The 15 Minute Secret to Change Your Week

The 15 Minute Secret to Change Your Week

By: Dr. Libby Darnell

It’s no secret that however you choose to start your day dictates how the rest of your day is going to go.

For example, you sleep through your alarm, arrive 15 minutes late to work and find yourself unprepared for an important meeting with your co-workers. The rest of your day is a blur of chaos, all because you slept through your alarm.

Now, take that a step further. This day happens to be Monday. Now your entire week has started off in chaos.

Instead of going into your week with your goals set and your mindset in a state of success, you already feel defeated and like you’ve let your team down.

What if 15 little minutes could change that?

I’m going to break down for you what I do to prepare for each week, and also for each day, so I know exactly what my goals are and what needs to get done each week.

Why is this so important?

Not only does it set you up for success, but if you commit to this simple process you will achieve MORE in LESS time! You will get done in one day what it takes most people three days to achieve.

That means more free time, more time with your family, and most important, your free time feels EARNED!

You go into your free time knowing you worked for it and achieved what you set out to accomplish that day, that week, that month.

Let’s start off by taking it just one week at a time . . . .

15 Minute Success Secret:

1. Pick 15 minutes on Sunday night and go to your home office or somewhere else where you’ll be undisturbed.
2. Pick your major goals you want to achieve that week.
3. Break that goal down into small steps you can work on each day that make the goal more manageable and less intimidating to achieve.
4. Assign those smaller goals to specific days and times.
5. BLOCK THOSE TIMES OFF ON YOUR CALENDAR! Put those assignments in your calendar and make sure your team knows that you are not available at that time.
6. At the end of the week look back on how you worked to achieve your goal. What adjustments should you make for next week? Ready to tackle the next goal?

Real World Example:

You have a full time job you love, but are determined to start writing an e-book for busy mom’s who want help feeding their kids nutritious food on a strict budget.

You’ve got tons of recipes, tips, and tricks, and you can’t wait to share it with the world! You’ve always said you’ll get it done in the evenings after your kids are in bed, but in reality that never happens!

You’re exhausted from your day, and America’s Got Talent and a glass of Pinot Grigio are calling your name. Ok . . . so maybe this is me . . .

Get your FREE 15 Minute Success Planner!

My 15-Minute Secret:

1. Sunday nights at 9 p.m. I schedule out my week.
2. I write down exactly what sections of the book I want to write that week. I want to get five recipes written up, send out those recipes for a food photographer to put together, and get a weekly meal plan put together with examples. I will put together shopping lists for each meal plan with references on where I go shopping. I also want to edit what I got done last week.
3. Yikes! That’s a lot, but that’s ok! Let’s break it down. I already know all of that information, I just need to put pen to paper! I work full time in my local office, and distractions abound, so I can only write efficiently in the mornings before work when my mind is fresh. No one else is awake in my home, so I will be completely undisturbed. Just me and my coffee!!
4. Weekly Plan:
   1. Monday 6:00 a.m.: Pick my five recipes for that week and write them up.
   2. Tuesday 6:00 a.m.: Send those recipes to a food photographer I’ve used successfully in the past. Negotiate on price and formatting.
   3. Wednesday 6:00 a.m.: Put those five recipes into a weekly meal planner I use with my clients. Show examples of how to make food in bulk and use leftovers during the week.
   4. Thursday 6:00 a.m.: Go through each day of the meal plan and figure out where I purchase each of those food items for quality and budget purposes. Put together in a resource format.
   5. Friday 6:00 a.m.: Edit all content written from last week and send to my assistant for further editing and formatting.

I got all that done in just 45 minutes per day, but it was a focused, intense 45 minutes each day. If I tried to do the same amount of time at my office it would take at least three hours due to the constant distractions and interruptions.

I also start each day at the office already having achieved my MAJOR goal for that day! It is an awesome feeling to be in the office at 9:00 a.m. knowing the rest of the day is all an added bonus!

Now each week builds off the next toward every goal I set.

What is something you’ve been meaning to achieve, but haven’t made a concrete schedule for? How can this 15 minute success secret serve you?

Commit to doing this TONIGHT, and try it for the rest of the week. I promise that if you truly commit to this process you will get addicted to your new routine and how productive you’ll become.

To get you started I’ve created this FREE 15 Minute Secret Success Planner! You can download it right to your desktop and fill it out directly on your computer, or print it out and fill it out each week. Now there is nothing holding you back from achieving success!

As always, cheers to your health and happiness!!