“I’m living every day like a hustle.” The Notorious B.I.G.
Sometimes we get lost in the hustle. We spend so much time looking forward to what we want that we forget to reflect on how far we have come. As someone who started my own business within the last year, this forward focus has been in high gear. Each week I ask myself “what else” I want to tackle to build my foundations.
Last week when I was in my office, I got a friendly reminder from the Universe to look back. I have many ways to plan and track my task list, but the one that stopped me was my 9-Grid. The 9-Grid is an easy, visual way to lay out nine big pieces of the puzzle you are trying to solve. This particular 9-Grid had a collection of things I wanted to launch in my business.
Podcast, Blog, Love Your Body Program, The Prework Program, Social Templates
It stopped me because these have all launched. When I wrote this out six months ago, I was trying to identify the big rocks for my business. What were the pieces I wanted to offer? I plugged the ones I knew in the 9-Grid and left a few open spaces for once those were complete.
I stand here today saying they have all launched. What somedays feels like a steady uphill climb is actually a series of celebratory peeks. I have made it to the markers I want, and it’s time to keep climbing.
I still get lost in a new business’s “still building” phase. There is always so much more I want to do and create, but this little reminder showed me how far I had come in a very short time.
So this month, your exercise to help you clear the path to what you want is the 9-Grid.
The 9-Grid
The 9-Grid is a photography term used to frame what you want in the picture. In photography, it relates to where you space items in your frame for a more pleasing image. For you, it will be nine pieces of your life puzzle you want to move towards. Your practice this month is to build your 9-Grid of dreams you want to achieve.
These nine pieces can be short or long-term goals. They can be things you wish to accomplish or feelings you want to master (like how you approach your day with peace and calm versus stress and anxiety). It is your wish board to place up to nine things you want.
You don’t have to fill all nine in, and you don’t have to know how to get there. The purpose of this exercise is to launch your wish. Then one by one, you can select a square on your 9-Grid and start working towards it.
One year ago this month, I got a call that changed my life. I got a call that invested in me and my business. I got a call that enabled me to move forward on a huge dream I had for myself – to become a solopreneur. So where do you want to be in one year? I am living proof it can all happen in an instant, and your dreams can become a reality.
9-Grid Planning
Follow these steps below.
- Get out a blank piece of paper. I recommend this be an individual sheet you can post in your office. You don’t want it getting lost in a notebook. Out of sight, out of mind.
- Title your paper “My Next 9 Wishes.” You might want to add the month and year to know when you started these dreams.
- Draw a large square on the paper.
- Divide your square into three columns and three rows by adding two perpendicular lines and two horizontal lines. Space your lines to create nine boxes of the same size.
- Now for the fun… start to drop in your wishes. What do you want to achieve? You might put “new house, save money, pay off debt, vacation to Bali, etc.” What do you want?
- Fill in as many squares as you like. Don’t feel pressured to fill them all. I only filled six because those were the items I wanted to complete before defining more.
- Now take your 9-Grid and post it. I had mine behind my computer monitor, so it wasn’t in my face every day, but I was reminded to check on my list periodically.
I would love to see what you create! Feel free to post your nine grid and tag me on social.
As a building small business, referrals and testimonials are GOLD. I appreciate every like, share, comment, and repost you make on social or in person.
If you enjoy these practices every month, please share them on social media and invite your friends to join the email list.
xoxo, erica