New Year Planning

New Year Goals

To plan for the new year, you should take into account all aspects of your life, personal, business/career, family/friends and more. Here we are going to do our best to help you get ready and think about the coming year and planning to make it a success.

Before we get to the actual planning, I want to hit on just a few areas so we don’t forget anything and they stay in mind as we move through. You can plan each one of these categories separately or as a whole, the choice is yours.

Personal

Your personal goals are all about you, your hobbies, your dreams and achievements as a person. This is where you get to focus on you as a person and what you would like to accomplish for you.

Business/Career

Here you will think about your career and/or business and what you would like to accomplish there. What goals do you want to achieve for the coming year? What steps can you take to get there?

Family/Friends

It’s never good to neglect those you love for all the other things going on. Having a good balance will help you relax, have fun and reflect on your next steps. Sometimes it’s good to take a step back, relax and not think of anything but those who are in front of you and refresh.

Organize and Declutter

You work better when things are clean and orderly. Well most of us. Get ready for the new year by organizing and decluttering your home and office. Make it your type of organized and you’ll gain the speed you need to continue the year off right!

Self-Care

Your health and self-care are important, make sure to plan ahead for healthy eating, water intake and time for yourself. Not only will this be a relaxing and rejuvenating practice it can keep you stress free and sane throughout the year.

Getting Fit

Find something you enjoy, you may not be a gym, dance, or running type of person so find activities that get you moving and interest you.

Become Visual

Sometimes a visual reminder is all you need to keep thing so track. When the reminder is always there, you can’t ignore it and as the deadline approaches, you’l push harder to achieve those goals.

Year Planning

These steps will help you to plan out your year. The success you have from following the steps you lay out here are going to be something you can refer to throughout the year as things get tough, fall off track or get ahead. Having a plan will save your goals and your sanity.

Pre-Step

In this pre-step, we are going to grab our calendars and fill in anything that is already planned. Anything you already committed too needs to be on there including holidays, birthdays, events, gatherings, etc. Anything at all, even if it’s a small thing, put it on there. You’ll be glad you did and you can now work around those commitments to achieve your goals.

Step One: Take Time to Reflect/Prepare

In step one we are going to take some time to reflect on the previous year. Answer these questions to get you started and see just where you are in your journey at this point in time. That way we an prepare for the next step.

• Items that went well?
• Items that didn’t go well?
• What knowledge have I gained?
• Did I achieve my previous goals? If no, why not?
• What lessons did I learn?
• What can I do to not make the same mistakes?

Now we are going to define our priorities for the coming year. Answer these questions to help you filter through to find what is important.

• What matters most?
• How can I make a positive difference in peoples lives?
• What is the one major goal I would like to achieve this coming year?
• Why is this goal important?

Step Two: Outline Your Goals/Visions

Once you’ve answered the questions above, list the goals you would like to obtain from most important to least important. Of course all of your goals are important, some will take precedence over others or mean more for you compete than others.

Be sure to make your goals SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely

Questions:

• Why this goal?
• Why do I believe this goal is doable?
• Does this goal align with my major goal?
• Am I willing to commit fully to these goals?

Step Three: Create an Action Plan/Plan Ahead

Your action plan will consist of the steps you need to take to reach your goal, broken down into manageable pieces. So for your major goal(s) break them down into activities you can do monthly, then take those monthly activities and break it down even further to weekly activities. You can even go further to break them down into daily activities.

Use your planner and create a schedule, writing in your activities as deadlines. This will keep your goals on track as you work through them, marking them off as you go. Within your schedule block time to work on your goals. This activity keeps you moving forward and allows you to work when you know you’ll have the time too.

Use your breakdown tasks as mini-goals and take small breaks after completing each one. You’ve accomplished a step in your plan, you deserve to rest before continuing with your planned journey. Don’t try to go, go, go without taking some time for yourself. You’ll wear out and won’t be able to continue as you once were.

Step Four: Obtain Necessary Supplies and Systems

Going into something without the proper tools and systems is never a good idea. So be sure to have everything you need to succeed in place before you begin your journey.

Design Your Map

Your map can be a vision board, a mind map, a list or even a slider chart where you move the man along the path as you complete goals and accomplish tasks. This represents your journey and the (goals and mini-goals) stops you need to make along the way.

