Hey everyone,

Firstly, I just want to say a big thank you for joining in the Crossbow Weekly Homework Club so far. I can’t believe we’ve been in this together for six weeks now! That means that this week in the last of this series of emails (for now!), and I’ve created the best and biggest free planner printable yet for the finale!

That’s right, this week’s challenge is a big one, but it’s something that has the potential to change our lives for the better if we commit to it.

This week’s homework is to set your 5-year vision.

In five years time, do you want to be in the same place as you are now? Or, do you have some dreams that need to be re-ignited and have got lost in the busyness of day to day?

You may already know how much I love yearly goal setting. But often, our yearly goals can be so task-oriented that we lose sight of the big hopes and dreams we once had, settling for less than we were born for. The 5-year vision planner is an invitation for you to take a step back and be inspired to dream BIG again, and actually set a plan in place to make those dreams happen.

“When you reach the end of your life, do you want to be one of the people who are glad they did, or one of the people who wish they had?” – Dan Zadra.

I hope you’re as excited as I am to get your 5-year vision down on paper! You can get the freebie here, along with a writing guide that will walk you through how to use the planner.

As always, I’d love to stay connected with you and hear all about how your 5-year vision setting has gone. Find me on social media (@crossbowprintables) to let me know.

Wishing you a lovely week,
Jordan x

Hey you guys,

Well, the Spring Clearout homework that we’ve been doing the past few weeks has really taken it out of me… I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to enjoy a bit more quiet time this week!

Before I let you know about this week’s homework, let me just say to those of you who didn’t quite finish their Spring Clearout – don’t worry one bit! False deadlines are great, because they encourage you to be proactive when you don’t really feel like it. BUT, you don’t need to beat yourself up if you didn’t quite make it to the end of the list. There will be plenty of time to complete it in the future, and I’d still love to see your progress as you’re using it (@crossbowprintables).

So, it’s time to change pace. This week’s homework is to write down three things you’re grateful for every day this week. Why three? Because writing down one thing you’re grateful for is too easy! There’s a lot of negative news surrounding us at the moment, so by doing this together, we’re going to be training our brains to focus on the positives, rather than being overwhelmed by the negatives. The more we dig deep into thankfulness and focus on all that we still have to be grateful for, the less anxious we will feel.

Because I love you all so much, I’ve created another free printable for you to use in your planners to complete the challenge! The one thing I ask if you’re using the freebie, is that you please tag me (@crossbowprintables) and use the hastag #crossbowweeklyhomework when posting on social media, so that we join together as a community and encourage each other along the way.

Wishing you all a positive week ahead and sending you all my love,
Jordan x

Enjoy your free planner printable!

Please note that the download may not work on some mobile devices.

1. Start your routine with something that you’ll look forward to. You guys, I can’t explain to you how hard it was for me to get out of bed when I knew the first item on my morning routine was the dreaded e-word… Exercise. Who the heck wants to trade a cosy bed for a HIIT session? Not me, thank you! A simple re-arranging of your morning routine on your free planner printable can make a world of difference. Now, when I wake up, my number one priority is to put on my dressing gown, go downstairs and make a cup of tea that I can drink whilst doing my daily reading. That’s the kind of cosy start I can look forward to.
2. Remember that small daily actions determine the course of your life. When you’re planning your first ever morning routine, ask yourself a big question – ‘a year from now, what kind of person do I want to be?‘ The answer should help guide you into building the routine that’s right for you. If you want to be healthy, then maybe you’d add exercise, lemon water and a healthy breakfast into your routine. Do you want to be a more kind and generous person? Maybe you could spend five minutes every morning sending an encouraging message to someone. Want to be more mindful? Journaling and meditation may work for you. The main thing to remember is this: it may not feel like you’re changing your life when you wake up and do 15 minutes of exercise, but it’s small habits like this done consistently that will shape who you are a year from now.
3. Start small. You may have a friend who wakes up at the break of dawn, bangs out a workout, does all the washing, plans out the day ahead, spends an hour in prayer and still has time to make dinner before the day has begun. (I basically just described my Mum, the queen of mornings!). Just remember that good habits are built over time and whenever you add a new discipline to your mornings, no matter how small it is, you should celebrate that! I started only four months ago by waking up 30 minutes earlier everyday to do a little exercise and reading and prayer each morning. Already, that’s become so natural that I now wake up another 30 minutes earlier than even that! I can now add some cleaning into my mornings and increase my exercise time. So, start small and take it from there.
4. Mix it up. Don’t expect to find instant joy in the first morning routine that you write on your planner. You will most probably find that you need to mix it up a little to find something that truly works for you. For me, it was the third draft that stuck. I made little tweaks each time that I knew would make my morning routine more joyful until something stuck. Try each new routine for a week, adding things in and out, moving the order around, and increasing or decreasing the amount of time spent on certain things until something sticks.
5. Commit to just doing it. Let’s be honest, new disciplines are hard to build. Once you’re in the habit of waking up and going through your morning routine, it will be as natural to you as brushing your teeth. But, until then, you’re going to have a few weeks of committing to just do it. Unfortunately, there’s no easy fix for creating new disciplines, but if you can motivate yourself with the points above – starting your routine with something you’ll enjoy, and thinking of the person you’ll be a year from now if you follow through on your routine – then you should be able to muster the motivation needed to get started.

