PowerSheets Prep Work Part 1: Looking Back and Evaluating the Now
Last year I got really into setting concrete goals and making plans to achieve them. And to be honest, it went pretty well. But I always get more and more intrigued by how you can set even better goals, and my research and planner addiction led me to PowerSheets.
Now, PowerSheets cost A LOT of money, but I was intrigued as to why everyone was swearing by it. My goal setting system is pretty good, if I may say so myself, but it can always be better and people were screaming about this goal setting book, so I scrapped together all the little pennies I had, held by breath while I added the planner to my cart, and purchased the thing.
I’ve loved doing the prep work in the book, before we even start setting goals, and I thought it would be fun to share the journey with you on the blog.
I’m dividing this blog post into three sections:
Prep Work Part 1: Looking Back and Evaluating the Now
Prep Work Part 2: Dreaming Big and Deciding on Goals
Prep Work Part 3: Action Plans for 2023
In this blog post I thought we’d dive into Part 1: Looking Back and Evaluating the Now.
The PowerSheets open up with a page to just brain storm every possible goal or dream or idea you might have on a page titled Brainstorm Your Year Ahead. This was great in order for me to just get everything out on the page. I’ve had loads of ideas fighting for space in my head, and this was such a good release.
This was followed by Name What’s Holding You Back where you get a chance to pin down what distracts or holds you back. Physical clutter is a big one for me because I can’t think in a messy home. Not knowing about my university programme also stressed me out a lot, but now I’ve officially gotten in, so I could technically cross that out.
After having gone through the “negative” aspects we dig into Name What Fires You Up in order to find what brings us joy. This is fun cause you just make a list of everything you love. For me it’s writing, reading, nature, knitting, crafts, spirituality etc.
Then we look back at 2022 and name the good things, challenges, gratitude and lessons.
And then we get to the evaluation bit. I didn’t think I would enjoy this as much. I’ve seen a lot about Wheel of Life online and this is kind of similar, where you give a score for each area of your life, but instead of filling out a wheel, PowerSheets has you fill in a score and then some thoughts in boxes. They call this the Cultivated Life Evaluation. The areas of life are Community, Family, Finances, Fun + Recreation, Heath + Wellness, Home + Spaces, Spiritual + Personal Growth, and, Work + Learning.
These topics are great, but I struggle with them a bit. While university should go under Work + Learning, there isn’t much I can do in that field apart from study and aim for an A. I will attend my classes based on my schedule and write my to-dos in my BuJo, but I don’t need to set goals here. Similarly, my writing is not something I consider part of Fun + Recreation because, although it brings me fun and joy, and even though I don’t get paid for writing, I still try to treat it with the same respect as I would treat a career based job. Some of the other fields are similarly conflicting. They don’t really suit my life, but I’m rolling with it. I renamed Work + Learning to Writing + Author Platform, though. It’s my planner, after all.
Then we move on to Rewrite Your Self-Talk, which is one of those spreads I’d love to skip because I’m like, “this is great, but it’s more like a journaling prompt, not a goal setting device”. I grabbed my pen and did it anyways. Any negative self-talk I rewrote down, I turned into encouraging phrases, and in hindsight I quite enjoyed it. I think it was healthy and self-nurturing.
Finally, the PowerSheets get you to Name What Matters and Envision the Big Picture. In two columns you get to jot down What Will Have Mattered at the end of your life, and What Won’t Have Mattered. I was in dire need of this, I think. Showing up late to work once in a full moon won’t have mattered when I’m always early (I hate being late and get terrible anxiety at the thought of it), but being present at work and feeling pride and joy in my work will have mattered.
And that’s it for Part 1. I’ll be back soon with Part 2: Dreaming Big and Deciding on Goals where we start to think ahead and get excited for 2023!