Leonie Dawson's Blog, page 30
August 8, 2021
July 2021 Biz & Life Review
Dearests,
Yay! Our new tradition! A monthly review! You can read April & May’s here, and June’s here.
I’ll cover:
life blessings & challengeswhat I’ve createdhow much my business earnedmy goals for next month.Want to listen to this as a podcast episode instead?Easyyyy babes! Just click play above, or subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, PocketCast (or wherever else you listen to podcasts!)
This will be a wee bit shorter this month…I’ll just dot point most of it instead of going into huge amounts of detail. I’m writing this while back in lockdown again doing online schooling with my kids, so I am spread a wee bit thin. But I still wanted to get this done!
My goals for July that I set last month:getting kids settled back into school & their 3 x new extra-curriculars – DONE.continuing our reading intensive – DONEfinish reading Famous Five novel to kids – DONE. We also read Lauren Child’s illustrated version of Mary Poppins.on the work front… it’s more about circling back around after another big launch, catching up on daily blogging & seeing what wants to be created next! – DONE! I feel like I’m all caught up! Here’s what happened in July:Started the month in a snap 3 day lockdown while Queensland eradicated COVID-19 again after it bubbled upTried out Getting Things Done system (post here, here and here)Made a Book Bag for the carHad picnic with friends at the riverTried adhesive tiles as a quick DIY project:
My big kid had her first playdate without me… and then a couple of weeks later went to the movies & a birthday party without me!!!! SO BIG!Encouraged my kid to start a book club with one of her bestiesMy kids did a horse workshop with one of my big kid’s bestiesDid a roadtrip to visit Chris’ parentsStarted renovating an old bookshelf that was sitting in our garage covered in bird shit
Started making smoothie bowls – a habit I’d like to do more!Made a lot of apple tarts and egg & bacon pastry tarts for the kids’ school lunches (but we would end up eating half of them at home because they were so tasty)Found a handyman to quote us to fix up my leaking officeHad some invasive fig trees removed from the back of our acreage (they are now classed as a weed in our shire)Went on quite a few bushwalks – a habit I’d also like to do more. Especially when I get to walk behind an acreage with a mob of chooks that run to me like I am The Great Chicken Mother.
Started using Noom – still undecided if I’ll become an addict or notFinished Tara Brach’s “Awaken Your Heart, Creativity & Wisdom” program. I find I have a more peaceful week if I study a Buddhist course on the weekend.Got my art journal back after it’s been all around New Zealand and Australia being drawn in by friends. What a treat!
And just to round things off… finished the month in a snap lockdown while Queensland pushes to eradicate a bubble up of COVID-19 again. Also: to be VERY clear, I am supportive of lockdowns, vaccines & science. You know what I’m NOT supportive of? Wilfully putting other people’s lives at risk, and conspiracy theories. #highfivesWork:A quieter month this month, as I wanted. I didn’t launch anything, didn’t do much of anything new, and was ready to pause for a bit to get organised, slow down a wee bit, catch up on blogging and prep for the next thing.
Did my usual monthly group coaching call for all my course studentsRan my new program Marketing Without Social MediaRetired two old coursesGot organised to run another live round of 40 Days To Create & Sell Your E-CourseHow Much I Earned In July:It was a quieter month in July after three months of going over $100,000 – which is totally groovy and to be expected. Here’s what I sold through Kajabi in July, much of it piled as last minute enrolments in Marketing without Social Media:
We earned just over $10,500 in other business income streams – this doesn’t include our personal investments. (I go into more detail about my personal investments & all my income streams in Money, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income incase you are wondering.)
So all up, about $58,000 for the month. Pretty amazing for a “slow” month where I didn’t do much. I used to earn that amount per YEAR when I worked an office job.
Also! Check out that all time income above through Kajabi! I got sent a video card congratulating me AND a fancy Kajabi jacket when I hit over $1 million in sales through them. Little known fact: I FUCKING LOVE SWAG. I love free shit! I love nerdy boi tech shirts! It’s my style statement! I’m not even kidding.
