Don’t Wander Through Life: Fight ZOMBIE Syndrome with KILLER Plans

Are you DYING to be Organized? There’s no reason to wander through life like a zombie, aimless and brainless, when you can be prepared and focused with Pretty Spooky Presents… Premeditated Fervor— a Productivity Series that’s your Accomplice in Accomplishment!  

As always, we’ll enjoy our Ghoul-Setting session with some Sinister Sips, Snacks, and Pretty Spooky Free Printables!  We’ll whip-up some “Keep Calm and Salmon On” Brainy Brunch Dip, and wash-it down with a Low-Carb on the High Seas 1950s Zombie Cocktail.  We’ll use our Creepy Tiki themed Free Printables for our quarterly Planning Session in my home tiki bar, The Sunken Compass.

I’m Angela, your Haunted Hostess— and I’m applying the principals of a Pretty Spooky Lifestyle to planning and achieving goals by putting an eerie angle on the everyday and adding a little macabre to the mundane. 

And I’m giving away FREE Printables— no strings attached.  It’s just my Pretty Spooky way of saying Thank You for watching!

Each quarter’s theme is voted for and chosen by the Pretty Spooky Community of Viewers and Subscribers.  This quarter’s winner was “Vintage Tiki and Cocktails”, which I took in the direction of Zombies.  

The Zombie is one of the most well-known Tiki Cocktails, and Premeditated Fervor  is all about combating Zombie Syndrome, and preventing life from falling to pieces. So, be thinking about what you want next quarter’s theme to be and I’ll Pick your Brain in the Comments!

—So be sure to stick around for the Sinister Sip, because I’m revealing how the 1950s Zombie was actually a deliberate decoy used to protect a Tiki secret—and how I finally solved the ‘Pineapple Problem’ for us Low Carb on the High Seas devotees.

Because we’re going to need delicious BRAIN FOOD to lead the charge against being UNDEAD, UNAWARE and UNPREPARED— We’ll get started on the “Keep Calm and Salmon On Brainy Brunch Dip” right away!

It’s a Chilled Chop and Plop recipe— approved by Zombies and Zombie Hunters alike. This recipe is a real no-brainer—there’s no need for a stove or oven, so I’ll  go over the battle plan to fight Zombie Syndrome. But don’t get too comfortable—while I assemble this Brain Food, I’m going to reveal the ‘DNA’ method that actually prevents your life from falling to pieces. You’ll want to see the ‘N’ step especially—it’s the one most people skip. MMMMMM…. Braaaaains!

The “Keep Calm and Salmon On” Brainy Brunch Dip — A smoky, sophisticated Alaskan salmon spread perfect for a high-protein brunch.

• Salmon: 1 can (approx. 15 oz) Alaskan salmon (drained, flaked, deboned)
• 16 oz Cream Cheese (two 8 oz blocks) fully softened
• 2.5 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• 1/2 tsp Liquid Smoke
• 1.5 tablespoons prepared Dijon Mustard
• chopped fresh Parsley and Dill
• 1/8 tsp Ground Cloves
• 1/8 tsp Cardamom
• 1/8 tsp Allspice
• 1/4 tsp Ground Ginger
• 1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
• 1/2 tsp freshly Ground Bay Leaf
• 1/2 tsp Ground Caraway Seeds
• 1.5 tsp Smoked Paprika

1. Use a spice grinder, mortar and pestle, or high speed blender to pulverize your Bay Leaf and Caraway Seeds into a fine powder.
2. In a large bowl, beat the softened cream cheese with the lemon juice, liquid smoke, and all the spices until light and fluffy.
3. Stir in the parsley and dill. Gently fold in the flaked salmon by hand to keep some texture.
4. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, allowing the dried spices and the smoky flavor to meld.

Brain Glaze Recipe

• 2 Tbsp Chili Flakes (blend on high)

Add the following and blend on medium:

Finally add:

• 1 Tbsp Smoked Paprika (blend on Low)  
• 1/8 tsp Ground Cloves

If you saw the last episode of Premeditated Fervor, you already know where I stand regarding complicated productivity and Ghoul-setting systems.  In order to keep up the fight, and win every day, it’s got to be quick, easy, and fun.

