Making progress on important goals in your life

[00:00:00] Rene: Hey everyone. Welcome to Your First Digital Product, a show that helps maxed-out service providers create their first digital product so they can gain an additional income stream, grow their impact without increasing one-on-one work and experience more time freedom. On the show, I talk to business owners who have launched digital products and dig deep into how you can create, launch, and market your first digital product. I’m your host, Rene Morozowich. Let’s go.

[00:00:28] Hey friends, real quick before I dive into the episode. I have a 30 minute YouTube live scheduled for Monday, July 17th at 11:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time. It’s all about selling digital products with Lemon Squeezy. So Lemon Squeezy is an online platform where you can sell your products, subscriptions, and other fun things. Super easy to use. You may have heard of their competitor Gumroad.

[00:00:53] And I really just love Lemon Squeezy and want to dive into it. So there will be a link in the show notes to sign up for the YouTube link and a couple email reminders. And you can also go to the YouTube channel under Live and click Notify Me. And don’t forget to subscribe because when you show up, you will be able to ask questions live.

[00:01:11] So really excited about that YouTube live coming up in a couple of weeks. So today I want to talk a little bit about planning and time management. Now I have talked about this before definitely. I have a couple new things to say for you here. And really, I just want to talk about like having a roadmap of where you actually want to go. So a lot of times we kind of push those important things off until “things calm down.”

[00:01:38] So I’m not sure if you’ve have felt this way in the past, but, spoiler things don’t ever actually calm down. So if you have kids, you might think about when your kids were in diapers and you maybe thought at one point, like, okay, when they’re out of diapers, then I’ll have more money, this and this, and the other thing.

[00:01:56] But that actually isn’t true. Because you know that other things [00:02:00] come up, so things just keep coming up in life. There is never going to be a time where things are really calm and totally open for you to work on all those projects that you’ve been meaning to work on forever. So really the goal here is to be able to make progress during regular life and regular life being life that is actually just busy.

[00:02:21] So it’s not to just do more. So my goal here, isn’t really to just talk to you about how to like jam more into your day but really to make progress on those important things in life. So a couple of things we’re going to talk about in the episode today. The 12 Week Year. I’ve mentioned The 12 Week Year before. I love it. It’s a framework that I use to make progress on things that are important to me. So if you’ve heard about The 12 Week Year, not interested, just skip forward a little bit.

[00:02:45] We’re also going to talk about a personal life disruptor I’m experiencing right now. If you’re watching the video live, you’ll see that I am in a different place. Things look a little bit different. I don’t have my microphone with me. Like things are different. So we’ll talk about that. And really like what you can do to navigate difficult times, but also just, you know, regular times, like regular busy life times, like, how to just keep moving on what is important to you.

[00:03:10] You’ve probably heard me talk about The 12 Week Year a lot. Now The 12 Week Year is a book and a excellent book. I totally recommend it. I’ll put the link in the show notes. And really like what the point of the book is, is that instead of making yearly goals, right? So instead of setting goals in December and starting on them January 1st and then working on them throughout the year, we will chunk down into 12 weeks. So 12 weeks would be one year.

[00:03:37] And the thought behind that is that we can actually make a lot more progress in a short amount of time. And we don’t actually make a ton of progress in a long amount of time. So if we set goals for the year, we don’t actually make as much progress as we could if we set those goals and tactics in smaller chunks. So in 12 weeks, instead of in 12 months. Now I typically do this [00:04:00] quarterly. Like I mentioned, I followed the quarters. You can really start any time.

[00:04:03] No matter what time, what week, what day, anything like that, you can start anytime, but I typically follow the quarters. So I’ll do my first 12 week year the first quarter. So January, February, March. My second 12 week year the second quarter. April, May, June. And go from there. So I am wrapping up my 12 week year for the second quarter. I will share a link in the notes to my ClickUp list. I have a ClickUp list where I keep track of all the things that I want to do and my progress. As far as what was on the list this year, this year, right? This 12 weeks. I wanted to revamp my podcast landing page. I wanted to create my services page because people kept asking me, Rene what are you doing here?

[00:04:39] So you don’t have any services offer. So that is up. Um, I wanted to take a weekly walk outdoors. I wanted to have a podcast guesting plan. I actually wrote an email about that. Um, and that included a media page. So creating a media page, creating talking points, and then reaching out to other podcasters to potentially pitch myself to be on their show. And I also wanted to add some client stories to my website. And those really being like case studies or ways that I’ve already worked with clients. Kind of showing how that’s done. So what happened? The first couple of weeks I typically do well.