Here’s a bunch of blog posts I wrote last month (that I haven’t already linked above):A collection of weird notes from my phonePersonal writing: A little too looseA dot pointed diaryThe Oatmeal moves away from social mediaOpinion: George from Famous 5 has AutismMy Susan Branch obsessionReading Challenge: update here & here & hereIllustrated weekending notesHow to find blogs & subscribe to themBusiness Success: How To Sell More With BloggingOperation Reclaim My OfficeMy Goals For The Next 3 MonthsGoals for AugustWe are now in another lockdown which will likely be extended. That means I need to reshape my priorities and lower my expectations.
Here’s my biggest goals:
Help my kids get through their online schoolingKeep the energy up with our reading intensive programStay sane, gentle and happy with good self care.If I can manage those, here’s some reach goals:
Finish promoting next live round of 40 Days To Create & Sell Your E-CourseFinish new workbook editionsTake X course for self studyStart Project 10% (it’s an idea I had… if it’s successful I’ll do a full debrief about it!)Read “Atomic Habits”Study more Noom.We’ve got this, my treasures. We can do the big and the hard.
ALSO. THAT IS WHAT SHE SAID.
All My Love,
FREE GOODIES:
[image error] Daily-ish writings
[image error] Weekly love letters
[image error] Podcast: Leonie Dawson Refuses To Be Categorised
[image error] A library of free treasures
COURSES:
[image error] Sales Star
. Marketing Without Social Media
[image error] Money, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income
[image error] 40 Days To A Finished Book
[image error] 40 Days To Create & Sell Your E-Course
The post July 2021 Biz & Life Review appeared first on Leonie Dawson | Goals, Marketing + Creativity For Glorious Humans.
August 6, 2021
Scrapbook: How To Ride A Bike
Pookybears,
It’s important for me as a creative to make sure I’m consuming good quality creations… not just a mindless scroll of blabbering.
Here’s my scrapbook of all the things that have fed my eyes, heart, brain & soul over the last month. I usually collect all the things that inspire me in my art journal… consider this my digital version!
And guess what?
NONE of this stuff is on social media. It’s all on good ole fashioned blogs, purveyor of inspiration WITHOUT all the harmful addiction and algorithms!
There is a big, beautiful and vibrant community of creatives out there. It’s inspiring to be a part of.
On with the show!
from Grant Snider
The Oatmeal update on how to reach people in 2021.On Being Colonisers“She nearly died while fighting a fire. All she could think about was the tragedy of dying while still a virgin.“Blogging tips from a few decades of blogging
Don’t Piss Off Bradley. This made me laff & laff & laff. I mean, just the beginning is incredible:“The world’s greatest hoard of original Atari equipment is guarded by a very temperamental, very devoted dragon named Bradley.”Dead Start Up Toys. This made me chortle significantly.“I’m now at a point where I believe social media is a public health threat.”I Just Learned I Have Only Months To Live. Ooof. Such clarity. Such love.
Unexpected friends from the pandemicPopulation: Us. An illustrator becomes increasingly disgruntled with social media.Wombats really ARE fucking awesome: a comic.New website I love: Mother Of All Lists.
Sheep herding patterns from above: mesmerising.
Fascinating graphs on songs with same-sex relationship lyrics through the ages. Representation matters!Back to the future with RSSThe love letters of Virginia Woolf & Vita Sackville-West
A tour of a watercolour paint factory
The human wonders what time is: a comicPop-up newsletters are the greatest newsletterI love me a good handwritten & drawn letter
Gemma Correll is queen of the LOLZ
This podcast episode on Queerness & God gave me full blown body chills & made me cry.This edition of Barbie Girl hits a bit differently this time:“I belong everywhere I go, no matter where it is, or who it I am with, as long as I never betray myself. The minute I become who you want me to be, in order to fit in and make sure people like me, is the moment I no longer belong anywhere.”
– Brene Brown
via Swiss Miss
Get creative! Share your work with the world!Miracles will come your way when you do!
