A couple of weeks ago, I attended a workshop for one of my classes.  The workshop was called “Mindset.”  Before attending the workshop, I was very aware of what the word mindset meant but didn’t realize the depths of how this simple word can really change your mood and attitude of how I live my life.  The dictionary defines mindset as “the established set of attitudes held by someone.”  Pretty simple right?  Actually it is so much more to mindset than just this simple definition.  There are two types of mindset; fixed and growth.

Fixed.  “In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort. They’re wrong.”

Growth.  “In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have had these qualities.”

I feel like I have been stuck in a fixed mindset for such a long time.  I’ve always seen myself as an intelligent person.  I am familiar with a lot of “things.” I can engage in most conversations and what I don’t know, I will definitely research.  However, that is as far as I’ve ever taken my mindset.  I give great advice but I’m not sure I always follow it.  A couple of years ago, I made the conscience decision to go back to school and while I was doing pretty good in my classes, I still had a fixed mindset. I say this because I didn’t put as much effort into studying. In my mind, I knew the answers or I could search for them quickly and therefore, I wasn’t putting much effort into my studies. As a student, I was just going through the motions of school and while I was learning, I wasn’t growing as a student.

When I changed my mindset, I not only learned the materials and understood them better, I didn’t regret the process. School is a lot of work and it’s a process. It is more than just doing the assignments and physically showing up in class. You have to mentally sign up as well. I learned that if I am not mentally prepared for this journey, then what’s the point. This is growth for me. I show up and I show out. I no longer sit in the back and hope for the teacher never call on me. I am always raising my hand and asking questions, answering questions and engaging in healthy communication and definitely taking notes.

I’m a bad ass now and I’m a loving it!

At the beginning of January, I set out to find me a new planner. I buy a lot of planners throughout the year and I use them for a month or so and then I just say forget it. It seems to be too much work and honestly, it was boring. When I stumbled across the Happy Planner for the second time and all the accessories (stickers, extension packs), I thought to myself, this might work this time. I purchased a few items but I really didn’t know how to start of what to do. I searched in Facebook groups for “The Happy Planner” and low and behold, it was this huge underground world of people who use happy planners. Seriously, I had died and went to planner group heaven. I joined the group and have fallen down the rabbit hole ever since.

The planning community is this phenomenal group of women who not only plan their lives but they decorate their planners. These people use stickers, card stock, washi tape, Cricut machine, Silhouette machine and a host of other crafts and tools to make these spreads not only look beautiful but work for them in their every day life. It’s honestly something that I never thought I would ever engage in or be a part of. I will tell you that I absolutely love the planning community. It’s diverse, it’s fun, it’s creative and for the most part, we can all relate to each other for our love of stickers and new releases. (That’s another blog topic, trust me.)

Since I began using the happy planner, I a more organized. I am on track with errands, appointments and most importantly school. My husband and I have different schedules so I can keep up with his appointments, truck runs, etc. I don’t miss homework assignments (unless I procrastinate) but for the most part, this planner has saved my life these past few months. I am old school so I like paper and pen. I can add a reminder to my phone but once I hit dismiss, I forget about it. I carry my planner with me and I look at it daily so I always know what is going on. If I need to pay a bill, automatic payments, send someone a birthday shout out or whatever, it’s all in my planner so I don’t forget. I’m getting older and I have a lot going on so I can admit that things slip my mind. I can say that I am grateful for the happy planner and the planning community.

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