I first heard about Lifebook about a year and a half ago. In 2019 I became an avid listener of the Mindvalley podcast. I was intrigued after stumbling upon one episode with Jon and Missy Butcher, the creators of Lifebook. After listening to how they changed their lives, I found myself searching for more podcasts with the two of them. I made my way through each one that they were featured on. This was a time in my life where I wasn’t happy and I wanted to zero in on what I might want in my future. Hearing their stories and learning about the type of lives they were living now really inspired me.
What held me back initially was the cost. At the time it was hard for me to justify spending on a class that was not going to be giving me any type of certification. I also didn’t know enough about it yet and thought to myself that I had made goals before, is a whole program really needed to do this? I eventually went online and signed up for the free masterclass on the Mindvalley site. During the masterclass I learned that I could sign up for Lifebook and if I completed the program within 6 weeks I would get a full refund. If I understand correctly, I believe this was a way for Jon and Missy to reach a goal of their own and share their program with as many people as possible. You do pay up front, because they didn’t want to just offer it for free. It’s a way for us to all be held accountable and finish the program all the way through. I signed up for the program and paid my $500 US upfront and committed to my 6 week journey. What did I have to lose?
The program puts your life into 12 categories. You work on two categories a week. It consists of videos, a booklet (that I printed) and homework time to put together your own Lifebook. You answer four simple questions in each category, but of course when you’re looking at your whole life and what you want from it those simple questions get you thinking deep. There are some other bonus features included such as a facebook group and coaching calls with Jon and Missy.
You can put your Lifebook together in any form you want. You could write and illustrate it, you could cut pictures out from a magazine and put together a book that way, etc. It’s really up to you how you decide to put things together. I used a program called Adobe InDesign to create pages with photographs from the internet.
The quest helped me get really focused on what I want out of each category of my life. This is something I’ve never done before. I’ve had goals and new years resolutions in the past, but this was the first time I sat and thought of what I wanted, why I wanted it, how I would work towards those things, etc. I really did my homework – I took notes and thought about the things that came up in the videos. I’m proud of my Lifebook.
Once I was done, it was super easy getting my refund back. Since then, I’ve signed up for the next course and I plan to start it in the new year.
Setting and reaching goals is very beneficial to your mental health. Research shows that when you set specific goals and reach them, the levels of dopamine in your brain increase making you feel good about yourself. People who are working towards the pursuit of goals tend to have less depression and anxiety.
My Lifebook is something I plan to keep updating forever. I try to look at it often as a reminder of where I’m going in life. With 2020 having been a tough one for all of us, I thought I would share my experience for anyone who might be interested in going into 2021 with a bright, new outlook.