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.

Hello and welcome back to the Elevated Edit podcast.

I initially had a different podcast episode outlined, at least the beginning of it outlined for today.

But as I was outlining this episode, I realized that I was running into a roadblock.

So the initial episode was going to be about how I plan my week.

I get a lot of questions about it.

It's something I'm really passionate about.

It's honestly probably my favorite thing I do all week, which might be a little nerdy, but I love sitting down on Friday afternoons and planning my week ahead.

It's just really exciting to me.

And I was honestly really excited to do an entire episode, kind of bring y'all behind the scenes of how I plan my week.

But I was hitting this roadblock on the outline, and I realized that I can't explain my weekly planning process without explaining the bigger picture first.

That was why I was, like, going overboard and having to over explain things.

And it was getting really long and complicated.

And it was because I hadn't told you all about the bigger picture first.

And this is where I used to struggle.

And I think a lot of people struggle at this point as well with planning their week.

And it's not because they don't have a to do list.

It's because they don't know what actually matters.

And I used to be someone who had a ton of different priorities.

I would typically let the loudest things fill up my calendar first.

So if someone else didn't have very good boundaries, if other people were unorganized, if things were happening at the last minute, if things felt urgent, they typically got added to my calendar first, and then work stuff got added second, and then miscellaneous got added, and then anything else.

You know, it was just.

It was so backwards.

It was so behind and.

But like I said, most of my priorities were urgent.

Putting out fires, different things like that.

And it's so funny that I had priorities, because the word priority literally means the one thing that comes before everything else.

It wasn't until the 1900s that we actually started saying priorities plural.

And it's kind of sad that we're to this point where, like, everybody has all These priorities, because when you focus on one clear priority, the payoff is massive.

And I used to.

I've heard this, you know, obviously I've loved the personal development space for almost a decade now, and I've heard it a lot.

But it wasn't until the last year or two that I really started to focus on this.

And I was like, oh, wow.

Focusing on one clear priority does have a massive payoff.

And it's almost counterintuitive because you want to do all the things.

And so you're like, how is focusing on one thing and having one priority?

How does that help?

But it genuinely really does, and we're going to get into that a little bit later on in the episode.

And one thing I want you to remember throughout this episode, and what I really want you to take away from the episode is the point of planning your week is to be able to answer the question, if I could accomplish one thing this week, what would move the needle the most?

And kind of using that as like your filter.

And one thing I realized that I was not doing before was I did not have a clear filter for my decisions.

And for me, that filter is now my word of the year.

And I feel like people's word of the year.

It's like, you know, you have your vision board and you see it on Pinterest.

It's like, okay, that's cute.

She's got a word of the year.

Like, you go, girl.

You've got a word of the year.

But it's not just a cute idea.

It is actually a way to ensure that every choice that you make is aligned.

It helps you say yes to the right things and no to everything that doesn't serve your bigger vision.

For me personally, my word has shaped the way that I make decisions, the way I structure my goals, and ultimately the way I plan my.

My weeks.

So last year, my word of the year was action.

I wanted to take action on things.

I wanted to be very intentional.

I wanted to overcome my hesitation and my perfectionism and my procrastination.

And I wanted to just take action and get things done.

And so I told myself at the beginning of the year, I was like, you know, as opportunities rise, I really want you to see, say yes and take action.

So when Jessica asked me if I wanted to go to Europe, yes, take action.

When I got the idea to start the podcast, yes, take action.

When I decided to go to the summit in Georgia, yes, take action.

So last year was like a very, like, action oriented year and it really, really paid off.

For me, in 2025, my word of the year, you kind of have to, like, hear the explanation because on the at first you hear it and you're like, that's very surface level of you.

But my word of the year for 2025 is content.

And initially it sounds like, okay, that's cool, like, you're worried about your social media content.

But for me, content is so much deeper.

It's not just the way that I'm showing up.

It's not just how I'm showing up, it's a way that I'm showing up.

Yes, that's all I wanted to say.

And I want to make sure that everything that I produce, all of the content that I create, is full of, like, high quality substance.

Like, I don't want to make a social media post just to make it.

Like, I want to bring a message.

