracking your progress:
Creating and Executing Your Five-Yeaar Plan helps you to track your progress over time, even when you make adjustments and pivot as needed. This can be especially helpful for spoonies and neurodivergents, as it can be difficult for us to measure progress in the ways neurotypical people or those without chronic conditions might.
Building resilience:
A five-year plan allows you to think about your long-term goals and how you can achieve them, even in the face of challenges. This can help build resilience and determination, which are important skills to have when living with chronic illness or neurodivergence.
Outlining structure:
Our five-year plan workbook helps you to create structure and prioritize your goals, which is especially beneficial when you have limited energy and resources. Your five-year plan can also help you stay focused and motivated, even on days when you’re feeling overwhelmed or unwell.
Customizing planning:
Both the Passion Planner and our five-year plan(ner) allow you to customize your daily schedule, tasks, and planning process, making it easier to accommodate your specific needs. The customization options are part of the reason bullet journals work so well for those of us with ADHD and similar conditions–the same concept applies here, with a bit more guidance along the way.
How do you use a Passion Planner and Five-Year Plan(ner) together?
Here are a few steps you can follow to use these tools effectively:
Reflect on the past year.
Before diving into planning ahead, consider what you’ve accomplished in the past year and what areas you might want to improve upon going forward. Of course, this can help you identify your priorities and focus your energy on the things that matter most to you. But it can also put your last twelve months into perspective; chances are, you’ve shined a lot brighter than you realize.
Consider your categories.
One of the things I swear by in creating a five-year plan (and, by extension, planning in general) is breaking your life into sub-categories. The Passion Planner, similarly, prompts you to focus on particular areas and specific goals in order to see results. As you work through your new year’s planning, be sure to consider what areas of life you’ll be focusing on!
I have to give an extra shout-out here to the incomparable Sadie Smiley! Her “happy stove” analogy was exactly what I needed going into the new year to help narrow my focus and (hopefully!) start seeing results in my business and personal endeavors.
Visualize your ideal outcomes.
Next, take some time to envision your ideal life (oh, hey!) in each of these areas. The FYP workbook has sections to do exactly this!
Set your goals.
Use your Five-Year Plan(ner) to brainstorm and write down your goals for the longer-term future. Then, take this insight into the Passion Roadmap in your Passion Planner! From there, you’ll be more prepared to prioritize these goals and start creating your game plan.
Break your goals down into actionable steps.
Once you have identified your goals, break them down into smaller, more actionable steps that you can work on each week or month. This can help you stay focused and make progress towards your larger goals. In the five-year plan workbook, we have room to break down a primary goal for each sub-category of your life or one overarching goal; the Passion Planner encourages you to work towards one “game-changer goal” at a time. Use both or combine the strategies: whatever works best for you!
Review and revise your plan regularly.
It’s important to review and revise your plan regularly to ensure that you are on track to achieve your goals. Fortunately, both of these tools have seemingly infinite space for this all-too-necessary adaptability! Make sure to set aside time each week or month to review your progress and make any adjustments you find yourself needing along the way.
Overall, the key to using a Passion Planner and Creating and Executing Your Five-Year Plan effectively in preparing for the new year is to be persistent, stay focused, and be willing to make adjustments as needed. When you’re dealing with chronic illness or you happen to be neurodivergent, it’s equally important to give yourself grace and make these tools work for you. By following these steps, you can set yourself up for success in the new year and beyond.
Be sure to pick up a copy of Create & Execute Your Five-Year Plan and a fresh Passion Planner (be sure to use code JULIETTE758 to save 10%) to make this your best year yet!
