Planning for 2023?

In the past, I’ve written about something called planner peace. Planner peace is the state a person reaches when they have found a planning system that works for them. Until that happens, people can flit from planner to planner, some even going through more than four or five systems in a year.

A few years ago, I thought and wrote about, finally finding planner peace when I discovered Bullet Journaling. I had planner peace for over two years and then I began getting the itch again, searching for the right new planner for the year. I settled on one, even though it was larger than what I liked. I figured I would use it for a year and see how it went. I was fine until early March when it began. I didn’t like the planner I had chosen and couldn’t settle in with it.

I began some online searching, looking at other systems without purchasing one. I kept using the one I had, telling myself I needed to buckle down and make it work for me. Then I realized what was going on and what had gone on all the other times I lost planner peace.

When I have a planning system that works for me, I feel more in control of my time, my work, and my life. I feel organized. When I feel life is getting wacky, having a good system grounds me and helps me navigate life better. I realized that, with everything going on in the world right now, some days I feel unmoored. I can’t fix things. I can’t make the coronavirus go away. I can’t snap my fingers and put different people in Congress. I can’t make people be nice and kind and all the other things I wish they were.

The truth is I am never in control and I know that. I resigned as General Manager of the Universe years ago. But I can gather myself up and ride the waves, staying in balance with the ocean currents. This can be more difficult to do these days and I need to give myself and others a lot of elbow room as we navigate our unsettled world.

What about you? Are you feeling like the wind has been knocked out of your sails? How do you ground yourself and stay centered? I have lots of ways of doing this as I’m sure you do as well. As you look to 2023, here’s an idea that might be helpful.

Instead of making lots of resolutions, choose one word to live by during the next year. Yes, go ahead and make decisions about ways you want to change your life, but do all of them under the umbrella of your word for the year. I find this helps me focus better, adds clarity to my decision-making, and smooths out whatever processes - or planners - I might be using.

My word for 2023 won’t surprise you, I’m sure. It’s the word ease. My plan is to experience 2023 with a sense of ease. This feels right and good to me. Do you have a word you could choose for your new year? If you do and would like to do so, please share it in the comments section. It would be fun to know what others might be doing!

Living in grace and ease,

Krysta

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