In 2018, while attending a mental health workshop with a close friend of mine, I decided to buy a raffle ticket and was lucky enough to win one of my favourite ever prizes to date – A Saint Belford Curation 2019 diary.
At the time I wasn’t really aware of what I has just acquired. I was under the impression that I had nabbed myself a simple daily planner. However when I finally got home and opened up my new journal I realised that Saint Belford’s Curation 2019 is much more than your run of the mill diary. It is a full blown lifestyle planner ready to help you ‘unleash the most vibrant version of yourself’.
It’s no secret that at the start of every year people become mad about resolutions – I personally am not a fan. Instead I like to set myself yearly, monthly and weekly goals that have been considered with realistic expectations and deadlines, but if I’m honest, this isn’t always easy to do, let alone keep up with, and that is when Saint Belford steps in.
This amazing Curation planner was started by partners in business and in life Alex Phillips and Tomas Stanford, out of their St Kilda apartment. After experiencing a serious case of burnout that rendered Alex unfit for work in 2017, the couple was forced to re-evaluate their priorities and embrace the concept of self care, and of slowing down to get ahead.
‘The Saint Belford Curation Diary was created, to remind all of us that our wellbeing is our most precious asset and that making our health #1, is the best investment we can make in this lifetime’ says Alex.
Curation contains a unique set of lifestyle tools to help you unleash the best, most vibrant version of yourself, without compromising your wellbeing in the process. Sections in the diary encourage us to consider our self care activities, bucket list, mission statement, ongoing habits and even our savings and meal plans… and I’m not joking, even more. It might sound overwhelming written here in one little paragraph, but the diary is so well designed and sectioned that it makes otherwise daunting tasks seem super easy to tackle in manageable actions.
What I love the most about this business is that it is a perfect example of the fact that a simple idea from a caring and ambitious couple can make a big difference to a lot of people. Saint Belford have now sold out of their Curation diaries 2 years in a row, and not only are they helping us reach our best potential whilst taking care of our wellbeing, a percentage of each sale is also donated to charities Beyond Blue & R U OK?.
If you’re bummed you missed out on the sold out 2019 edition, don’t despair. The team have a very limited amount of ‘Almost Perfect’ editions available on their website.
And I highly encourage you to read my interview with the Saint Belford Pair below, as we discuss some great tips on how to set realistic and achievable goals and make the most of your 2019!
Tell us a little bit about yourselves and why you started Saint Belford.
Alex: If you spend a day with me, you’ll realise very quickly that I love my food and my appetite would astound you. You’ll also discover my inability to cope with creepy crawlies. I love channeling my creativity in the kitchen and whipping up new delicious concoctions. Daily meditation and yoga at least 3 times a week are non negotiable rituals. I love learning from other people and sharing things that I know will help others. Helping other people, whether it’s overcoming challenges or simply lending a hand is what really fulfills me. I’m also passionate about mental health and excited to contribute even more in this space.
Tom: If you spend a day with me, you’ll realise very quickly that I am constantly astounded by how often the words “I think I’m hungry” are uttered by Alex. You’ll also discover checking foreign objects and environments for creepy crawlies is a daily activity. I’m a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Blue Belt and train most mornings at 6am. I love learning everything I can about business, marketing, relationships and how the world works.
Why we started Saint Belford: There were a few factors at play.
My experience with burnout and mental health issues was probably the primary catalyst for starting Saint Belford. I was taking on far more than I could chew, hustling far too aggressively and everything eventually caught up with me. I knew this was a widespread issue and I wanted to provide an alternative to the hustle hard mentality that most of us naturally learn towards. I wanted to truly empower others to put themselves first, prioritise their wellbeing and create time and space for the things that are most important to them and the things that fulfill them.
I’ve always been a fan of putting pen to paper, but I couldn’t find a planner that would help me stay organised and grounded with self-care as the primary focus. We saw this as an opportunity to not only create the perfect planner for me, but also spread the message of self-care.