Enjoy your free planner printable!

Please note that the download may not work on some mobile devices.

Hurray! Printed personal inserts are now available in the shop, along with a few new A5 printed designs. *Happy dance* 🙂 Watch the video below for a full run through of what’s new, and a sneak peek of what I’m putting in my own personal planner.

No amount of pretty lighting or fancy backdrop can make this book look less battered and bruised than it is. But, its scars show just how well loved ‘The One Thing‘ has been by me and my family. It’s provided some valuable lessons to me personally and to everyone I know who has read it, and I’d definitely recommend it to you if you want to see extraordinary results in your life… which I suppose is most people.

There’s so many great things I could share from this book, but my affinity towards goal setting and achieving urges me to tell you of one fact that blew my mind. Did you know that people who write down their goals are 39.5% more likely to achieve them? I’d say that’s a pretty good reason to get them on paper. But, what’s more, is that people who write their goals on paper and send progress reports to friends are 76.7% more likely to achieve them. WOAH!

I’m all for anything that will help me keep on track with my goals, but part of me just wants to call my planner my ‘friend’ so that I don’t need to hunt an accountability partner down 🙂 But, alas, the research doesn’t lie, and so I’m making it my mission this week to find a goal accountability partner.

Do you have a goals accountability partner already? If not, I can be yours! Let me know how your goal progress is going by commenting on the post or even writing me an email. Or, if this already works for you, I’d love to hear any wisdom you may have on the matter, too!

Until next time,
Jordan x

I’ve been thinking recently on just how much my life has changed over the past few years. Ironically, if you had known me a few years ago, you’d have laughed at the idea of me owning a planning business. Laughed! I’d like to think I wasn’t super unorganised, but the idea of keeping a schedule or having a plan definitely didn’t rank high on my priorities list.

That’s why I’m a pretty good testament to the power of planning. Nowadays, you won’t catch me at my desk unless I have a plan (or, more importantly, a reason to be doing what I’m doing) and I can honestly say I’ve achieved more in the last few years of my life than ever before.

I believe that planning ignites the main thing we need in order to make things happen and see change in our lives: focus. Focusing on what you’re working towards and where you’d like to be in the future is something I’d encourage everyone to check in on every once is a while. Like Zig Ziglar said, “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time”. Ouch, Zig, talk about cutting to the core! But he’s so right.

For me, my focus comes entirely through goal-setting. And let me tell you, I’m BIG on goal-setting! I set yearly goals, which I break down into quarterly goals, which I break down into monthly, weekly and daily goals. It may sound excessive, but I have never found a system that encourages me to knuckle down and make progress like I do now. It’s encouraged me to dream big, work smarter and achieve more than I thought was possible. In other words, these steps are transforming huge mountains (my big goals) into walkable hills.

So, let me encourage you to dream big, focus and make a plan that will propel you towards the change you want to see in your life. If you need planners to help you get there, check out the ones I use: the Productivity Planner and the Goals Planner.

Wishing you a lovely week!
Jordan x