How to Pick the Best 2015 Day Planner to Further Your Goals

I'm not just waving goodbye to 2014. I'm putting on steel toe boots and kicking it goodbye. It was the best of times and the worst of times, but I learned a lot along the way.

Seriously clichés aside, dream walking ain’t easy. It's a journey to find you. It’s like looking at yourself in a mirror naked. There’s no more hiding behind illusions. Instead, you see all your weaknesses and strengths. The expedition inward helps you to find what works for you. 

Achieving the dream is not as scientific, which drives my type A personality with a strong dash of perfectionism! My journey has not been about reading case studies, how to books for dummies, blog posts and applying them. The tools, while helpful, have to be filtered through the way you work to create your personal blueprint for success. 

One of the greatest lessons I’m learning in pursuing my dream is that deadlines are a must.

Otherwise, I push things back and let other people’s dates override my "to do lists" because there are no hard deadlines associated with them. So, in saying goodbye to 2014 and getting ready to jump into 2015, I am committing to creating deadlines for the steps I need to further my goals. 

First step, get a new day planner.

Although I use my phone and to do lists, there is something about writing down dates and looking at month views that are essential. Yet, all planners are not created alike. I love cute patterns, colors and pictures, but there are also other things that can set a planner apart from the humdrum of your day to day task planning. 

Shonda Rhimes’ Practical Advice Women Dreamers Can Use

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Shonda Rhimes’ Scandal rules my life. Everyone knows—no calls, no texts, no meetings and no business. Curled up on my couch, my Twitter sees the most action it gets all week, as I tweet #Scandal’s most shocking moments. I am drawn in not only by the shockers, but by Kerry Washington’s "go getter" character, Olivia Pope. Her war cry ignites her team, the Gladiators, to find a solution to messy scandals. 

As the woman behind the Shondaland brand, delivered the commencement address at her alma mater. She channeled her inner Olivia Pope by galvanizing the Dartmouth graduates with a "no task too hard" Gladiator speech. In listening, I thought all my fellow dreamers could use some of Shonda's wisdom.