Let me explain why right now is the best time to plan your ideal year to ensure you get out the blocks with lightning speed, as soon as the clock chimes 12 on New Year’s Eve.
The period between Christmas and New Year is normally a time of limbo. After spending a wonderful time over the festive season, many people suffer from Post-Christmas Blues and find that it’s difficult to get going again. After the excitement of Christmas is over, it’s easy to feel down as you feel like you don’t have anything to be excited about anymore.
Well let me share a secret with you. This is the perfect time to Plan Your Ideal Year and design your life so to take advantage of this time and use it to reboot your life and create an exciting future.
Seriously what else is there for you to do, the presents have been opened, mince pie crumbs and empty quality street wrappers are the only remaining evidence of the eating frenzy you indulged in. This is now the quiet time before your New Year celebrations. By using this time well, you can make the most of the beginning of the New Year and make great inroads on your New Year Resolutions.
Think ahead to the new year and the sorts of things you’d like to be doing as the year moves on, and the sorts of activities and events you’d like to be a part of. Get focused on planning to ensure things work out the way you want them.
So right now, set aside some uninterrupted time, take a break from the festive downtime and first take stock and reflect on the year almost gone, then prioritise and powerfully plan for the year ahead.
Let’s not waste any more of your time, instead let me provide you with a process to go through to wrap up this year, and then Plan Your Ideal Year.
I want to help you think through life planning. I believe in purposeful living. Planning your year is a good habit. It can help you become more aware of your successes and sorrows and make you realize how much can happen just in a year. By learning from the past you can plan your future in a way that you don’t repeat the same patterns and feel more in control of your own life.
Make sense of last year
So, first things first. You need to make sense of last year before you can plan your ideal year. You can’t look forward without looking back.
You’ve nearly reached the end of the year. For many of you it will have been a mix of good and bad. Some of you will have made progress, other’s will not have.
I simply want you to pause and take stock of your year, giving yourself a mini-performance review – looking at your successes and failures. Break the year down across Physical Health & Wellness; Mental Health; Finance & Money; Professional Identity;, Career Development & Job Satisfaction; Primary Relationship or Life Partner; Recreation, Relaxation & Personal Enrichment; Secondary Relationships; Love, and Intimate Connection; Physical Environment; Passion, Purpose and meaning. You can see how different areas of your life are working.
Let’s get started
Find a quiet room in your house and carve out some time to plan your ideal life. Put on some relaxing music. Pour yourself a hot beverage. Begin working through this process, it should take no more than an hour.
First, you are going to take inventory of last year. By reviewing last year and all the ups and downs it will provide you with the stepping stones to moving forward into next year, essential if you are to plan for your ideal year. Reflecting deeply on last year can highlight your successes and – more importantly – the areas most in need of improvement.
I simply want you to pause and take stock of your year, giving yourself a mini-performance review – looking at your successes and failures. Look back at the year just gone, what aspects were the most important to you in the key life areas last year? Which happenings or events were the most significant? Summarize briefly.
Physical Health & Wellness
Mental Health
Finance & Money
Professional Identity, Career Development & Job Satisfaction
Primary Relationship or Life Partner
Recreation, Relaxation & Personal Enrichment
Secondary Relationships
Love, and Intimate Connection
Physical Environment
Passion, Purpose and meaning
Reflect on Past Year
What were your biggest accomplishments this year?
Why were those accomplishments meaningful for you?
What did they signify?
Did you have any regrets, if so what were they?
What obstacles did you face?
What goals did you not achieve?
What are you not happy with in your life right now?
Identify the areas that you want to improve, and be as specific as you can be
Farewell to your last year - If there is anything else left that you would like to write down, or there is anybody you would like to say goodbye to, do it now.
Now you need to start to plan your ideal year and get focused on achievable, positive changes that will help you feel excited and prepared for the year ahead.
Your Year Ahead
In a nutshell what you’re about to do is map out your future by envisioning yourself having your best year yet. Fast forward 12 months. How does your life feel different? What has gone well? What has stayed the same? What do you most need to change to make these things happen?
You have just finished the first part and you’re done with the past year. Take a deep breath. Now let’s design the year ahead.
Dare to dream big! What does the year ahead of you look like in each of these key areas? What will happen in a perfect world? Why will it be great? Write your expectations of a brilliant year ahead and dare to dream.
This is what my next year will be about. Define the most important aspects of next year in each of the key areas of life. What is it you want to achieve, be, do and have? Summarize briefly.
Physical Health & Wellness
Mental Health
Finance & Money
Professional Identity, Career Development & Job Satisfaction
Primary Relationship or Life Partner
Recreation, Relaxation & Personal Enrichment
Secondary Relationships
Love, and Intimate Connection
Physical Environment
Passion, Purpose and meaning
From everything you've written above, determine your 4 most important goals for the year ahead.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Required Actions
Now choose 4 actions you will take every week to ensure you improve yourself in each of these key areas of life, bringing about the changes you desire.
Physical Health & Wellness
Mental Health
Finance & Money
Professional Identity, Career Development & Job Satisfaction
Primary Relationship or Life Partner
Recreation, Relaxation & Personal Enrichment
Secondary Relationships
Love, and Intimate Connection
Physical Environment
Passion, Purpose and meaning
Motivation for the year ahead
What are your compelling reasons for giving it your best shot at making this year ahead your best year ever?
What do you most want to achieve in this year ahead?
This year will be special for you because...
You are now done with planning your year. I’m confident you will have an exciting, fulfilling, and very successful coming year!
I hope that you are feeling encouraged to take action and let NOTHING stop you from finding your greatness in 2019. You have what it takes to succeed! Believe in that, and take one small step today that will give you momentum!
Are you now finding yourself motivated?
Let me know in the comments.
If you need help, take me up on my FREE discovery session. Let me as a life coach help make sure your plan is fully loaded. Click here and fill out the form, and you will find my appointment diary where all you need do is select a time convenient to you.