I don't want to create a podcast episode just to create it.

Like, I want to bring a message.

I want to provide value.

I want to change someone's belief system.

I want to be, you know, aspirational or whatever it is.

And I really want this year for my content to be solid.

And in order for me to do that, I have really had to, like, focus on, okay, I need to cut back on social media and read better books and cut back on watching TV and listen to better podcasts.

And so it's really been so far this year about kind of taking, implementing micro changes and microhabits so that the substance is better.

Because I know my output will be a lot better if, if my input is a lot better.

So just think of that as you are, you know, maybe considering your word of the year, reconsidering your word of the year, maybe you're super proud of it.

Like, if you are, like, keep glowing, don't change your word of the year just because, you know, I got on here and told you that it needs to be your filter.

This is just the way that I do things.

And it has really worked for me the last couple of years for sure.

And one thing I want to point out, as of the time of this recording, it is about mid February.

It is not too late.

If you don't have a word of the year, it's your word.

You can come up with it whenever you want to.

If you have a word and you want to change it, that's totally fine.

It's your word.

You get to choose it whenever you want.

You get to choose whichever word you want and you can change it as many times as you want.

Like, I'll be super honest in this season right now, content is my word.

But once the company is launched, I do think content and substance will still be obviously extremely important.

But I do think I will probably shift my priorities and focus in like maybe Q3 or Q4 of 2025.

So I might not have the same word of the year all year.

And so that's okay.

Like, the cool thing about this is there's no rules.

You can literally do whatever you want.

There's like such a freedom of this.

And so take what you want from this and use it how you need it and you know, take little bits and pieces from other people as well and make your word of your work for you, because it is your freaking word.

Just use something, have something that is going to bring clarity to all of your decisions.

And so I'm going to show you how kind of how I get to my weekly planning.

And this was why weekly planning was really difficult to just jump straight into because I've got to give you a background of how we get to the weekly planning.

So for me, I love to have a five year vision.

I don't necessarily love a five year plan because I think it's honestly laughable for any of us to assume that we know the plan.

You know, there's someone that's in charge and he knows way more than we do about that.

But I love to have a five year vision.

Like, what would I like for my life to look like in five years?

And then from that five year vision I go, okay, what does my one year vision need to look like in order to support that five year vision?

And then from the one year vision, break it down quarterly and then monthly.

And then that comes down to weekly planning.

Because really your, your year goals and your five year goals are built pretty much, you know, hour by hour.

And so weekly planning is really important.

And it's such a domino effect of clarity.

Clarity once you get clear on your big picture.

So for me, my example was my 5 year goal is financial and time freedom.

Freedom is kind of the overarching goal with like, you know, financial and time being the two big ones that I want to have the most freedom in.

And so for me, that means my one year goal is scaling my business.

And if my one year goal is scaling my business, then my quarterly goal.

So quarterly and monthly for me right in this moment are one in the same.

That means launching my program and really kind of getting the branding and the messaging and the sales and the logistics and all the systems in place.

That is my current monthly goal, launching the program.

And so for me, that means this week in particular, my priority needs to contribute to that launch.

And so the funny thing for me right now, I planned my week this past Friday, so I'm recording this on a Sunday.

I planned my week this last Friday.

Okay, so content is my filter and I need to focus on my launch this week.

So if content is my filter, I'm like, okay, I am already listening to, listening to a high quality book and I'm reading a high quality book.

I always like to be listening to a book and reading a book.

And I also have a podcast that I'm binging right now.

And this girl is so fantastic.

She is like a thousand times smarter than me.

And I love getting people who are so much smarter than me in my head.

I'm like, yes, like, give me all of your knowledge stick in my brain.

And so I've got those under lock and key.

But I'm like, okay, if I need to be focusing on my launch this week and I need to be focusing on my content because that is the filter that I run everything through.

For me personally, that means this week I need to prioritize my mental well being because I cannot show up excited and energized and creative to prep for a launch if I am exhausted and burnout and, you know, overworked.

So for me, that means this next week, filtering everything through the content and how I know I need to show up for the launch.

I am adjusting my sleep schedule to get an extra hour of sleep.

