What is the 25 Day Reset Program?
The 25 Day Reset program was gifted to me by my truly exceptional and wonderful friend/coach/mentor, Dinah Liversidge. For that I am super grateful.
“Commitment creates results, gift yourself the time to commit” – Abigail Barnes.
The program is by Abigail Barnes, author, business entrepreneur, mentor, trainer and all round amazing woman. Her business, Success by Design is all about “productive wellbeing”; being successful in life whatever that means to you.
I knew very little about Abigail before. I’d seen a video of hers where my friend was an invited guest. 23 days on , I know her a little more. What I do know a great deal more, is that I have not only enjoyed her 25 Day Reset Program , but I have benefitted from it enormously.
What is 25 Day Reset Premise
The premise was simple, a group of people struggling for one reason or another, working together to focus on achieving something. Through a private group on social media the group each set themselves just 2 goals, and agreed to be accountable for those over the 25 days, reporting daily back to the group, who in turn offered support and motivation, with Abigail overseeing, gently drawing us back into focus if we started drifting off-piste and offering the odd useful insight and guidance from her years of training and public speaking.
THE 25 DAY RESET IS NOT A TRAINING COURSE…
…It is a giant group hug!
It’s a network of new people and an opportunity to actively identify issues within your life ( be that home, work, lifestyle ), that you are struggling with and, instead of continuingly going round the same loop like a hamster in a wheel, take hold of the issue, challenge it, focus on it and make the changes that solve the issue or help you meet the goal.
Personally it has changed my life
I cannot stress that enough. It’s not designed to do that, so don’t expect it to. It is however designed to clear a path to you changing your own life for the better.
For me, meeting Andy Parkes of SaxonPark has provided me with the lifelines; tools, coping mechanisms, work structures, I so desperately needed . Abigail has enabled me to identify my 25 day goals through a process of questions I needed to ask myself and then break those goals down into achievable actions .
What were my goals?
- Be Kind to Me
- Get Some Structure
Be Kind To Me.
I thought by allowing myself to not bother getting dressed all day, was kindness, it was, in fact, personal neglect. Not setting an alarm; lounging in bed ’til 10am; coming to my desk during lockdown in my dressing gown; having not even looked in a mirror; hair matted; no shower; and just bumbling through my day, was not kindness.
I needed to take steps. I identified to be kind to myself I needed to…
- set an alarm
- shower and moisturise my body
- look in a mirror
- say something positive to myself
- do my damned hair!
Get Some Structure
I was desperately in need of systems. Over the years since moving to Wales (15 years to be precise) I’ve created a complex, multifaceted lifestyle/business . Instead of working for ‘the man’ in an 8-6 job and doing family stuff and hobbies evenings and weekends; my lifestyle became both my work and my free time; separating them became very difficult.
Our home became our business. Hubby and I run a B&B from here. I ran the tourist office; I started a lifestyle blog. I love gardening, but some people I garden for, for ‘fun’ others I also garden for, for fun but get paid too; I became heavily involved in the community and the events running in the town. Meetings, committees, event organising, none of it paid but all of it tourism related and helping to fill my small BnB, how much was ‘hobby’ , how much was ‘business development’?
I also ran a craft shop, that housed a volunteer run tourist office; I was the main volunteer! I took up art and glass classes this led to art and glass commissions; teaching stained glass; running workshops from my home studio. I manage our accounts; I manage our website.
Plus, I’m a member of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party. I initially joined because I thought is was good PR as well as a laugh, but I’ve stood in elections and by-elections – is this unpaid work; is it hobby; is it marketing?
no really, GET SOME STRUCTURE!
So many facets to my life. And then I decided to become The Alternative Celebrant
I would say I’m pretty hedonistic. Money does not motivate me AT ALL, I am motivated to do things because they give me pleasure. Its difficult to split work from pleasure as they are often one in the same. This makes it makes it difficult to know when and what to charge for. (Hence the ‘Sales Funnel Concept’… You’ll need to defer to Dinah Liversidge for more on that one x)
I love wearing many hats; I love the variety, the excitement; the social interaction.
I HATE the endless lists and sub lists; the separate email systems; the inefficient filing; the disjointed tech solutions; the paperwork; the struggling to keep all the balls in the air. I was being inefficient with my time and energy. I was DOING busy rather than BEING busy (again, I refer you to Dinah).
I was trying to hold everything in my head. It was creating stress. I was missing deadlines.
Andy has helped me identify the solutions and continues to help me to implement them.
25 Day Reset – Looking Back So I can Move Forward
I’ve just looked at the notes I made on the work sheets on day 1
Under ” How do I feel” I’d scribbled words like “overwhelmed”, “unstructured”, “imposter”, “fearful”, “floundering”.
I’d graded my work life satisfaction as 3/10 and my mental wellbeing as 6/10 (although I was very happy with my personal life and happiness levels)
I was desperate to “define myself” and to “feel worthy and complete”
Where Am I Now?
Well…
During the week the alarm goes off at 7 and I have a cuppa (usually), then I head out to the Lake Spa Hotel, where I am a member and I have half an hour in the gym and a half hour swim. I come home, have breakfast and am feeling alive and ready to face the day.
By 11 am I have achieved SO MUCH
All my various ‘hats’ have different email addresses , FB pages and lists. These are being centralised using Microsoft 365, which I was paying for and not using properly. My Gmail accounts, Yahoo accounts etc etc are all being replaced by Outlook , which are all accessible FROM THE SAME PLACE.
I’m beginning to get to grips with Microsoft Calendars, OneNotes and To Do Lists which all link into each other and my emails AND all my documents and pictures which are now properly stored on Outlook. Which I’m using through APPS (which apparently I was not doing before). My phone and computer are linked and eventually Hubby will be linked to.
I am no longer floundering – well not nearly as much. And I am developing a ‘structure’
My website is coming together and I am able to ‘define’ myself
I completed my Celebrant training and I no longer feel like an ‘imposter’ I feel able and worthy (also excited, and scared ) but mostly self assured and confident in my worth and abilities.
In short…
Ok, I didn’t get all of this from the 25 Day Reset Program, (it would be unrealistic to expect so much from such a low cost and short program). But what I did get from it was motivation, focus and a damned good kick up the arse! I have made new contacts and new friends and I have realised that the way to achieve ‘everything’ is 2 goals at a time!
What is it that Abigail said on day 1? Well, amongst other things, “Commitment creates results, gift yourself the time to commit”
She also said “think marathon not sprint…”
Pop over to see how these 3 amazing peoples services and courses might benefit you. It not all about work. It is all about balance.
Abigail Barnes – Success by Design – Award-winning Entrepreneur, Author, Speaker, Coach and creator of the renowned 888 Formula.
Andy Parkes – SaxonPark – The Brand to Trust – Day to Day running of your business or family stresses eased
Dinah Liversidge -Mindset Coach and Mentor. International Trainer and Speaker. No-Box-Thinker
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