All My Love,
FREE GOODIES:
[image error] Daily-ish writings
[image error] Weekly love letters
[image error] Podcast: Leonie Dawson Refuses To Be Categorised
[image error] A library of free treasures
COURSES:
[image error] Sales Star. Marketing Without Social Media
[image error] Money, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income
[image error] 40 Days To A Finished Book
[image error] 40 Days To Create & Sell Your E-Course
The post Scrapbook: How To Ride A Bike appeared first on Leonie Dawson | Goals, Marketing + Creativity For Glorious Humans.
August 4, 2021
Diary: Notes On Visiting Brisbane
Dearest,
I wrote this to you as I visited Brisbane for the first time in a long time.
It’s hard for me to adequately tell you what Brisbane is to me. For a kid growing up in regional Queensland, it’s the Big Smoke, the city of dreams and impossible sophistication. There are Things in Brisbane, galleries and bookstores and large shops and places to go, all of which seemed almost mystical to my small town small child self.
And now of course, I know Brisbane is not Real City. It’s the country cousin to other Realler, Bigger Cities. Melbourne and Sydney. It’s an overgrown village compared to New York and London. But I didn’t even leave this state until I was 19. Didn’t know all this then. For 19 years it was my gateway to the bigger world.
It’s the city of Expo 88, when my mum scraped together enough savings to take her, four kids and a baby on overnight train. Just to glimpse a world outside the sugar cane fields. I was 5 and remember my eldest sister falling off the train bunk we shared. I remember being astounded at the sheer crowds of people. Getting distracted by something beautiful and marvellous, and getting lost, walking the crowds sobbing. When I was finally found, my mother’s face was pulled tight, and she held my hand tightly. From then on, she stapled a card of contact details to the underside of our hems. Incase of loss, return to owner.
It’s the city she let us solo travel to as teenagers. Me and my eldest sister and our motley crew of friends (all boys). We saved up for years and took the overnight train again. Stayed with an aunt, and in a hotel room, laughed ourselves stupid. We were so very very young and so very very stupid. I don’t know why she let us go, but she did. And I’m glad she did. I just don’t know how, as a mother, I’ll learn to let go when I need to.
Brisbane is the City of Boys. The place I met my pen pal after years of letters. He drove me to the top of Mt Cootha to see the lights of the city. And he kissed me so softly that he made me fall in love. Not with him, but with kissing. I didn’t much like it before then. Thought it a messy, wet kind of business, a bit too much like swallowing oysters. Some unknown impulse drove me to it anyway. It wasn’t until him though that the Kiss Gods opened their rays to me, and I never once thought of it in terms of seafood again.
Another trip, to meet an internet penpal this time, this in the days when such a thing was a novelty, an invention. He was the one who loved music and seemed perfect on paper. We fell in wild, teen-soaked love for two weeks. I knew he wasn’t The One, but gosh wasn’t he The One For Now. When I returned home, he became one of the early adopters of ghosting. Back in 1999, it wasn’t called that then. It was called heartbreak and uncertainty and why just tell me why. Maybe it’s still called that, ghosting is just the umbrella term.
I came back to Brisbane a couple of other times after my Tours De Boys. After I graduated, to go to Malaysia as an exchange student. To walk the art gallery, the most enchanting place on earth, and marvel at the lines and the paint carefully applied to canvas. It was everything I wanted to be.
After then, I fell in wild and required love with a man. Not just any man, but The Man. The one who quickly became as fixed to me as my right hand. The one who would father my future children. The one upon which all other love stories seemed small and inconsequential. The one whose presence still sustains and thrills me two decades later later.
He had lived in Brisbane in all the years I’d visited there. Walked the same streets, wandered the same small alternative stores. I wonder if we ever crossed paths. If we had, I would have remembered. One look and I would have known. After all, it was all it took when we finally did meet.
We met in my tiny home town, in all the unlikely places. And since then we have lived in most places in Australia, but never here. His Brisbane and My Brisbane have never intertwined. Not yet.