Premeditated Fervor just takes a few minutes each morning and evening.  All you need is a journal, a planner. The Pretty Spooky Free-Printables make it easy to start and end each day focused and prepared.  And the themed sips and snacks turn weekly overviews into a planning party.  Because everything is made the Low Carb on the High Seas way, we’ll have tasty incentives that play nicely with everyone’s dietary goals.  

Because the very first Premeditated Fervor episode started out with a True Crime theme, the system is guided by the DNA of Killer-Goal setting, which stands for “DREAM differently”, “NURTURE Success”, and “ACT to accomplish) or DREAM, NURTURE, ACT for short.

“DREAM Differently” is so straight forward. We know what we want— but we need to figure out why we haven’t gotten it yet.  Limping in zombie circles, getting no where in life makes no sense at all.  So, all we have to do is figure out what we’ve been doing that hasn’t worked, and keep trying something different until we get there.

The N in, “NURTURE Success”, is all about increasing your wins and making it easier through enhancing your environment.  There are different enhancement for various types of goals.  Just think of which obstacles might block your success, and enhance your environment to reduce and avoid those obstacles.  Make it so simple even a zombie could do it!

The A, or “ACT to Accomplish” embraces and celebrates any and all improvement, no matter how small.  It doesn’t matter if you zombie crawl instead of run, as long as you’re pulling yourself closer to the goal, acting with your priority in mind, and taking action based on your new Quarterly Identity. 

This is also tied to the Key Stone Habit, which is using a journal each night to capture evidence and celebrate that you are becoming the person you want to be.  And, each morning, you’ll set the intention for the day you want to have with a brief entry to refocus on your priority, keeping the DNA acronym in mind as a guide.  There are fun and thematic sentence starter stickers for the AM and PM to keep your zombie brain on-track and entertained.

And when the zombies are at the door, just keep calm and salmon on.  And as soon as we have our Snacks and Sips ready for our planner session, you’ll get to see everything in action, starting with the Quarterly Reset, where I’ll pick my priority for the Quarter, and craft a new identity around it.  Then, I’ll show you how I do Weekly Overviews and create a weekly layout, —all while keeping my Quarterly Priority and Identity in focus by using the Premeditated Picks free-printable.  Plus, the stickers will make my planner Pretty Spooky and make planning more fun. Decoration isn’t necessary, but for me, it turns the Weekly Reset into a relaxing reward.

And speaking of a relaxing reward, let’s make that Low Carb on the High Seas version of the Donn Beach 1950’s Zombie—while we let our BRAINs chill. 

I’ve solved the carb-heavy pineapple problem for all Low Carb on the High Seas cocktails, so we won’t have to run from recipes that call for pineapple like we’re eluding a slow-moving herd of the undead —ever again. 

It’s been suspected that the 1950 Don Beach Zombie was allowed to be published — as a decoy— to protect the original 1934 Zombie recipe— and to prevent competitors from creating their own dead-ringers, since the only thing it has in common with the original is both are stiff enough to cause rigor mortis!  

Since Pineapple is NOT a Low Carb on the High Seas ingredient, I had to get creative and — well, you know I like a challenge!  So, we’ll start  today’s cocktail by making Low Carb on the High Seas Pineapple Syrup– which is…

Once chilled, in a tin, add:

• 1 oz Low Carb on the High Seas Pineapple Syrup (recipe above)
• 1 oz Fresh Lime Juice
• 1 oz fresh Lemon Juice
• 1 oz Silver/White Rum (I prefer Matusalem Platino or Ron Rico Silver)
• 1 oz Gold/Aged Rum (I use a .5 oz each of Havana Club Añejo and Appleton Estate 8 Year)
• Flash blend without ice (or dry shake vigorously)
• Add ice, flash blend for 5 seconds (or shake with ice until the tin is frosty)
• Pour into chilled mug or highball glass, top with more ice to fill, leaving room for .5 oz Lemon Hart 151 Floater  
• Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint, Low Carb on the High Seas Homemade Luxardo Cherries & a Straw

This Low Carb on the High Seas version of Don Beach’s 1950’s Zombie proves that anything is possible when we put our BRAAAAINS to it!  And in Premeditated Fervor tradition, we’ll Toast our grave transformation– and to Burying Old Habits to Unearth the New.

“Here’s to our past ways, and to our old habits.  May they rest in peace and never haunt us again.  Cheers to a new identity and committing Premeditated Fervor!”

