2016 was a busy year. For some it was a difficult year. Many are calling it a bad year. I don’t personally feel that way, though I have a different perspective to it. Either way, it feels like a good time to stop and take a breath and reflect on all that has occurred, especially as I begin planning for the next one. This is the time of year when I intuitively feel myself wanting to hunker down and absorb information, assess where I am at, and determine if I am on the right path or if it’s time to make a course adjustment. This 5-step article is a guide to help you (and me) reflect and plan without losing momentum.
Step One: Assess what I’ve accomplished this year and identify what I did, or didn’t do, that contributed to being successful. It’s the small habits and choices that we make which impact us the most. Yet the small habits are the things that often go unnoticed. We tend to underestimate their importance and thus, not continue them. This is part of building greater self-awareness which leads to improved emotional intelligence. For me, a big change I wanted to make last year was following through on the things I say, or to stop saying things out loud until I’m sure about them. Both acts have consequences. I can definitely say that I practiced more of both this past year and it made a positive difference in what I was able to accomplish.
Step Two: Look at the things I did not accomplish and spend some time determining why. It could be that they were not important or I underestimated what it would take to achieve them (this is almost always true for me). My biggest lesson gained in doing this process for the past several years is I accomplish the things I keep alive through prioritizing and planning. For example, I wanted to go camping this year and it never happened. Partly it is because I kept talking about it but never made any concrete plans. Plans are easier to change than it is to spontaneously do something like go camping. So…planning a fun summer begins in January, not in June. Secondary to this step, or a sub-step if you will, is to forgive yourself for anything you think you should have done and did not. You do not want to carry guilt or negativity into the next year.
Step Three: Identify values or single word intentions for the upcoming year. For example, self-discipline might be the value or intention and from that I can create goals that feel more genuine and significant: they’re not just things I check off my list. It is good to keep this list short. 3-5 intentions or values is plenty. I can easily remember a short list and these are the words that support my bigger goals. Think of these words or values as who you want to become, or who you want to continue being. It’s who you are becoming that’s important, not what you check off a list.
Step Four: Now and only now do you begin to identify some goals. What do you want to achieve next year? I tend to categorize mine into personal and professional or business goals since I own my own business. Anyone can do this since it’s valuable to treat your job as a career and yourself as a free agent. Maybe one of your goals is to make more money. You may find yourself in the job market and that is something that takes time to cultivate. Make yourself indispensable and an asset to any lucky organization that might hire you. Develop goals that will support this. You can have as many goals as you want though I would recommend no more than 20 and no fewer than 10.
Step Five: Create subsets or action steps for your goals and then plan or plot them on a calendar. This doesn’t have to be too specific. I like more flexibility so I tend to use the fiscal quarters to plan and plot. I find that it keeps me focused and on track. I can also assess where I’m at and determine if my goals are still relevant because 3 months from now my goals can look different than they look while sitting here with snow still on the ground.
To be truly effective, this process will take more than a few hours. Work on it over the course of a few days so you can go back and look at what you wrote. Then keep it somewhere where you can check on it over the course of the year and see how you’re doing.
There are other strategies required for maintaining momentum and you want to start from a strong place. It is like building a house. You want to install a firm foundation before adding walls.
2017 can be a remarkable year or it can be more of the same. It’s your choice.