Until then, it remains as ever: frangipanis and soaring skyscrapers. The newest of architecture burrowed into the hill beside old stone churches. Green sub tropical wilderness growing through the cracks. Jacarandas and palm trees, apartments and ambling Queenslanders. And gaudiness. Of course, the gaudy.
All of this wonkiness and charm. It’s exactly how Queenslanders would build a city.
And even though I’m nearly 40, even though I’ve seen other, bigger cities, it still thrills me. For this small town girl, this Big City of Boys and Dreams and Memories still holds a hilly piece of my heart.
All My Love,
FREE GOODIES:
[image error] Daily-ish writings
[image error] Weekly love letters
[image error] Podcast: Leonie Dawson Refuses To Be Categorised
[image error] A library of free treasures
COURSES:
[image error] Sales Star. Marketing Without Social Media
[image error] Money, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income
[image error] 40 Days To A Finished Book
[image error] 40 Days To Create & Sell Your E-Course
The post Diary: Notes On Visiting Brisbane appeared first on Leonie Dawson | Goals, Marketing + Creativity For Glorious Humans.
August 3, 2021
Save $50 on 40 Days to Create + Sell Your eCourse LIVE RUN!
Time left to grab the early bird discount:
My loves,
I’ve been pondering to myself what to launch next.
I have so many ideas & possibilities flittering around my head, but then I realised…
40 Days to Create + Sell Your eCourse hasn’t had a live round in a while now.
So I’ve decided to do a live round AND offer a three day early bird discount!
For the next three days, you can get $50 off!But only while there’s still time on the clock…
Whenever I’m asked “Leonie, if you had to start your business from scratch, what’s the one thing you would do again?” my answer is always: eCourses.
I’ve sold over $8 million in eCourses and they are the foundation of my business.
Why should you create an eCourse?They get you selling to many instead of 1:1, saving you time and energyeCourses earn you more moolahThey create more transformation for your clients as they are guided through your workeCourses are a great way to build passive income streamsPutting it sweet and simple babes, eCourses are the fucking bomb-diggity!
Now… let me answer all your questions!*places fingers on temples* what questions am I receiving telepathically from you all…
Q. When does the course open?
A. September 1st, 8am Pacific Time. The course will be locked for new members until then.
Q. Are there live calls with you Leonie?
A. Yup yup, that’s what makes this a live run! There will be one a week for six weeks, and they start September 9th, 6:30am Brisbane Time.
Q. I want the early bird discount after the timer hits zero, is that possible?
A. Nooope! Soz, the early bird discount is strictly only available while there’s still time on the clock.
Q. Are payment plans available?
A. Not for the early bird, sorry!
Q. If I’ve already bought 40 Days to Create + Sell Your eCourse, do I need to purchase it again?
A. Noooo. You get complimentary access to this live run, so plz do not purchase it again.
Q. I’m a current member of 40 Days to Create + Sell Your eCourse, can you please re-lock my course so it opens along with everyone else’s on Sept 1st?
A. Can do! Email support@leoniedawson.com and my assistant will get right on it!
Q. I’ve bought a different course from you before, how do I make sure this one gets added to my library?
A. Make sure you login to your membership, and then open another tab in your browser and purchase! That way the system will register you’re a member and automatically add it to your library.
Q. Leonie, I know you’re an oracle but you didn’t answer my question!
A. My powers work in mysterious ways… Ha! No worries babes! Just email it to support@leoniedawson.com
Are you ready to finally create your eCourse?
Do you want to leverage and scale your income fast & effectively?
Or maybe you’ve created an eCourse but you’re not getting the sales you want from it?
This eCourse journey is for YOU.In the space of 40 days, you are going to get your e-course DONE. And master the tech like a pro. And start SELLING it like crazy.
This is accountability, tech + marketing advice on SPEED.
It’s time to share your light big and bright with the WORLD!
