Welcome to the Elevated Edit Podcast.

I'm your host, Blakely Ramsey, and the goal of this podcast is to discuss all things personal development, wellness, and the art of editing your life in an elevated way.

From mastering morning routines to mastering your mindset, we're going to sift through the noise and empower you to take elevated action.

Make sure you catch the show notes for all the details.

Enjoy the show.

Do you want to know what's really exhausting?

It's not falling off track.

It's having to start over from scratch every single time.

Life gets busy and you miss a week, you get sick, you on vacation, and suddenly everything unravels.

Today we're talking about the real reason why most people struggle with consistency.

And it has nothing to do with motivation or discipline, but it has everything to do with systems.

If you are tired of starting over every single time you fall off track, this episode is going to show you what to do instead.

Here is kind of a sad truth that I am realizing in my coaching program.

And it's not anything that's super new to me, but it is startling to me how many women truly get so down on themselves.

They talk very negatively to themselves because they say, well, I'm just not motivated.

I am just not disciplined.

I'm just not this, I'm not that.

But really, it's because they just lack structure.

It has nothing to do with their willpower or their motivation level or their discipline level.

They just don't have structure.

They don't have any systems in place.

And so when there is any even tiny disruption, you get sick, your kids get sick, the electricity goes out, the WI fi goes out, there's a storm.

Whatever it is, no matter how big or how small, it can derail everything.

So you end up, okay, say you get sick, so you skip a day and you think, okay, well, I wasn't consistent, so I'm.

I'm just not going to do it tomorrow.

I'm going to start over on Monday.

So then you end up skipping a week, and then all of a sudden you're back at square one again.

And the truth is, and I think a lot of people, and it's because the media tells us this, they think that consistency is showing up and doing it perfectly every single day.

They go, okay, well, I have to wake up and run the perfect morning routine.

I have to wake up and check my emails the perfect way.

I have to wake up and work out the best way.

I have to wake up and eat the best way.

And if I don't do it exactly perfectly, then it's completely shot and I'll just start over again tomorrow.

But consistency, consistency is not about doing it perfectly.

It is about building momentum that you can return to.

So when you are derailed, so when you do mess up, so when things, you know, your schedule does go to cahoots, because it happens to the very best of us, I think that is something too, that a lot of women, especially my coaching program, are struggling with, is they're like, oh, well, I just have things pop up in my schedule all the time.

And I'm like, yeah, that's life.

Like, I don't, I don't do it.

I don't say an economist anyway.

But like, that's part of it.

That's part of the game.

That's part of being alive.

We're always going to have things that pop up.

We're always going to have people.

People get sick, we get in a wreck, there's a storm.

Like, there's going to be things that happen that are so far outside of our control and we can't just go, oh, well, oh, well, you know, I give up.

But if we have momentum that we can return to, if we have a landing place to go, okay, you know what?

Last couple days were kind of a storm, kind of a disaster, but you know exactly where to return to and you know exactly how to get back in that pace.

And it's going to help you so much.

I tell all of my clients, if you're relying on motivation to stay consistent, I say this with love.

I hold your hand when I say it, but your, your calendar, your system, everything is broken.

We need to completely start over from scratch because motivation is not going to get you very far.

I'll say this as someone who I do consider myself to be pretty high achieving, I feel like I get quite a bit done.

I am motivated to get out of bed 40, 50% of the time.

I don't know.

I usually, I do jump out of bed.

Like, I'll.

That wasn't a good example.

Checking email, I'm like, oh, my gosh, I don't want to do this.

Or sometimes even recording a podcast episode, I'm like, you know what?

I would really rather, like, go lay down and take a nap or watch a new episode of White Lotus or go outside and lay in the grass.

Like, I am rarely motivated, but I have a system and I know, okay, I always fall back on my systems to go, okay, what's next?

What's my next step?

What's my next move?

What's my next idea, because I have all these ideas, and sometimes you get to the end of the month and you're like, well, I didn't.

I didn't make any progress on anything.

You need a system to fall back on so you can actually stay in the groove, stay in that momentum without relying on your motivation.