[00:05:11] It’s a new plan and I’m kind of on top of it and I’m ready to start. So that’s all good. So the first couple of weeks, not too bad. So I did get that podcast landing page revamped. I did get my services page created. I created that media page also. And, um, I got most of my walks in.

[00:05:28] There are a couple of things that I didn’t get done and life kind of really fell off the rails. And more and more so as time went on. So I did not get the podcast guesting plan done, and I did not work on the client stories at all. I didn’t write them. I didn’t put them on the website.

[00:05:42] I didn’t design the pages like nothing, but that is not done. And I will talk about the next 12 Week Year. Um, maybe not in this episode, but maybe after a bit. So why, why didn’t I get those other things done? Um, well, a couple of reasons, I think. So the first one with the podcast guesting plan, I had, I had a great plan. Right? So [00:06:00] sometimes like you really, you just need a great plan, like, okay, I’m going to do this. Then I’m going to work on the next thing. And so on.

[00:06:05] But sometimes even if you have a great plan, things just don’t go the way you think they’re going to go. And I think what happened was, as I started looking for podcasts to pitch myself to, I started feeling really insecure. Right. So I started feeling like, oh no, they’re not going to want me on their show because their show is better than my show. I’m not established enough. I’m not good enough. So I.

[00:06:29] I left that kind of hijack me. And I didn’t realize that at first, I just wasn’t doing it. I was just putting it off. And I kind of let that hijack my actual progress on doing that. So. I will revisit that not in this episode, but in another episode and think more about that. And as far as the client stories, um, it was just at the end, like I just ran out of steam and that’s just not something that got done. So I will talk about some things later in this episode. Should I bump that to the next year or should I forget about it completely? A couple strategies that I can, can look at. All right. So I mentioned early in the episode about a personal disruptor. So last week we went on vacation to New York city and had everything planned, right? Like that my sister took my son to a Broadway show and, um, my partner and I were going to do like this, this wonderful pizza tour of Brooklyn and he made a Google map. Like it was going to be great. We were going to visit Ellis island and all these fun things. And had a great plan. And then I fell down the stairs. The first night and I broke my ankle. So this is a huge disruptor to what I have planned for the summer. Right? So like now everything is different as you can see, I mentioned if you’re watching on YouTube, I’m in a new location, right? This is my partner’s house. Right. These are not my toys here.

[00:07:46] Um, you know, this is not my other computer. This is not my painting on the wall. Uh, like I’m in a new place. Right? I mentioned, I don’t have my microphone. I left it at home. Things are just different. It’s not typically the time of day I’ll be recording. Um, but, like [00:08:00] I still wanted to do it, right. I have a schedule.

[00:08:02] I’m here. Like, like I’m ready to work on this. Um, I can still do a lot of computer work, right. So I have both my wrists. I’m good. I can sit. No problem sitting. But I can’t finish the exercise program I’ve been working on, 645 for a good while now. No, no standing or things like that.

[00:08:19] And a lot of other things I had planned for the summer. And now I have like so much to do and like new things to worry about, right? Like, uh, medical treatments and, um, other things that like, I didn’t have planned. So I had a great plan. I was going to execute the plan. Now I can’t do a bunch of those things that were on that plan.

[00:08:37] And I have to do a bunch of other things that now have to come into the plan. So, you know, I can’t do the things that I normally do. I can not get up and make myself a meal like it’s, but I’m really just trying to make it work. Um, and that is really what this episode is about, is making it work. So how can you make it work? Now, in your life, if you are not making progress on the things that are important to you. There’s a couple of things that I think would be good to consider. So the first is like, how do you think about it? When I was in the hospital and doing some other things. I was really saying like, oh, I have a podcast episode and so on. But you know, really when I sat down to do it, I sat down to write my notes and sat down. Sitting here to record, like, it actually feels really good. Like it’s kind of a reprieve from all the other nonsense that’s going on. So like sometimes I think you just have to remember that. So if your digital product, if you’re a, you know, anything that you’re working on, that you really want to make progress on.

[00:09:32] If it’s something that you actually really want to do, maybe just kind of keep that in mind. Like maybe it’ll be a reprieve from the other things, the other daily stressors and whatnot in your life. So it’s kind of just reframing and remembering that you actually really do like to do that. Um, and it might actually make you feel better.

[00:09:50] If you have a different feeling about what you’re trying to get back to. So maybe it’s not a reprieve, but maybe there’s some kind of blocks. I mentioned that podcast, guesting, you know, feeling really insecure. Um, [00:10:00] so there’s, I identified that block and now I have to figure out how to move forward.