With love from an eCourse superstar,
Time left to grab the early bird discount:
FREE GOODIES:
[image error] Daily-ish writings
[image error] Weekly love letters
[image error] Podcast: Leonie Dawson Refuses To Be Categorised
[image error] A library of free treasures
COURSES:
[image error] Sales Star. Marketing Without Social Media
[image error] Money, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income
[image error] 40 Days To A Finished Book
[image error] 40 Days To Create & Sell Your E-Course
The post Save $50 on 40 Days to Create + Sell Your eCourse LIVE RUN! appeared first on Leonie Dawson | Goals, Marketing + Creativity For Glorious Humans.
Weekly Review: First Time as a GTD Baby!
Dearests,
As you good humans know, I’ve been trying out a new (to me) productivity system – David Allen’s Getting Things Done system. I shared my illustrated notes about it here, my new inbox system here and my first attempt at processing my new physical inbox here.
Next up: I need to undertake my “Weekly Review”. I think the tricky part about these weekly reviews is that there is no one set way to do it. Everyone modifies it to suit their own workflow and priorities. Which is great that it’s so customisable… but as a brand new beginner starting out, I’m fretting about how to do it right, and what I should be including.
I feel like a foal wobbling about on new legs. Trying out a new productivity system? Adapting to new habits? It’s exciting and anxiety-inducing all at once.
Anyways, I thought the only way I can get past this beginner anxiety is to share it publicly. That way I’ll feel less alone and less freaked out by trying something new. And If it’s useful, I might end up always blogging my weekly review. Or it might just be a once-off public share just to get me started and feel slightly less wobbly.
I need to remind myself that I don’t need to do it “perfectly” the first time. That the only way I can learn what works for me is by actually DOING the fucking thing. And that a shitty first draft is exactly the thing to aim for.
Righto! Here’s the references I’ll be working off:
Above checklist from todoist.com.
Following checklist from the Getting Things Done website:
Like… holy smokes. It’s a lot right? It can feel very overwhelming!
Reminder to self: one piece at a time. Just do a shitty first draft. I don’t have to do everything. Just start.
STEP 1: GET CLEARProcess physical inbox
Already did a couple of days ago because it was so enormous. Photos & thoughts here.
Live update: I know the checklist above specifies doing a Weekly Review all in one block with timed segments. That kind of shit gives me anxiety. I’m not some straight white bro who is locked away in an office by himself. I’m a mama with Autism & ADHD who is doing this review on a laptop on the couch while life happens around them. Interruptions happen. I get distracted. And that’s fine. I’ve already stopped to let our tutor in and have a chat. Then I had a great idea to make some feta & spinach muffins for morning tea. Then my biggest kid wanted to try making Vegemite & Cheese pastry bites, so I helped her make that. And now I’m back here. For the next five minutes at least.
Process email inbox
I did a big clear-through of my inbox last night, so there are only 16 emails in my inbox.
Must remember to follow the GTD protocol which is to:
Action an item if it takes 2 minutes or less to doAdd an item to your to do list if it takes more than 2 minutes to do.Oooh! Great success:
A clean inbox! This is a one in three year event!
I created a “HOLD” tag for emails I need to action later (and have been added to my to do list).
Process text messages and voicemails
I often ignore these for months on end. Took 30 seconds to review! DONE!
Process Facebook inbox
Good to do a quick review to see if there were any I’d not replied back to! All good! DONE!
Move all tasks from Asana to Google Keep
This is not something I’ll need to do going forward… this is a likely one-off while I consolidate all my tasks into one central repository.
Live update: It’s a few hours later. I’ve made smoothie bowls for my family for lunch. We’ve also just had a snap 3 day lockdown announced that starts tonight, so we had a brainstorm if we needed to do anything to prepare.
Empty your head
Don’t know what this means! Don’t care! Maybe I’ll work it out later! Onwards!
STEP 2: GET CURRENTReview previous calendar to see if any actionables.
I don’t usually do this! What a great idea!
Just checked, and had an email to send to a tradie about an incomplete job.
Create calendar in bullet journal
I have my Google Calendar, but I like to replicate it in my bullet-ish journal as well. It helps me remember it more.
