The paper planner is back and it’s better than ever. Courtney Seard, a performance coach and leadership trainer, has created THE RISE:VISION|ACTION|PLANNER, a planner that consists of a vision journal — backed by neuroscience and psychology research — to help create a more meaningful day, and an action planner, used to keep you motivated to accomplish your goals.
According to Seard, “We are 50 percent more likely to accomplish what we’ve set out to do, if it’s written down,” making the planner a great tool for setting those 2021 intentions.
“Having the life you desire takes consistency, time, and dedication. It requires you to embrace discomfort, move through your comfort zone, and show up for yourself, on the good days and the bad,” she said in our interview.
We caught up with Seard, who Forbes described as “one of the country’s most in-demand peak-performance coaches,” to learn more.
How did you come up with the idea for THE RISE:VISION|ACTION|PLANNER?
The idea for the planner was about five years in the making. As a performance coach, mindset, and leadership trainer, I guide my clients through “breakthroughs.” Over the years, I found myself recommending journaling, planners, and other techniques to help my clients achieve their goals and stay on track mentally, after our 1:1 time together. I knew I had to create a tool that would complement my clients’ active lifestyles, as well as my own.
Talk a little about your story and what inspired you to become a performance coach:
My background is in business. I love it and it comes naturally to me. I started in business operations and development, in my teens. I had a “difficult” upbringing, I’ve always had to work for everything I’ve had. I’ve worked as a bookkeeper, accountant, office manager, and director of business operations in my last corporate role, for a tech company in Seattle.
What I realized working for these companies that although the CEO, manager might have an MBA, and could use the fancy words, they didn’t know much about the practical application and flow of business. After starting a business consultancy, I found myself with the same furstrations I had working for these companies. I’d provide excellent strategy and advice, everyone was onboard, however when I came back, and little to nothing had been done, no traction had been made, and I realized some of these patterns within myself.
I attended a week-long personal development training and the lightbulb went off. People, along with myself, no matter how “high-performing,” needed to adjust behaviors on an unconscious level to create short- and long-term change. I began implementing these changes into my life, then my business, and realized that this was for me.
I shelved my consultancy and went down the rabbit hole and studied, and trained for four years to obtain the current certifications, and mind-science techniques I use with my clients today.
From a treacherous childhood, to a near fatal biking accident, I’ve overcome — illustrating how hard work and determination can always overcome great obstacles.
Tell us a little about the vision journal portion of THE RISE and how it’s based on neuroscience and psychology research to help create a more meaningful day:
The vision journal provides a process and customized journal prompts designed to provide clarity of focus and improve your mindset and achieve your short- and long-term goals. One of the essential findings neuroscience provides is the knowledge that the way we think and feel about ourselves and the words we use to write out our thoughts and goals matter.
Handwriting is key, multiple studies have shown that we are 50 percent more likely to accomplish what we’ve set out to do, if it’s written down. This taps into our Reticular Activating System, our “Reptilian Brain,” which allows us to achieve our goals fasters on an unconscious level. Only seven percent of communication is words, so it’s important that the language we use is crafted towards where you want to go.
The language we use describes the world we currently have and the world we’ll create. We haven’t really been trained on how the brain works, and how language impacts this. By creating these prompts, it takes the guesswork on how you should craft your language and mindset towards success.
How is the action planner used to keep you motivated to accomplish goals?
The action planner is broken down in a four-part quarterly system, where you can select one area of life, and for three months, create the habits and focus to work towards accomplishing the life that you want.
Having the life you desire takes consistency, time, and dedication. It requires you to embrace discomfort, move through your comfort zone, and show up for yourself, on the good days and the bad. This system helps you set your focus on a positive and the action planner and calendar, along with the habit tracker and self-care tracker, creates a system that brings ease to a process required for us to build the consistency mandated to develop greater self-discipline.
Self-discipline leads to self-trust, self-trust leads to self-respect, self-respect leads to self-love, and self-love leads to self-validation. Working on yourself in this way increases confidence, motivation, happiness, success, and results.
Any advice you would give to readers looking to go into the New Year with a healthy mindset?
Remember, to FOCUS on what you want, SAY IT the way you want it, and TAKE ACTION.
You can order the THE RISE:VISION|ACTION|PLANNER here.