[00:10:04] Like how can I move forward and either get rid of that block or, um, kind of move around it or maybe just move through it. But now that I know that it’s there, I can take steps to move forward. So same thing with your digital product or with whatever you’re trying to make progress on in your life. Do you have some kind of block there that you need to recognize and then figure out how to work through so that you can keep going?

[00:10:30] Other things. It might be good to just put it off till later. Right. So I mentioned I’m working through an exercise program, 645. That’s just going to be later. So I’m just going to pick it up off the list and move it to a really far list. I’m not exactly sure when I’ll be able to get back to it. Um, a specific date would be great. So maybe let’s say three months.

[00:10:47] Six months, whatever it is that you’re working on, that you’re just not making progress. Just give yourself a break and not a break in that. Like, I’m just not gonna work on it today. I’m just not gonna work on it tomorrow. Just say like, I’m going to work on it in three months. Set a reminder on your calendar. Send yourself an email that delivers in three months, whatever it is.

[00:11:06] Just. Release it from your mind right now and put it at a later date. When it pops back up, you can reassess. You can think about, okay, am I ready to do it now? Do I have any blocks? Am I really excited about this? You know, you can think about is then a good time and worry about it then. So you don’t have to worry about it now or for the foreseeable future.

[00:11:24] Scaling it down. That’s another thing that you can do. And I’ve talked about scaling down quite a bit because I think that we’re all just trying to do too much, so much, so much. We just want to kind of jam pack everything in. Like, what if we did all the things with your digital product or anything else?

[00:11:40] Uh, we just want to do it like the best, like the most wonderful, but I know you’ve heard before done better than good. So think about how can you scale it down? How can you do something small? Get that quick win. Feel good about it. Instead of trying to plan to do the biggest thing ever. It’s like, um, you know, I’ve [00:12:00] never hiked before I’m going to climb Mount Everest.

[00:12:02] What if you did something smaller instead? What if you did a 5k? What if you climbed a, you know, a local mountain, you know, something that is way smaller. Scale that way down so that you can feel like you’re making progress. Removing it from the list completely. I again, I’ve mentioned this one before. Maybe it’s just, it’s not the right thing. It’s not the right time. Um,

[00:12:22] It’s this, this thing that you have planned is just not right for you. So take it, remove it from the list completely. Cross it out, or I’m not sure about you, but the way I do my to-do lists is I write the list and then anything I don’t do that week I move to the next week. But every once in a while, I just don’t move things to next week. Like they’re just not getting done. I’m just going to free up my mental space and just not worry about it. So I think a lot of that frees up our mental space, um, by saying, I’m going to look at this later, I’m going to scale this way down.

[00:12:53] I’m going to remove this from the list completely. And we just feel so much better. We don’t carry this heavy burden of something undone with us constantly. And getting help. So getting help is another great way to make progress. Now, the next episode, the next solo episode that I’m going to do, um, in two weeks, will give you some more tips. Um, and that that episode will be all about surrounding yourself with people and ideas that can help you in any given situation. So stay tuned for that, but, but that is something that’s upcoming. So think about digital products, you know, because this is a show about digital products, not just about time management or planning. Um, and before I go, I just, I want to remind you that like your, your time is your currency as a service provider.

[00:13:33] And you know, what, if you didn’t have as much time? So what if I had broken a wrist or two wrists instead of my ankle? You know, it would be really great to have something in place, you know? So of course, systems, processes, documentation that allows you to work the most efficiently and possibly delegate. If you have all of that created. So as an established service provider, hopefully you do have that created. Um, [00:14:00] if not, I would totally recommend working on that, but also having those digital products that aren’t tied to your time, I think is so important.

[00:14:07] Now you’re never going to hear me say like a passive income because I don’t believe anything is a hundred percent passive, but something like a digital product works for you when you can’t or you just don’t want to. Right. So I think that is so important. Um, as a service provider to have something like that and be working towards something like that. So what do you think?

[00:14:28] Does life keep getting in your way? Are you not making progress on the things that you want to make progress on? Is there anything specific from this episode that you think you can use to reprioritize or move forward? Send me a voice message at yfdp.show/share. I’d love to hear from you.

[00:14:46] Hey, thanks for listening. I’d love to continue the conversation in your inbox. Email SUBSCRIBE to hey at yfdp.show or sign up in the show notes to get bimonthly emails about how you can create, launch, and market your first digital product. Can’t wait to see you there.