One thing I do see my coaching clients go through, and it's almost like I literally.

You can see it on their face, is when we build a system, no matter how big or how small, because all their systems are going to look very different for each one of them.

They have, like, an exhale moment, and you can just see, like, their shoulders drop a little bit and they don't.

I don't even know if they realize how big it is, but I can, like, literally see it where they're just like, oh, okay.

It.

I.

It wasn't me this whole time.

It was just my lack of systems.

It's like, yeah, it's definitely not you.

Like, you're actually really doing super great.

But if you don't have a system to fall back on, like, how are you ever gonna make any forward progress?

Because it's all stuck in your head like a big, chaotic jumble.

They have somewhere to house everything.

They have somewhere to put everything.

They have somewhere where they go, okay, next week is spring break.

Kids are out of school.

Like, that's what.

At the time of this recording, a lot of my coaching clients are getting ready for spring break that's coming up, and they're like, I'm really nervous about spring break because I've been in a good routine.

I've been in a.

A good system.

I'm like, it's okay.

Take the whole week off and spend it with your babies.

Having a system in place allows you to know exactly where to get back to when the kids go back to school.

That's.

That's what all of this is.

It's not a.

A rigid structure that you've got to show up every single day and you have to do it exactly right.

It's just a place to land.

So when you do have spring break or summer vacation or Christmas or whatever it is, you can be fully present because you know exactly what you're going to get back to on Monday, and you're going to be right back in the groove.

It.

It literally is like such a gift to your brain.

Just be able to go, okay, I am still making progress on the things that matter to me, and I'm being super present and super intentional with my family and to me, that is the real win.

It's not hustle.

It's not this perfection.

It is just rhythm.

It is showing up consistently.

Whatever consistently looks like for you.

A repeatable rhythm protects your peace even when life gets busy.

That's what system says.

I've had so many people ask me.

They're like, what exactly is a system?

I'm like, everything is really a system.

Like, everything's a system you probably have.

I had one girl, she's like, I don't.

I can't do systems.

And so I was like, well, tell me a little bit about your day.

Like, what is your current day like?

And she was like, well, you know, wake up and do this and this and this and this.

And I'm like, you have systems.

You just haven't thought about your systems.

One of my coaches, she always says, blakely, I want you to think about how you're thinking.

And at first I was like, okay, think about how.

But now I'm like, oh, I need to think about how I'm thinking.

That's so good to me.

Just if.

If you're like, that doesn't really make sense.

Just sit on it for a second.

You'll be like, dang, that goes really deep.

So this is how I personally run my own personal system so that I'm not constantly starting over from scratch.

I created a digital planner for myself, and I'm working on a digital planner for you.

Like I said, I've got.

It's going through the beta round right now because it was specifically designed for me.

And so I pulled the core part of that planner out and created a new one.

And I want to make sure that it actually is functionable.

That is one of the downfalls, in my opinion of digital planners is they're so complicated.

There's no.

Like, you have to literally learn this whole new platform.

You've got to learn how to use it.

You end up never using it, and then you're just frustrated and you're mad at yourself because you didn't use a planner, and it's just a whole guilt trip.

It's just not a good situation.

I'm trying to change that because I am adding in tutorials and checklists and different tips, and I'm making it fun, I'm making it engaging.

I'm making it more of a mindset system, an ex execution system, versus just your regular old planner.

It's going to be really good.

But I love this product so much because I built it for myself.

I built it selfishly.

I built it with the intention of never, you know, publicly putting it out into the world.

But I built it for one purpose, and that was to place.

Give myself a place to return to when everything else felt chaotic.

Because life happens.

I mean, especially if you're in an industry that's up and down, or if you got multiple careers or multiple businesses, if you've got children, if you've got relationships, if you've got family in other states, if you've got a lot of different commitments, life can really feel chaotic or just if you're alive in 2025.

I feel like life can feel super chaotic sometimes.

But for me, my planner holds my routines, it holds my vision, it holds my strategies, it holds everything in one place.

