Enthusiastically, Dawn

Recently, I have reviewed The Woman’s Success Planner, and I look forward to reviewing the Choosing Joy in the Journey Journal in an upcoming post. But, in the meantime, I am honored to have the creator of this planning system at the blog today!

My job has been made easy and our guest answered all my questions thoroughly, in her own style,  sharing encouragement, insight and some excellent planning tips in this inspired offering, so grab your coffee, tea or cocoa and get ready to catch some inspiration for YOUR new year. Welcome The originator and original Success Choice Woman herself, Pamela Henrie!

I grew up in Utah, just south of Salt Lake City.  I lived in New Jersey and Florida for a few years.  I loved both places but missed Utah.  I love the diversity of the state.  I like hiking on the desert trails of Zions or Arches, boating on the turquoise blue water of Bear Lake, skiing, or just hiking along the river trail or through the foothills, just minutes away.  Mostly, I love the mountains.

This is the beautiful view from my front porch today.

A few things that have shaped my career choices, The Woman’s Success Planner, and Choosing Joy in the Journey Journal:

I was a single mother for many years.  When I got divorced about 20 years ago, I had a three-year-old son, no car, no house, no recent work experience, I didn’t receive alimony, and I hadn’t finished my degree.  Life seemed ominous.  Flying home after the divorce, thumbing through the in-flight magazine, I was drawn to Tony Robbins’ 30-days to Personal Power audio program. Even though I wasn’t sure how I would pay for it, I pulled out my credit card and ordered it.  It was one of the best purchases I made because it helped me turn from looking at all that I lacked to setting goals and creating the future I wanted.

I went back to school, working at a computer lab on campus during the day and editing a Sociology Journal at home after my son went to bed at night.  I finished my degree and worked myself into a fulfilling career.  I worked for a growing company where I coached new business owners and wrote a couple of business start-up books.  I also taught 7 Habits of Highly Effective People seminars one evening a week.  I loved helping others turn from focusing on what they lacked to intentionally designing their lives, just as Tony Robbins taught me years previously.

I remarried, and we have a “his, mine, and ours” family.  I went back to being a full-time mother, but still kept my business minded and continual improvement outlook.

One night I went to a meeting that was a panel discussion on depression. I listened while 4 women who were pillars of the community honestly spoke about their struggles with depression.  Many of the women were in tears as they related.  So many felt unfulfilled, overwhelmed by the daily “chores” that have to be done, just to be done again, often without appreciation.  Some were angry because they felt stagnant, like they weren’t moving forward.  Some were paralyzed in “all-or-nothing” thinking, constantly feeling like they weren’t measuring up.  I left the meeting wanting to help somehow.  I knew that women have such a profound impact on those around them, either positive or negative.  I wondered how I could help them recognize their value, and realize their dreams.

I read and studied for more than two years, filling notebook after notebook with ideas and insights working on something that could help women.  With a small focus group, I created and fine tuned the Success Choice framework.  The goal was to help women choose joy in their journey.

The Logo:

The flower: women are beautiful and unique, just like each flower is beautiful and unique.  When you nurture and give the flower what it needs, it blooms and everyone is positively influenced by its “beauty.”  When you don’t nurture it, it wilts.  Each of the pedals represents an area of balance.  If we nurture each area, we can thrive.  The spiral in the middle of the flower represents the challenges we go through.  Many challenges shape us and help us learn lessons and become better people, but we can keep many challenges from growing out of proportion by working in each area of balance. The circle around the flower represents the routines and continuous striving in each area of balance (the journey).   The square around the logo represents the “perfection” we are striving for (joy).  We are not perfect now, and we are continually improving, but we understand the “ideal” we are striving for.

In 2008, I created a planner that wasn’t just a calendar and to-do list.  I wanted women to feel more control in their lives, their home, yard, health, etc.  I wanted some basic to-dos already figured out and written down.  They could just do or delegate, then check the box, feeling like they got credit for the activity.  Many women are great at taking care of others, but often neglect themselves. I wanted to help women take care of themselves.  I added the health tracker, little renewal tips, monthly focuses, inspirational quotes, and goal setting.  I also wanted women to recognize the progress they were making and to live intentionally.  Planning, then evaluating.  The “End-of-week” and “End-of-Month” reviews are to help evaluate what is working, what isn’t, and why.  We can chart our progress, our successes, our lessons learned.  We aren’t just going through the motions every day, we are really living.

The planner has changed over the years after research, feedback, and real world experience, and will continue to do so.  The week layout used to be one column per day in a two page week-at-a-glance, then we made it two columns per day with boxes around each column, then we merged the two columns separating the columns with a space instead of a line so you can write across both columns if desired.  We also added the end of month review, the Notes/Creativity Pages, page numbers, and an index at the back.

We have kept the luxurious, high-quality paper that everyone loves, but we have gone to a whiter shade to create more contrast beginning with the third quarter 2015.

The Choosing Joy in the Journey journal is a natural addition to the Success Choice system.  Some women journal, but don’t use a planner, and many who use the planner like more room to journal.  The journal is a great tool to create awareness of where we’ve been, where we are and where we want to be.  It facilitates women in their focusing on creating a positive future, noticing their progress, validating efforts and choosing joy in their journey.  I created the journal with helpful tips, journaling prompts, inspiring quotes, and both lined and blank pages to better facilitate their journey.

This is a paragraph from the new 2015 Journal coming out soon.

Regular journaling is a valuable tool in discovering your personal power and for recording the stories of your life.  There are stories of happy times and heartaches, of triumphs and failures.  All of these stories come together to make you who you are.  However, it’s not just what happens in your life, but the stories you tell yourself about those events that add to or diminish your power.

A few tips on using the planner:

• Don’t get overwhelmed, feeling like you have to use every aspect of the planner all of the time. Use what serves you now.
• Don’t set too many goals at a time. I have “ideals” for each area of balance, but I only focus on 1-3 goals per quarter.
• Don’t forget to write down your successes and lessons learned. Awareness is so key to our progress.
• Set up positive routines around planning, evaluating, and your goals.

I use my planner every day.  I love having this tool with me all the time to write down commitments, to plan, to ponder, to write.  I love the portability of it.  Another tip is using post-it notes.  I stick some lined 4” x 6” post-it notes in the back of my planner, and on those occasions when I need more room to write, I add a post-it.   Sometimes I have a big project with a lot of to-dos that will carry over for several weeks.  I write the list of to-dos on a post-it and stick it on the notes page of the week, then peel it off and move it from week to week until the project is completed.

Where to find us:

Website: The Success Choice 

Facebook: The Woman’s Success Planner 

Twitter: Pamela Henrie @SuccessChoice

Pinterest: The Success Choice

I write a monthly column called “Choosing Success” at:

http://www.heraldextra.com/momclick/home-and-garden/choosing-success/

We have had a lot of requests for additional training and programs, so we will be introducing some additional products and training throughout the upcoming year.

Thank you!

Pamela Henrie

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 I am thrilled that Pamela is giving away to one lucky winner the 2015 Planner in the format of their choice (Un-punched, Spiral bound, or 7- hole punched). You must enter through The Rafflecopter below. Contest ends on Christmas (December 25th 12:00 AM). Winner will be notified by e-mail.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Linking with:  Create with Joy