We were both at a crossroads in our careers. Neither of our jobs were fulfilling us and we felt that at the age of 26, with no mortgage or major commitments, we had nothing much to lose. If it didn’t pan out, it would still be worth the adventure and lessons learned.
Can you tell us a little bit about what differentiates Saint Belford to other planners out in the market?
We create lifestyle planners that focus on self-care, mental health and personal growth for people who want to prioritise their time mindfully and live life on their terms.
Our lifestyle planners incorporate over a dozen tools that you wouldn’t ordinarily find in more traditional planners. Our daily Self-Care Planner, Self-Care Menu, Weekly Challenges, Pre-Week Planner and Habit Curator are just some of our unique features.
We’re also passionate about helping our community of Curators follow through with their intentions. It’s not just about purchasing a diary, it’s about providing support and helping them stay accountable throughout the year. We do this through Instagram, Monthly Bulletins and in our newly established Facebook group.
Giving back is incredibly important to us. Our customers love that we donate a percentage of our profits to Beyond Blue and R U OK? every year.
What are some of your top tips on setting achievable goals?
Alex: Have a clear and strong “why” for each goal. Write down the biggest reasons why you want to pursue and achieve a particular outcome and be 100% honest about it. It’s not something you need to share with anyone else. It’s for you to come back to every time you encounter a hurdle or a setback or the thoughts about quitting start to percolate in your mind. It’s your most honest source of motivation and fuel.
Take consistent action towards your goal by scheduling time each week to work on your goals. At the start of each week, identify where you’re at and ask yourself “what can I do this week that will bring me closer to achieving my goal?”
Tom: Set a goal, then work backwards. Break your goal into bite size pieces. If your goal is to lose 5kg in 6 months, map out how much weight you need to lose each week to get there. It’s similar to driving to a destination you’ve never been before: You put in the destination, it gets broken down into steps, then you take action.
Write your goals down everywhere. I have my goals in Curation, on a big sticky on my computer, as well as hung up on the walls around our apartment. In 2018 we printed our Saint Belford revenue goal and put it up on our bedroom wall so it would be the last thing we see at night and first thing we see in the morning.
What do you believe are the top mistakes people make when setting goals?
Not having an action plan in place of steps that need to be taken and tasks that need to be completed by a certain date in order to achieve a particular goal. When you don’t break it down, every goal will appear daunting.
Not establishing a realistic timeline/deadline of when we want to accomplish a particular goal. We need a clear timeline to work from.
Not scheduling time to check in with our goals. It’s easy to set them at the beginning of the year when we’re eager to rebrand ourselves and energy levels are high, but if we’re not keeping it top of mind and consistently setting aside time for it, it’s very easy for our initial excitement to wither away.
Putting a ridiculous amount of pressure on ourselves and compromising our wellbeing in the process. Again, the hustle hard mentality is a clear contributor to this.
Where are some of your personal goals for 2019?
Alex: Practice letting go of the little things and allow things to pass instead of reacting to everything that is said to me.
Participate in at least 3 mental health events/initiatives/talks.
Tom: I break my goals into: Work, Workout and Personal.
Work: A revenue goal for Saint Belford for 2019/2020.
Workout: 200 hours of Jiu Jitsu. Put on 10kg of bodyweight. Be able to do a handstand.
Personal: Complete a course I’m enrolled in. Make one new friend in each country we visit in South East Asia.
Any other advice for our readers to help them start 2019 on the right path?
Give yourself permission to be a beginner and approach things with an open mind. You’ll find that when you demonstrate a willingness to learn or grow, you become a better listener and you’re able to experience life in a way that isn’t tarnished by preconceived ideas. You’re able to recapture that childlike excitement, appreciate the present and expand the pool of opportunities available to you.
You can follow Saint Belford on Instagram, Facebook & at saintbelford.com.au