I love a good list.
I love writing them, I love doing the things on them, I love crossing them off when they’ve been completed. So when I heard that there was a journal (or rather, an experience) called the Head Plan that would allegedly change my life, I simply had to try it.
So, just what is the Head Plan? Essentially, it’s a journal, but a super detailed, organised, and focused journal.
It’s split up into a host of different sections including Short Term Goals, Long Term Goals, Monthly Glance, Weekly Goals, Weekly Reflection, and so on.
Within those there are sub categories pertaining to different aspects of your life. Everything from Finances to Self Care and Wellness to Physical Environment is included, meaning that if you’ve got any vague plan for the next day, week, or even next year, it’s going to find its way into the Head Plan.
A sucker for a list I decided to dive in. There’s infinite ways you can write down your to-do’s, but only one way you can write it in the Head Plan.
Upon starting my Head Plan journey, the book told me to get ready for the “first day of the rest of my best life.” It also encouraged me to follow all of the Head Plan’s social media accounts, and share my own goals with #TheHeadPlan hashtag – something I unequivocally refuse to do.
The idea behind the Head Plan is simple – write something down, and you’re more likely to make it happen. The only issue with this is my own intense awareness of failure avoidance, leading to the unlikelihood that I would ever record something that I wasn’t almost certain would be happening anyway.
On Week 1 for Personal Development and Learning I wrote that I wanted to play some keyboard. On Week 1, I did not play any keyboard. My keyboard now glares at me with reproach from its place in the sitting room, propped up against the wall, predominantly untouched.
Would I feel more or less guilty about not playing the keyboard if I hadn’t written it down before? It’s hard to say, but my inability to play the keyboard on Week 1 (or any week this month, let’s be honest) has been on my mind a considerable amount; enough to ensure I dedicated a full two paragraphs to it in this review. Maybe I should just play it and get it over with.
Elsewhere, the Head Plan has proven to be a steady means of planning and structuring my days. Before starting work I’ll flip the book open and jot down my goals – big and small – for the day, my appointments, and the main thing I want to achieve that day.
Some days it’s to do yoga even though I feel like crap. Others it’s to contact my landlord about a repair I’d been putting off logging. Some days it’s simply to eat something delicious for dinner.
These things I can do. These achievements I’ve been smashing. As I take a brief look back at the past month, I realise that I’ve pretty much done every day activity I set out to do. It’s right there in front of me, I may as well.
The concept of the Head Plan is rooted in positivity, and being honest with yourself. If something is unrealistic, you probably won’t write it down. If something you need to do is making you feel actively low, you’ll do your utmost to find a positive spin – you won’t get to include it in the journal if you don’t.
As part of its daily ritual, the Head Plan also encourages its users to write down two things at the end of each day: the highlight of their day, and whatever they’re most thankful for. It’s temping to write the same thing for each – and on days when I’m feeling particularly frustrated with life, not to write anything at all – but this is probably the most beneficial feature of the Head Plan. At least, it is for me anyway.
Keeping meticulous lists of every single thing you need to get done in a day can easily become daunting, or even monotonous. But knowing that there’s going to be at least one thing you’ll be grateful for forces focus on the positive and the light, even during days when there doesn’t seem to be a lot of that going around.
So, at the end of the month, did the Head Plan change my life? No, absolutely not. But have I felt a quiet sense of calm and control that isn’t usually reserved for the month of January? Yeah, I’m fairly certain I have.
It could be the Head Plan, it could be personal growth, it could be the two drops of CBD oil I’ve been taking every morning, noon, and night, but I’m not feeling half as overwhelmed as I usually do in the New Year – and that’s got to count for something.