So if I miss a few days, like one day last week, one of my friends was like, hey, do you want to go grab some coffee and walk around antique shops with me all day and just do nothing?

And I was like, yeah, that actually sounds really great.

It was completely impromptu, completely unplanned, but I wasn't stressed out about it because I had a system to fall back on.

And I knew I wasn't going to let things slip through the cracks.

When I got back to my workstation is what I call this, I was like, I know exactly what I'm going to jump back into.

So I'm not constantly being reactive.

I have that time freedom in my life, and I have a system to fall back on.

So if I do miss a day or if I do get sick or, you know, if I.

Whatever it is, maybe I just want to lay around and binge watch a tv.

I have a system to fall back on so that when I come back, I'm not like, oh, my gosh, I don't even know where to start.

I.

So I'm so overwhelmed.

And no judgment, if that's where you are, because I've been there, too.

But that's why I created the planner, so I could get back into a rhythm and without drama and guilt and starting from zero.

And you know what I'm talking about.

When you get back from vacation, there's usually some drama almost.

Sometimes the day before a vacation and the day after, I'm like, is this worth it?

Is it actually worth it to go out of town for all the things I have to plan for so that I can actually leave?

And then all of the things that I push off, all the things I'm coming back to, sometimes it can feel super overwhelming.

But if you have a system in place to put all of those things in it really will alleviate so much anxiety and tension for you.

Now, here's a trap that many high achieving women fall into.

They think that consistency means doing everything every day.

Exactly right.

It doesn't.

Consistency just means returning.

Returning to your plan, returning to your rhythm, returning to yourself, returning to why you're doing all of this.

What, what is your, what's your reasoning for doing all this in the first place?

And doing it without shame, without guilt, without telling yourself, oh, well, I skipped two days, so I've got to start over from square one.

No, we're, we're putting bricks on the foundation of our life.

And even if we don't lay bricks for a couple days, it's okay.

When we come back, those bricks aren't going to be gone.

Those, the foundation we've already started is going to be there and we just add more on.

Add more on.

You don't need a clean slate if you, your, your calendar goes to crap and you, you know, things just went haywire.

Like, I feel like sometimes when it rains, it pours and it's like one thing after another happens and you're, you like literally lose three days.

It's like, what just happened?

Like, I was just surviving the last three days.

But if you have a system to fall back on, that is like your place to land.

It's like, okay, last three days were kind of nuts.

Definitely did not go as I expected it to.

But I know exactly where I need to refocus my energy.

I know exactly which tasks I need to work on next.

Like the minute I get I set down a calendar, I know exactly what I'm working on next.

I'm like, oh, my planner.

I open it up to my daily checklist that I built based on all of the other systems within my planner and I know exactly what to do.

Boom.

So nice when your brain isn't spending energy trying to remember, what do I need to do next?

Or what's the next step after this?

Or oh, you know what?

I took a screenshot of something that I really wanted to try and.

Hold on one second, give me a minute.

I gotta scroll through my screenshot so you can't find.

Find it.

Having a system puts all of this strategy in one place.

That is one of the really cool things that I've built into my planner is I have Swipe files for YouTube, for the podcast, for the coaching program, for books I want to read.

And if I screenshot, screenshot something, I'll add it to the swipe file because if I screenshot it And I just leave it in my phone.

It's.

It's as good as wasted.

You know, it's.

I'll never go back and look at it, but if I put it in my swipe file, and then when I am cleaning everything out and going through my monthly, yes, we go through all the things, that is what is housed in my weekly focus in my planner.

When I'm going through all that, I go through all those swipe files and I'm like, I actually don't want to use that.

Or, this is actually really cool.

I'm glad I saved it for myself.

Let's execute on this.

It will give you a place to go.

Okay, this is a really good idea.

I don't have to do it right now.

I can save it for later.

And I know that I'll actually get it done later because I put it in a place that I'm going to flow through, and I'm going to flow through it at a time where I'm being very intentional.

And that is massive because.

And I've been in this place before too, where, like, say you're struggling to create content and you see a really cool TikTok or you see a really cool reel and you're like, oh, my gosh, I've got to.

