Start Now - You'll be Grateful You Did

Welcome to Wisdom Wednesdays from Owl & Key

Each week, enjoy a quick guided reflection to help you unlock what's next and bring your Strategic Plan for Life into reality. 

Let's dive in!

For the past 10+ years, my husband and business partner, Phil, and I have been carving out time every December to align on our intentional plan for the next year.

When life is at its BUSIEST, we pause. Zoom out. And align. On our life. Our businesses. Our family. Shifting and adjusting for every new season and chapter. 

Bringing bold visions to life.

And also navigating unexpected, devastating challenges.

Every step brings us closer together and more confident in ourselves and proud of the intentional life we’re living. 

This week, we’re doing that again 🥰, creating the foundations of the work before we bring our kids in for the first time on the process.

I couldn’t be more excited about what’s about to be born. It’s unknown, but every year, we surface something completely unexpected but necessary. 

Owl & Key’s Expert Guide Erin Ingram just did this for the first time this year with her husband, and her video couldn’t fill my heart up more. ❤️  

(If your heart skips a beat thinking about experiences like this, stick around until the bottom of this email.)

Intention & Impact at Scale 💛

Strategic Planning for Life was born for this very reason. To give individuals, partners, families, teams and groups clarity, connection and a path forward - no matter the circumstances. (Bonus: hear the whole, raw story here about how it all began).

Over the last decade, we’ve shared the Strategic Planning for Life framework with THOUSANDS of people. I highlight the number because that feels unreal to say. And my heart explodes at the same moment with joy and gratitude. Integrating even a tiny piece of Strategic Planning for Life has been known to change lives. 

We’ve heard from people about their experience - even years later - and it looks like this...  

(Hey, Riza! Appreciate you being here! 💛)

And like this...

(Hey, Traci! Thank you! Always inspired by your intentional journey! 🙏):

But I’m not writing this to promote Owl & Key or Strategic Planning for Life or to put us on some type of pedestal.

I’m writing and sharing this to share the gift. To encourage you to spend time looking at your life this year and next.

And to say that after a decade+ of doing this work, there is one thing I know to be true…

A Core Truth

Do not wait. 

Do not wait until you’re looking back on life and wishing you’d done it differently.
Do not wait until your relationships are in shambles.
Do not wait until your children are grown.
Do not wait until your career is finally “there.”
Or until you have enough time or money. 

Start now.

Be intentional now.

Start when it doesn’t feel like the right time.
Start when things are utter chaos.
Start when you feel stuck.
Start when your marriage is at its best.
Or when your career is at its worst.

Because your life and your time - they don’t wait.

They keep going. You either engage in it or you don’t.

You either guide your choices thoughtfully, with love and intention. Or you just run around and let life pull you away.

Ultimately wondering where the heck did all the time go?!

Why This Matters for You

I’ve seen way too many people get to the end of life - usually far too early and completely unexpectedly - without having lived the way they wanted to live or experienced what they wanted to experience. 

I don’t say that to be morbid or scarce. Life is wonderful even if you don’t do this kind of work. And if you know me, you know that I say that with the fullest heart and a huge smile.

I say it all to INSPIRE and SPARK a pause for you. Even the smallest moment of reflection to stop and ask yourself...

“No matter what time I have, how do I want to spend it? Who do I want to spend it with? How do I want to feel?” 

You don’t have to do the whole Strategic Planning for Life framework. You don’t have to make it about pressure or perfection. If you’ve been in session with me/us, you know that’s the opposite of what we teach. 

We ENCOURAGE you to be skeptical. The best stories and testimonials have come from our most skeptical clients and community members. 

Just sitting down long enough to hear your own inner voice is enough. Write it down. Reflect and vision.

Do that with another human…and healing begins. 
Alignment ensues.
Connection compounds.
Shared visions come to life.

Not out of force but from allowing purpose, joy and values to unfold what’s next.

When You’re Ready, We'll Be Here

When you’re ready for a solid, strategic path forward - one that takes all that inner wisdom and turns it into the real-life change you desperately desire - the Strategic Planning for Life framework is waiting for you. 

Plus a community of others who share this mindset and life approach as well as an abundance of resources and content to support your journey. 

Again, we don't have an expectation that you're here in this weekly newsletter to do or buy anything. That’s up to you.

We just build and hold the offerings that we love and invite you to join us when it feels like an aligned “YES!” for you, too. 

Here’s how you can give yourself, your life, your business, your family, your partnership the gift of intentional time this year and beyond...

• 📓 Cozy Up & Do it Solo - Grab a copy of the book. Everything you need to know is included. Take yourself on a date or cozy up by the fire. You’ll be filled up with excitement and have clarity and confidence for what's next. 

• • BONUS: Grab the digital course + community access to enhance your experience and feel a bit more connected to others doing this same work.

• 💼 Get Support for Career Change - This year, we’re offering *themed* Strategic Planning for Life LIVE group series. Our first session begins January 22 and is focused on the shift to Entrepreneurship. This is for you if you dream of starting something on your own OR your life demands it right now because of other circumstances. We’ll guide you on how to create the next chapter based on what’s best for your life, your goals and your current conditions.

• • Learn more here and grab your spot. Registration closes January 9. 
  • Keep an eye out for live sessions on health & wellness and relationships in 2026!

• ⭐️🌿 Retreat, Restore, Connect & Expand - We are hosting an intimate retreat in Ohio January 16-18. A few spots remain, and we’re inviting those who want and need to carve out time for themselves to create their own Strategic Plan for 2026…but want to do it with exceptional humans and fun experiences (think: working by the hearth of a cabin in the woods, bonfires, saunas, surprises and laughs). We’d love to add a few more powerhouse humans, another partnerhship (couples or business partners) to the group. And a few more men who are ready to hold the space for themselves and their partners/families. 

• • Respond to this email if that’s you, and I'll personally send you the full details. No expectations. No pressure. Just more info.
  • Registration closes Dec. 30. 

• ∞ Go In-Depth with a Strategic Partner - I am filling my intimate roster of Strategic Partnership & Alignment personal clients for 2026. This is for you if you have a lot on your plate as a leader (in life, family and business), love having a Guide by your side, and know that you have big change and vision for the year and chapter ahead. Once the last 5 spots are filled, we’ll open the waitlist or pair you with another Expert Guide.

• • Schedule a time to connect and learn more with me here. 

Always Here for You 

Finally, all of the above, this newsletter, the UNLOCKED Podcast and the Community Membership were ALL created because Lifestyle Design and Strategic Planning for Life are NOT a "set-it-and-forget-it" process.

It’s a daily practice. A workout for your time, mind and values.

It’s the system that keeps you on track with what YOU want in this life. 

It’s the gift that keeps on giving. 🎁🥰

These tools and this community are built for whatever season you’re in. Whatever you need. And to be an always-on companion for a life that you can look back on in any moment and feel proud, fulfilled and confident about how you’re living and spending your time. 

I’m genuinely excited to see more of you next year whether at our upcoming retreats, at speaking events, live group sessions, 1:1 partnerships or here in these newsletter conversations.

It fills my cup seeing your stories, your unlocks and the impact we, as a community, create together. 

Cheers to an intentional year and life ahead, friends,

Krista ❤️