Live update: It’s now 1:30pm. I started this at 8:30am, with many starts, stops and breaks. I’m starting to hate my life. Must remind myself it won’t usually take this long – I’m just getting through the backlog of having no system before this AND I am a complete novice! Of course this is going to take longer than it usually would!
Review incompletion trigger list for any forgotten projects:
(Again, from GettingThingsDone.com.)
I don’t think I’ve got anything from there to add. Also, fuck this and fuck everything by this point.
Set up weekly to do list & set 3 MITs (Most Important Things) for the upcoming week
I’m fucking toast by this point. I already have my weekly to do list. I think I’ll leave this for the moment. I know I’ll get it done at some point. Just need to remember to prioritise them properly.
STEP 3 :: GET CREATIVEAgain, and I can’t empathise this enough: fuck this and fuck everything by this point.
I’m calling it a day and crawling into bed with a book. This has been a VERY big project for my ADHD brain this week.
All in all, I definitely feel more organised and on top of things than I did before. I’m especially finding the physical inbox system really handy. And I’m glad I’m doing this. And it’s definitely forming new synapses in my brain because this is hard & I am learning things!
Next time I do this weekly review:
It should take MUCH less time with all my backlog cleared & my tasks & reminders in a central locationI don’t think I’ll blog it again – it takes too much timeIt would probably be more useful to have a printed weekly checklist for me to tick off as I go.Now I’m going to crawl into bed with a book and be like a sloth!
Big love,
FREE GOODIES:
[image error] Daily-ish writings
[image error] Weekly love letters
[image error] Podcast: Leonie Dawson Refuses To Be Categorised
[image error] A library of free treasures
COURSES:
[image error] Sales Star. Marketing Without Social Media
[image error] Money, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income
[image error] 40 Days To A Finished Book
[image error] 40 Days To Create & Sell Your E-Course
The post Weekly Review: First Time as a GTD Baby! appeared first on Leonie Dawson | Goals, Marketing + Creativity For Glorious Humans.
August 2, 2021
Processing My Getting Things Done Inbox For The First Time
Pookybears!
As you know I’m trying out David Allen’s Getting Things Done system lately. Here’s my illustrated notes about it, and here’s photos from when I set up an inbox system to collect shit.
As part of his productivity system, he recommends having a physical inbox to collect tasks, paperwork, forms, letters etc as they come in. Which, is nothing really new to me: I’ve used inboxes before!
But here’s the crucial distinction: the inbox must be emptied once a week as part of a “weekly review” process. Everything is either filed, trashed, or added to your to do list.
Whereas I would just put things in the inbox… and then never really go through it until it was just teeming with shit 6 months later. YOLO! So the idea of a weekly review was wildly helpful!
Now, because I’ve not used the GTD system before… my inbox was fucking FULL. I went around the house, my bedroom & my office to collect all the paperwork & crap that needed to be actioned. And there was SO much it ended up making three huge piles. So I decided to make a headstart on it yesterday, even though it wasn’t really my “weekly review” day because I suspected it would take a fair bit of work. Plus, I was EXCITED!
That’s the after photo. It took me about 2.5 hours to clear it, and I’ll be honest, I wanted to fucking DIE by the end. I did learn critical things from this exercise however:
You really DO need to stick to the GTD protocol. If a task is going to take more than 2 minutes, it needs to be added to a to do list to be done later. I was an eedjit who started working on projects that I’d find in the inbox, and half an hour would pass and I’d still be surrounded in a massive inbox that needed to be processed.
Of course, each week my inbox won’t be this full. This was really just sorting through the backlog of all the shit I have EVERYWHERE.
I do feel WAY more organised and clear knowing I have ONE spot as a dump zone for things that need to be actioned. I no longer have to remember where they all are!
Lastly, I realised I actually needed TWO inboxes: the first being the inbox on top to put new things in to process each week. And a “Hold” box for things I’ve already processed and have a task assigned to my task list. They are kind of a library of projects for me to work on. So for example: I bought some magnetic photoframes, so they were in the inbox. I added to my to do list that I need to get photos printed. Once the photos are printed, I’ll be able to put them up using the photoframes. In the meantime, they are hanging out in my project box.