Now, on to the Master Plan!  

Oh, hold on, someone must be at the door— I’ll be right back. 

Well, that was odd.  There was no one there.  Just the wind— maybe?  Did you see anything?  The Sunken Compass is always full of plenty of SPIRITS.  But, I’m sure it was nothing— right?  Let me know in the comments of the video if you something I didn’t and I’ll check them later. Right now, we have a Plan to Master!

At the start of each quarter, it’s time to Rethink, Reload, and Re-animate— zombie style!   Put the DNA of goal-setting into practice, starting with Dream Differently—decide what you want, and figure out what hasn’t been working— by taking a Fresh Stab at It, with a new way to slay.  For me, my priority is always  “Pretty spooky Presents”— and one of the obstacles to my productivity is late nights of editing and planning.  Not getting enough sleep is slowing me down to a crawl, and making me feel like a zombie.

The next step is to create an identity, a Grave New You—with the sentence starter—I am Zom-body who_______________________ and fill in the blank as the first sentence of this quarter’s journal.  For me— my first sentence is: “I am Zom-body who is a well-rested, productive creator!”  

This is one of the many reasons I included free printable stickers to match each quarter’s theme.  All you need are some basic, white, 8.5×11 sticker sheets, a printer, and scissors.  All you need to do is come to PrettySpook.Life, Find the Pretty Spooky Planning tab, locate the Premeditated Fervor theme you want for the quarter, click on the image, copy it, align the edges to the edges of your computer’s open document, and print!  For this quarter’s theme you’ll have Tiki-Themed boarders and dividers, just like you’d use washi tape, spear stickers to point to important tasks and events and plenty of other embellishments of various sizes—to make your planner your own exotic escape to commit Premeditated Fervor.

For all of us DYING TO BE ORGANIZED, the next step is to use the free printable that’s an integral part of the Weekly Overview —the Premeditated Picks Menu.  It’s a portable list of all the ideas you dream up for different, fun and spooky-themed ways to improve life areas of your choosing. 

You’ll customize three to eight categories to meet your unique Goal DNA, write them across the top, and when you come up with a spooky, new way to accomplish goal X, jot it down, so you always have plenty of fun, goal-oriented self-improvement options at your Weekly Overview.  This is another good reason to choose a portable planner that’s always accessible.  Just be sure to always look at the three colorful columns first, since these will be the life areas where you really want to focus most.  Think of The Planner as a second brain—  mmmm BRAAAAAINS!

Once a week, you’ll assess your schedule, and energy levels to choose from your Premeditated Picks, so you’re always progressing  in one or more of your life areas. All Premeditated Picks will result in progress. Any action is evidence you’re helping to eradicate zombie syndrome!

All you need is card stock, scissors and a printer.  And just like the stickers, you can come back and print extras at any time! When your Premeditated Picks are full, print another, and transfer remaining Picks to the new printout.

For the daily crawl toward consistency, there are a few extra stickers. These are for the Keystone habit of AM and PM journal entries for setting the Tone for each day with a daily intention that relates to your new identity , and a PM celebration of  any progress made— no matter how small.  A win is a win!  

To have enough sentence starters for each day of the quarter, plan to print 10 sheets, at once, and come back to PrettySpooky.Life to print more at any time.

And that’s it:  All you need is a planner, a journal, and some Pretty Spooky free printables. Whenever you have an outbreak of Zombie syndrome, and Life is FALLING APART— commit Premeditated Fervor to KEEP IT ALL TOGETHER.

We’ll start each quarter together by adopting a fresh, new IDENTITY, with a new theme and more free printables to match.  I’ll share recipes for fun snacks and drinks to turn our quarterly resets and Weekly Overviews into ceremonious, enjoyable events.  

So, be thinking ahead of what you want next quarter’s theme to be and put your ideas in the comments.  Of corpse I want your opinion, let’s put our heads together, and spill some brains!!  I’ll conduct a poll on my community tab, I’m dying to see what ideas you unearth!

Be on the lookout for regular Quarterly Reset videos and occasional Weekly Overviews. From now on, consider me your Accomplice in Accomplishment!

I’m so excited that we’ll be committing Premeditated Fervor together— slaying our goals and murdering monotony!

I loved being your Haunted Hostess— You were wonderful guests, and you’re welcome back always! 

Farewell until next time— Cheers!