I'm ensuring that I, you know, get my workout in first thing in the morning.

I'm ensuring that my evenings are pretty light because evenings really wear me out.

And so I'm ensuring that I am not super social on during any of my evenings this next week.

Like, I am trying to keep my energy and my creativity high because I need to be focusing on my content for the launch.

And my content for the launch is going to be super high energy.

It needs to be creative, it needs to be bold.

It needs to be different.

Now if you look at this versus last week, I was working on the logistics.

So a lot of the back end stuff, a lot of the, you know, last minute financial stuff, website tracking, all of the, all of that.

So my mindset was a lot different.

I didn't need to be creating creative for me last week.

I needed to be super focused on like stretching every single minute of my day.

So last week I didn't have as much of a focus on my well being because I didn't need to show up creative, I didn't need to show up like super high energy.

I could be very stoic and very focused and very diligent.

So my schedule last, last week looked different than it did this week and that's why I love a filter because your seasons of your life are going to look so different.

Like next week is going to look different for me than this week did and the week after that I'm probably going to sleep a lot because I'm going to be really tired.

But like, right now I'm on like a very like schedule.

That feels good for me because I am looking ahead and I'm ebbing and flowing and I'm not trying to get everything done all at once.

I'm just being really time blocked and really structured with my time and it feels so good.

And it's really exciting to have my priority this week focusing on my well being and my health and showing up in a creative and excited way.

Like, I'm pumped for that.

It's going to be a really fun week.

We're going to get a lot of content covered.

I'm going to have all of the branding completed and I'm really excited for that.

This is the part that I'm excited for because I love going crazy with branding and going crazy with marketing and just thinking all about the client experience, like that is what I'm really pumped for and that is what is so powerful about these filters.

Knowing exactly what to do is powerful, it really is.

But what's even more powerful is knowing exactly what not to do.

So this next week I know what to say no to because I know that I need to be focused on content and I know that my launch coming up is what my content is.

I need to show up as my most creative and energized self and as a result, I need to get plenty of sleep and show up as, you know, my highest version of myself where I'm rested and hydrated and I've worked out and I am not exerting all my energy, you know, making small talk.

I'm not going to hang out with certain people this week because they suck my energy.

I'm not going to watch certain shows, I'm not going to get on social media a lot.

Like I'm going to be very intentional about my actions this week week because I have a very clear, indirect filter to filter everything through.

Do y'all see why I couldn't just jump into how I plan my week?

I know it's so, it sounds so complicated, but I promise, like, once you put it into practice, it's very, very simple and it makes decisions very easy.

Like, like this week.

I know if it's not something that pours into my energy and helps me show up as my most creative self, it's a no.

And that's really, it's really great for me, I think, especially as someone who is a people pleaser, because my gut reaction is typically to say yes.

And this has really forced me to be like, oh, hold on.

That doesn't, that doesn't align with what, you know, my overall vision is.

And it's been for me, the difference between being reactive versus intentionally planning.

Because before I would overload my schedule, I wouldn't have a clear focus and I was not planning with a bigger picture in mind, a bigger vision in mind, a bigger goal in mind.

And it's been so beneficial for me to kind of step back and look at a big picture and then plan down from there.

So go super macro and then go super micro.

Because if you're not planning your week with a bigger picture in mind, you're probably not, you know, making the momentum and making the, the forward progress that you, you possibly could.

And you're going to be burnt out, you're going to be exhausted.

It's going to be.

That's when things start to get really hard.

And that's when things start to get really unclear and really muddy and really foggy.

So if you are not currently planning your week with a bigger picture in mind, start by choosing a word of the year.

Set your monthly focus, and then map out your priority for the week.

And then I want you to DM me and let me know how it goes because I love hearing from y'all and I love hearing how these little tips and actions help you.

It keeps me motivated for sure, especially in the season where I am stretching myself and doing things that are very different and kind of scary.

And yeah, it's, it's definitely an interesting season, for sure.

If you found this episode helpful, I would love it if you would screenshot this episode and share it on Instagram with what your biggest takeaway was.

With that, 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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Until next time.

Keep growing, glowing and elevating your life.

See you soon.