That way, each week when I process my inbox, I don’t have to go through all the items I’ve already assigned to my to do list. They can just hang out in my project box until they are ready for the next stage. I’ve also got mail to send, things to give to friends, collaborative art journals in there – all of which I’ve got a task on my list for, and are just waiting for the right time to be worked on.
I also decided to start using Google Keep for digital notes & reminder lists. This was after watching spellbound notes‘ original video about the Getting Things Done system that I did illustrated notes of here.
I was using a mash of platforms before Google Keep. I used Reminders on my phone for grocery lists – which was annoying because whenever I’d remember I needed something, I’d have to go find my phone. With Google Keep, I can add to those lists from my laptops or iPad or phone, AND I can also share those specific lists with my husband as well. That way, he can add to them as well, and also access them on his phone when he’s shopping by himself.
I also had digital notes spread from fucking here to Timbuktu. I ended up going through all four of my regularly used devices (2 x laptops, iPad & iPhone) to collate all the notes I had in there and transfer them to Keep. All in all, I’m digging having this more central repository.
I’m including in it:
favourite quotesdigital couponsblog post ideashealth notes.
In other news, I’ve noticed my levels of autistic overstimulation from going out are way down when I use weighted blankets in the car.
I use a 2kg weighted lap blanket from Calming Moments, and I also found a weighted shoulder pad at Aldi that I either wrap around my shoulders or double up on the lap blanket. I find the lap blanket does double time as a sensory gadget as well – I really like squeezing it!
Next up on my GTD system agenda: I need to decide when I complete the rest of the weekly review. I’ll either do it Fridays or Mondays. I wonder if Monday would be more useful – I feel like I’ll either forget my review over the weekend, or it will amp me up and I’ll work during the weekend instead because damn do I love to achieve some goals. Neither is ideal. Whether I do it Friday or Monday, it’s all a glorious experiment to see what works!
I’m sending you all so much love!
May you be merry, may you be whole, may you have rest.
Love,
FREE GOODIES:
[image error] Daily-ish writings
[image error] Weekly love letters
[image error] Podcast: Leonie Dawson Refuses To Be Categorised
[image error] A library of free treasures
COURSES:
[image error] Sales Star. Marketing Without Social Media
[image error] Money, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income
[image error] 40 Days To A Finished Book
[image error] 40 Days To Create & Sell Your E-Course
The post Processing My Getting Things Done Inbox For The First Time appeared first on Leonie Dawson | Goals, Marketing + Creativity For Glorious Humans.
July 31, 2021
A Collection of Notes From My Phone
2020:This one made me cackle.
A trio of pandemic notes:
We should make monumental museums to the weird shit on our phones.
Big love,
FREE GOODIES:
[image error] Daily-ish writings
[image error] Weekly love letters
[image error] Podcast: Leonie Dawson Refuses To Be Categorised
[image error] A library of free treasures
COURSES:
[image error] Sales Star
. Marketing Without Social Media
[image error] Money, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income
[image error] 40 Days To A Finished Book
[image error] 40 Days To Create & Sell Your E-Course
The post A Collection of Notes From My Phone appeared first on Leonie Dawson | Goals, Marketing + Creativity For Glorious Humans.
July 29, 2021
A Little Too Loose
A little too loose.
That’s me. My mouth, my personality, my ligaments.
Out of all of them, it’s the loose ligaments that cause the most amount of pain, though sometimes the others do too.
Hypermobility is the technical term. Overly flexible, and not in a good way.
Sure, I can show up most of those lithe Lulu-lemoned motherfuckers in yoga class, can bend and fall in unnatural ways… but then I bend so much I fall apart.
I’ve always been a little this way, I think. The double-jointed shenanigans, the ways I could force my thumbs to touch my forearms. And most of all, the way I trotted along to the chiropractor fortnightly behind my father for us to be snapped back into place, made walkable again. The way he and I walk the same way in the early mornings before our backs have warmed up – his from a lifetime of horrific back injuries, mine from just being a little too floppy.