I want to do that.

And so you feel this pressure to stop and do it right that moment.

Because somewhere in the back of your mind, your mind goes, if you save this for later, you're never going to come back to it again.

If you save it in Instagram or you screenshot it, you're never going to come back to it.

Versus, if you give yourself like, okay, I have a system.

I have a system I love and I have a system I use.

Your brain can go, that's a cool idea.

Let's save that for later.

Let's save that.

When we're in our content batch, we're in our execution, execution batch, or whatever it is your brain can actually like.

Your brain trusts you enough to know that you're going to circle back to it and you're going to follow up on it and you're going to actually execute it.

And when you're in that flow, your brain will actually start looking for more opportunities.

Like, the better my systems get, the more creative I am, because my brain knows, like, my brain trusts me to execute on the ideas that it gives me.

And it's just.

It's such a fantastic place to be.

When all of your strategies, all of your ideas, all of your habits are held in One system, it allows you to show up clear, it allows you to show up focused, and it allows you to have energy to pour into the things that actually matter to you.

Taking care of your family, following your vision, following your mission, volunteer work, whatever it is like, whatever actually matters to you, you can show up with energy to spare because you have a place for everything.

And that is the real benefit of systems.

I could talk about systems for days and days and days, and I hope you'll understand how passionate I am about it.

But I'm not just, like, trying to sell something or I'm not trying to, like, convince you something's important when it's not.

Like, systems literally can change your life.

Especially if you're someone who, like, has this.

There's such a guilt, and I've been there too, where there's this guilt of, like, I'm not doing enough.

I know I could do more.

I don't even know where to get started.

I don't know what's, like, I don't know what's wrong with me.

Why am I not motivated?

All these people on social media are so motivated.

You probably just need a system.

It's not you, it's just your lack of systems.

Or you might be using systems that people created and they didn't put a lot of heart and intention into it.

And that's why as I'm creating the planner, I mean, very careful to be very intentional, because I know what it feels like to buy a planner or buy a program and you jump into it and the creator didn't think about the audience enough and they just created something that looks really flashy and looks really good and sounds really exciting.

But when you go to actually use it, it just makes you feel worse about yourself.

And so that is why I'm trying to be so intentional about being very careful when I'm creating these products and I'm, I'm having the, all of my coaching programs, the planners, everything beta tested so much because I want to get as much feedback as possible.

I tell everyone, be so critical about this.

Like, I want you to pretend like you were the toughest critic in the whole world.

And if you purchase this planner without knowing me, what would you think about it?

Like, would you be confused?

Where are you confused at?

And I'm taking all that feedback and I'm taking, I'm making little notes and I'm going through and I am creating a checklist or I'm recording a tutorial or whatever it is.

Like, it's going to be so good.

It's going to be so beautiful and it's going to help you not just rely on motivation, but rely on structure.

So if you have been stuck in this loop of inconsistency, if you keep starting and falling off, if you feel like you're constantly trying to get back on track, I want you to hear this.

You don't need a fresh start, you just need a system.

Make sure that you are subscribed to the podcast and to the YouTube channel so that you know exactly when the planner comes out.

These are the two spaces that will hear about the planner first, because These are the two spaces that I'm really pouring my energy into in 2020.

Yes, I'm going to show up on the other platforms as well, but for me, YouTube, podcast, email newsletter are going to be my main focuses.

This is not going to be just a planner.

It's going to be a full execution system that you can come back to again and again and again.

No matter what season you're in, it's going to be so exciting.

I think you're really going to love it and I can't wait for you to see it.

Okay, I hope that you got some value out of today's episode.

I hope it took some weight off of your shoulder to just take away the guilt of not being motivated and to maybe reframe your mindset when it comes to being consistent.

Okay, I hope you have a great rest of your day and I will see you in the next episode.

Thank you for tuning in to the elevated Edit podcast.

I hope you found today's episode inspiring and full of actionable tips.

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Keep growing, glowing and elevating your life.

See you soon.