Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] When life derails, you try a grid. Part 3 of 3 highlighting the get Productive Grid Sometimes my best thinking happens with a cup of tea, a notebook and a view that reminds me how big the world really is. That's where I am today as I write this looking out at the Alps, I'm finally ready to show you the grid I've been talking about.
[00:00:21] But before I do, let me tell you about the week that brought me here. A Day in Bed finally, after I returned from a dear friend's memorial in London, I got sick. I had a fever for 24 hours straight and I could barely think.
[00:00:33] That my dog, Fritz Lee was still at his hotel meant that I could stay in bed all day without feeling guilty.
[00:00:39] I didn't take anything except for ginger lemon tea with local Alpine honey during the day. I just let my body do its thing.
[00:00:47] Finally, at bedtime, I took two Tylenol. The next morning I woke up fever free and ready to face the day. I I love the body's ability to heal itself.
[00:00:57] Trapped by Bike Race the next curveball came when I was leaving the grocery store. My car was suddenly blocked by barricades for the 2025 Tour de Suisse Women Stage 1 race. I was furious. I had groceries in the car, cooking in the sun, and I was supposed to pick up Fritz Lee between 5 and 5:30. I couldn't stand the thought of being away from him one more day. The grocery store signs had said the exit would be closed from 4:30 to 5:45.
[00:01:24] I was leaving at 4. That should have been fine, but when I asked the race crew what was going on, they just shrugged and said they are early.
[00:01:32] In the end, everything worked out. My food stayed fresh, the dog hotel extended the pickup window. I even made it just in time to see the cyclists fly past the 150 meter mark. And yes, I got caught on video at the 4 minute 22 second mark. Check out the link.
[00:01:50] A big win. And then, just when I thought the week might never turn around, I got an email.
[00:01:55] I graduated from the Harvard Medical School Executive Education, Lifestyle and Wellness coaching program.
[00:02:02] After everything, I had a big joyful exhale.
[00:02:06] Working on my own grid. The Harvard course reminded me of something I've been working on quietly in the background. My own grid, the productivity framework developed by Dr. Magdalena Back Meyer. I realized I needed to include the six pillars of lifestyle medicine from the course in my own grid. They are exercise, nutrition, Sleep, stress, resilience, positive social connections, and avoidance of risky substances.
[00:02:32] These pillars aren't just wellness buzzwords they're non negotiables for long term health. Which brings me to the larger structure I've been updating in this blog. Three pillars of this 1. Finding your true self. This is about breaking free from what others expect and figuring out who you really are.
[00:02:51] Not just self worth, but your whole identity when. When you're not trying to please everyone else.
[00:02:57] 2. Living well. This goes way beyond mental health. It's about. It's. It's. It's talking about lifestyle medicine. How you eat, move, sleep, connect with people, manage stress. The whole picture of wellness when you have resources to do it right.
[00:03:11] 3. Money and meaning this is where the financial piece lives. It's about using your wealth in ways that feel right to you. Balancing what your family wants with what you want to create in the world.
[00:03:23] A conversation that stuck with me in London. I had a conversation that really got under my skin. A few women shared how they'd been cut out of wills, not because of any estrangement, but because they were women.
[00:03:35] Primogeniture, the system that favors male heirs to keep estates intact, was still being used. Here's what stuns me. If the goal is certainty of lineage, maternal line is the only one you can be sure of. And yet in many families, estates go to the male heir, regardless of birth order, because it's assumed he'll run things well. Women can run things just as well as men, it turns out.
[00:04:00] If you're intrigued by this topic, I highly recommend Philippa Gregory's Wideacre trilogy. It's historical fiction, but it sheds light on how unfair it really is.
[00:04:11] While I'm telling you this, these stories might seem random, but they're not. They're about being flexible when life doesn't go as planned, about finding the good and bad situations, about listening to what your body needs and taking the time to focus on what matters in life. These ideas connect to what I'm about to show you today. Magdalena Beckmeyer's Grid how to Use the Grid so here's how it goes. Take out a piece of paper and draw a cross label the quadrants like this. Upper left Life Upper right Self care Lower left Work Lower right Career. Here's a concept. The left column is about the external world. The right column is your internal world.
[00:04:50] Now start listing your bases, your active areas of commitment into the appropriate quadrants. Examples in life, you could have family, spouse, kids, friends, personal finances, home, car, travel, logistics, self care. Could have rest, exercise, stretching, therapy, step work, karate.
[00:05:09] Well, I do karate. Not everybody does work.
[00:05:12] Job tasks, client sessions volunteer roles, content creation, Career professional development, certifications, Website updates, conferences Then on a second sheet of paper, draw the same grid again. This time for your yearly grid. Above and below each base, jot down your current goals for that area. For, for example, under career the base could be website and the goal could be update bio and media kit and then under self care the base could be martial arts and the goal could be prep for next belt test.
[00:05:49] This is how I set up my own yearly grid. I will then use this to set up my monthly and then weekly grid, breaking down the goals into smaller bits and here's an image of my grid Want to dive deeper? I encourage you to buy Magdalena Beckmeyer's book directly from her site at Make Time Count. It's less expensive than Amazon and you might even get a handwritten note from her.
[00:06:11] She's that kind of person.
[00:06:14] She also offers grid workshops, coaching and digital resources. If you're curious about taking this deeper, there's a Kindle version too. If you've been feeling stretched thin or overwhelmed by too many to dos, I hope this gives you something tangible to work on.
[00:06:28] Sometimes the simple act of drawing a cross on a blank page can be the beginning of everything.