It got worse when I became pregnant. Those miraculous surging hormones that soften ligaments, widen hips and ready bodies for birth – they are perfect for most mothers and an overdose for us hypermobile peeps. They took my already loosey goosey ligaments, stretched them out in the wind and made them so flexible my bones began to dislocate.
I didn’t know that yet though. Didn’t know that there was a name for my body. Didn’t know that my body would be any different from my mother’s. All I knew was that I was in pain and couldn’t walk.
So I would call my mother and cry and tell her how much pain I was in. And bless her, she didn’t know. She thought I was being sensitive, too soft, the catch-cry of my childhood. She would tell me:
“You just need to walk more. Toughen up! You’re just too sensitive! You need to exercise! And you must eat very well! I let not one piece of rubbish pass through my mouth when I was pregnant! Occasionally I would treat myself and have just a little bit of homemade apple pie, but not very much and not very often! Your diet must be impeccable! And you must walk more! Go for a good long walk, that’s what will fix it!”
And I would nod, and do what she’d say. And I’d hobble along the paddocks, wondering when it would feel better, crying in pain as it worsened.
When I finally told my midwife how much pain I was in, and how walking hadn’t helped, she looked at me, mouth agape.
“Leonie, you are hypermobile. Your hips and pelvic bowl have dislocated from the pregnancy hormones. Walking is the very worst you can be doing right now. We need to try and stabilise it and get you to rest.”
She gave me a kind of thick, flexible band that wrapped my hips to stabilise them and lift the pressure out of my pelvic bowl. The relief was instantaneous.
That was when I learned that my mother’s advice wasn’t always going to be right for me as a mother. That my body was not hers. And in the coming years I would discover over and over just how much my body and brain differed and how much support it needed.
That I wasn’t soft, I wasn’t too sensitive.
I was in pain.
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July 28, 2021
Diary: Look At Me Fucking Nailing Life!
Dearests,
I really am fucking nailing life today.
BEHOLD!
1 :: As per my notes on the GTD system, I set up a new physical inbox & filing system:
On the left is an inbox to put everything that needs to be actioned or filed (letters, forms, photos, things I need to return etc). I did a swoop through of the house and was surprised at just how much shit I had wafting around waiting to be actioned.
Beside it, I added a Happy Planner folio with labelled pocket folders. I’ll use this for filing things into during my weekly reviews.
I have a bit of a backlog in the physical inbox this week, so my weekly review might take me a bit longer to complete. I’m still undecided on when to do a weekly review… I’ll experiment with that.
2 :: I’ve been making smoothie bowls for snacks & meals, and everytime I do, I just feel so bloody VIRTUOUS!
Here’s how I make mine:
I get these Smoothie Bowl packets from Woolworths.I blend it with 200ml of soy/oat milk and one bananaI top it with this peanut butter granola, cacao crunch toppers, shredded coconut & chopped fresh fruit (usually banana, strawberries & kiwifruit).My husband & kids are all fans of this too.
3 :: I’ve been going on bushwalks a few days a week, and it makes me happy. On the days I do it, I feel less of an energy slump.
Plus I get to see pretty things like:
The track ends up behind some acreages. The hens come running towards me when they see me, and it makes me feel like QUEEN MOTHER OF THE HENS.
4 :: My rad friend Sandi sent me a beautiful gift… a citrine necklace. It feels like joy.
5 :: A couple of years ago I started a travelling art journal circle with a group of friends. We each decorated a few pages of our own journal, then it travelled around Australia & New Zealand visiting a dozen friends, each of them adding to the journal as well. And now my baby just got back to me, chockfulla beautiful artwork & thoughtful words, and it’s just such a beautiful and touching thing!
Righto! Onwards!Thrilled with my progress today.
Tomorrow I’ll likely end up slothing on the couch. And that’ll be rad too!
Big love,
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[image error] Money, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income
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