Make Life Big Calendar 2024
Before you start reading this it's worth us saying that we are not people that get excited by calendars - until we started using this one. Why is this 'Make Your Life Big Calendar' different to any other calendar? Well, that's easy. Because it forces you to be intentional with your year and your life. When you see each day and each month in one big helicopter view, it helps you plan to do the things that you actually want to do.
Have you ever felt that years just roll into one big blur? And you can't remember each year from the next? You simply cannot remember one adventure/experience/achievement you've done that stood out in the last few years. This will not happen if you use this calendar. Trust us. You will live with a renewed vigour and excitement about what's to come and at the end of the year you will look back and be proud of what you've accomplished.
It's not about achieving big, huge, massive goals or just about going on more holidays, it's about prioritising experiences - deciding what things you would love to do and actually doing them.
So, let's explain how this works. Keep with us.
Our inspiration for this calendar came from the amazing entrepreneur, Jessie Itzler. Jesse was the first to introduce us to using this calendar to live more intentionally and it's honestly changed our lives.
Step 1: Misogi / Your One Big Thing
So, step one for using this calendar is adopting the ritual of the Japanese tradition of Misogi, which we call 'Your One Big Thing'. Misogi (the contemporary version) focuses on the ritual of picking one thing per year that you’ve always wanted to do but it’s also something that scares you, challenges you and puts you out of your comfort zone - so much so that the ripple effect of doing it will positively impact the rest of your life i.e., making you a stronger, more resilient person, more skilled, more rounded person.
Our quote on the calendar of: ‘What if you just did that thing, you’ve always wanted to do, and everything worked out?’ is the perfect question to ask yourself when thinking of what your Misogi will be.
Don't be fearful of this. Be daring and be courageous. If you can't think of it right away move onto the next steps and come back to it.
Step 2: One Adventure a Month
Step two is about prioritising experiences, because experiences that are heightened with positive emotion (i.e., you will enjoy doing them) will be the ones you remember. So, the goal here is to pick one experience or adventure a month on any given weekend. It could be going to a restaurant you’ve always wanted to; it could be climbing a mountain in another country; it could be going on a retreat for a weekend – it can be anything. But one weekend per month you will have an adventure or experience in the calendar that you are looking forward to and you are committed to doing it.
Step 3: Your Life Right Now
This self-reflection exercise is about giving yourself a snapshot of where you are in your life right now as you approach a fresh year. It’s to help you stop and assess what areas in your life you’re happy with and what areas need attention. So, we want you to assess, on a scale of 1-10, each area of your life (health, career, money, relationship etc). The very centre of the circle is marked ‘0’ and the outer is marked ‘10’, so assess each individual area of where you feel you sit and draw a line according to that numerical value. i.e., if you give yourself a ‘9’ for career then you’ll draw your pen on the line one from the edge of the circle. If you mark yourself a ‘3’ for health, then you’ll draw along the line nearer the centre. Get it?
When you’ve marked each area, join up the lines from each section and shade in each area so it gives you a helicopter view of a wheel. If your wheel is balanced with 7’s and 8’s then it will form a pretty nice circular shape. If you’ve got a mix of very low scores and some high scores then your wheel will look pretty clunky and it’s an indication that your life is not as balanced as it could be, and that there are areas that need to be worked on.
Look at the lowest scoring area of your life and ask yourself:
- What factors are making this area score so low in my life?
- What things could I do – no matter how small – to bring my score up in this area? Even if it’s one mark up.
The goal here is to try and raise the score of these areas gradually over the year. Take it step by step, area by area if you need to and make small simple steps towards improving that score. Don't overwhelm yourself and try to fix- 3/4 sections in a month. Slow and steady wins the race here.
Additionally, for areas you score well in, ask yourself: how can I keep this score high? That's important in order to maintain the areas that are strong.
Step 3: Define Your Values
Values are principles, standards, or qualities that you hold in high regard – essentially what is important to you in how you live your life. These values guide the way we live and influence the decisions we make. When we live by our values we feel more fulfilled and when we don’t honour our values, our mental, emotional, and physical state suffers, and we feel out of sync.
Values are a key driver of self-worth, and self-confidence so we want our actions congruent to our value system.
For us, at KYIO, some of our values are adventure, health, kindness, family, personal growth. These are things that we value and as such, we spend time doing them because we feel they’re important to us. So, in this section it’s about really thinking about what are the things that you value in life? What is important to you?
When you have your values listed, rate each one 1-10 (as you did with then ‘Your Life Right Now’ exercise) and see which values are the lowest and not being met.
It’s also important to note three things when deciding on your values:
- Rate your values from 1-8 (or however many you come up with). Some values won't be as important to you as others so it's helpful you know the ones that really matter and just aren't negotiable.
- Ask yourself: are these ‘head’ values (i.e., what society says I should do)? Or are they ‘heart’ values (what my heart says I should do)? Be careful if your values are head focused values, as that can often mislead you. The goal here is to live a life according to who YOU are deep down and what fills your heart.
- Your values WILL change. As you go through the different stages in your life what’s important to you will change so try and revisit your values every six months.
Step 4: My High Vibrations List:
This list is all about simply determining what things in your life raise your vibration. raise your energy and what things give you joy. Because life isn’t always going to be sunshine and roses. Everyone has days and weeks when things just aren’t going right, and your energy vibration naturally drop. It’s in those moments when awareness plays a key role and you can recognise ‘Ok, I’m in a low vibration and I need to actively change my vibration myself.’ From that place, it’s about the power of choice and taking ownership. Choosing to do something that will make you feel physically, mentally and emotionally better. And this is where your list comes in.
Your list could be anything from watching funny videos on YouTube to going for a walk to calling over to that friend that always makes you laugh. The key here is to have a nice mix of small things and big things so you can adapt and choose as needs be. For example, if your list is all about climbing mountains and swimming in the sea, then you are not always going to have the time or capacity to do those things when you need to. You’ll need a cup of tea and a walk with your best friend in that instance, which is more accessible and more time friendly.
Remember, when you have this list defined, the more you choose to do things on your High Vibrations List, the better you will feel about life and the more you will attract what you want into your life. As Abraham Hicks always says: ‘Joy is the Key’.
Step 5: My Mantra for The Year
This is your year. It’s your life and your responsibility to live it the way you want. So, we urge you here to pick a mantra for the year that will inspire you and keep you motivated. If you’re debating whether to do something or contemplating a big decision during the year, this mantra is your guiding light.
Our mantra this year is: ‘Be Bold’. We picked that because we want to be bold in what we ask the universe and be bold in going after our dreams, knowing that we’re worthy of them.
Final Thoughts:
We hope you enjoy this calendar as much as we do. The goal is to live an intentional year, one that you can look back on and be proud and happy with what the memories and experiences that you have accumulated. We've done it for the last 5 years and we can't believe some of the amazing experiences and memories we've created.
Have fun and good luck!
David & Laura