Reward System

This is not necessary, but if you are they type who likes a reward system, then go for it. You could even get creative with this and at each stop (goal achieved) you can have small balloons you can pop for little bursts of confetti or open a small treasure box with something small inside as a reward. This is a journey after all. How do you reward yourself for accomplishments!

Build a Resource List

What resources and tools will you need to refer back to as you go through your journey? Create a list of resources on your computer or flash drive to house the things you will need for your journey. Think of this as your backpack, it will keep all the things you need from saved pages, documents, notes and more.

Journey Companions

How will you keep yourself accountable for your goal? When we take a journey, we often have companions we take along with us. Those that are our encouragement, our travel buddies and confidants to our journeys goals. These companions are there to help keep you accountable to your goals as you should do for them. Find those you trust to make this journey with you.

Step Five: Take Action

Put your plan into action. Start with your small steps and work through them to gain your larger goals. I believe in getting ahead in some instances, but believe me when I say it’s not always the best thing to do. Keep your pace steady so you don’t slip off your horse. It/you may want to gallop ahead, but you need to take your time making sure you have the endurance to keep going as you move along your path. Keep the stress, overwhelm, and obstacles where you can face them confidently.

Step Six: Maintain Consistency

It can get discouraging to see or not see in this case any results right away. Just because you are not seeing results right away, doesn’t mean you aren’t making progress. Those small activities we planned in step one are paving the way to your larger goals. Those are you mini obstacles to tackle on your journey.

Guides

When you seem to be struggling, create habits or guides that will help lead you into the task you are struggling to complete. On any journey there may come a time where the terrain is unknown or a bit of a struggle. This is where your guide comes in to ease you through the rough patches. This guide can be any task you feel would help ease you to the one needing to get complete.

By completing this guide activity, you are in the habit of moving onto the task you need to complete just by association. For example, if you are struggling to work through an email sequence or welcome series and you like to do graphic design, then do that first. Each time you complete one graphic design, you work through one or part of one email. You are still getting something done related to the task, moving you closer to the goal and it leads into the task itself that needs completing.

Or you can do something completely different such as a small break, something you enjoy. Read a chapter of a book or complete a word search. You move into the next needed task relaxed and fresh of mind, making an easier transition to the task that needs completing.

Creating those guides will train your brain to know what is coming next and not to worry about it. It becomes a habit and you are one hill closer to your destination. If after trying one thing for a bit and you find that it’s just not working, don’t hesitate to change things up. Work on one area at a time and find what is right for you.

Step Seven: Don’t Stress the Pitfalls

There will be times where problems are in abundance, you feel like you’ve fallen into a pit and can’t get out and failure is inevitable. Know that failure is a possibility and problems will arise, but that doesn’t have to keep you in the pit. If you are able to foresee any problems that could possibly arise, you will be ready for when they do.

These problems could be something small like distractions, or something big like an unplanned event. No matter what happens, know that something always could and plan for the ladder to help you climb out of the pit. Add it to your journey map and plan out each step (or rung of the ladder) as to getting out and back on the right path to your goal.

Don’t despair, make a plan, adjust for the detour and forge ahead as you were meant to be. If things are just not going to plan no matter how hard you plan and follow your step, give yourself a little grace. Things will not always go perfectly. Even the smallest bit of progress still counts.

Step Eight: Review Your Journey

You’ve planned the journey, mapped it out, created every step you need to take. Every once in a while you need to review that journey to see where you came from, just how far you’ve come and how far you still need to go. Looking ahead when you just started my seem daunting, but it’s a necessary part of the journey.

You look at the map when you need to see just has happened the last month and sometimes to figure out why things are slowing down, what’s the obstacle that blocking your path, or what you will be facing next. Will you need to adjust to get something completed? Will one task take you a bit longer than expected? Do you need to do more research or find another perspective to complete the task?

It’s good to review once a week, once a month, and yearly to view your progress. Its a great way to find out what’s working well, what isn’t, how you are feeling, what needs more attention and sometimes what is no longer necessary to complete your goals.

Final Thoughts

Your journey is yours to make, to take, and to adjust when necessary. You have or will gain the tools and resources to get done what must to achieve your destination. Here you have planned it out, step by step and are ready to tackle anything that comes your way. Keep a pace that you can handle and stick to the path adjusting when things get rough. See you at the end of this journey, then it’s onto the next!