I personally love journaling a lot. I’ve always relied on writing as a way to obtain better clarity of thought. I’ve journaled for 6+ years now and writing has never failed me.
In 2019, I hit a rough patch with anxiety and depression. And in order to understand how I ended up in this bad place, I went back to review all my journals right from the first one in 2013.
This exercise made me realise a lot of things.
- I write as if I’m speaking to a dear friend. My journal is my bestie in many ways!
- As I flipped back, I saw the first signs of stress and impending sadness from months ago…
- As I went back further to my college days, I found my scribbles about what I aspire for myself in 3-5 years. And then I looked at my latest note on dreams I wish to pursue.. guess what? While a lot of them were ticked off, I had so many pending items in there!
This whole process made me reflect on a couple of things:
- What if I had more diligently and more frequently reflected upon my life, feelings and work? Could I have discovered myself falling into a bad state before it actually became so bad?
- What if I converted my dreams and aspirations into goals with a plan and a timeline? Could I have accomplished them better by breaking them down to smaller milestones and habits that I then pursue every single day, week and month?
It took me about 8 months to fully recover from depression. Once I recovered, it was a fresh beginning. This is when I started to factor in several new things just so that I see myself more clearly, stay honest with myself and catch myself well before I stop functioning altogether:
That’s what ‘Mirror‘ symoblizes too. That you can ‘See Yourself’ with a bit more clarity with the planner.
Design
As a routine check and planning, I started incorporating the following into my everyday life
- Mental Health and ensuring I keep myself in check
- Breaking down my goals into easy to do activities that add up over time to help me accomplish the goal
- Monthly reflections with myself where I answer a few questions to better understand the progress of my life and then plan for the next month
I practised this for 3 months – Where I manually write a set of questions and answer them
Soon, it became draining to repeatedly write the 15+ questions every single month… And then my current journal was about to be over too.
I started my quest for my perfect journal which I did not find. This nudged me to take a step back and really assess what I need from my journal. I started scribbling down the things I need in my book and I realised I need two things:
- A journal with blank sheets for my free-flowing thoughts and notes
- A planner that guides me in thinking and answering the right questions to ensure I’m in the right direction
The planner evolved from a crude monthly planner to this full blow guide and friend that helps you set and track life goals, prioritise your goals and break them down, follow quarterly and monthly reflection + planning as well as use powerful tools such as the mental health assessment, Eisenhower matrix and habit tracker to ensure you catch yourself if you are even slightly off track.
Evolution
What started out as a pencil sketch changed into a digital design, first prototype and is now the Mirror Planner you see 🙂
Patrons
I was sharing my progress on Instagram and soon many people shared their feedback on the planner, expressed interest in the planner and supported me.
After I received my initial prototype which was manually printed and bound, I liked the quality and decided to put them for sale.
Rest is history.
Honestly, I consider my initial supporters as my early investors and board of advisors. It is these folks that shared their feedback with me and backed me with the initial purchases, both of which are supercritical for any creator or artist.
I feel fortunate to have a bunch of people who support me and I cannot thank them enough. Call it cliche, but I truly would not have come this far in creating the planner without you guys 🙂
Thank you for your Patronship. I hope you find the same value with the planner as I did.
As you begin this new journey with me – know that you are not alone!
Whether you are an expert planner or a novice, know that I’m here for you. On my website, you will find more resources on how to use this planner, attain productivity and stay sane as life happens 🙂
Have questions or suggestions? Please let me know by writing to me at hello@aryamurali.com.
Happy Writing!