Reduce Pressure When Planning Your New Year
Photo by Goldfinch Creative
Have you ever turned over the calendar to January 1st and thought ‘ah shit’ I’m not prepared for a new year? Do you sit contemplating new year’s resolutions that you want and then rewrite them until they seem easier or more likely for you to achieve – by the end, you already feel defeated and your next thought is ‘why bother?!’.
I hear you and have been you. I did the same thing for too many years until one year I didn’t make any resolutions because I thought ‘what’s the point?’.
I didn’t have a plan!
BUT then when I started the new month, I felt scattered regarding what ideas to implement or direction I should take. I didn’t have a plan! It overwhelmed me to the point where I lost my ambition to work towards any growth or overall betterment in any part of my life. That wasn’t cool and didn’t sit well with me because I knew I wanted more, I had ambitions and I wanted growth in different (usually all) areas of my life. I’m a very active thinker, creative, brainstormer, mover and shaker and doing nothing didn’t fit me – it wasn’t OK.
So I gave myself some time to think about what wasn’t working and why the traditional methods of making new year’s resolutions didn’t work for me -- why I didn’t follow through or why I didn’t feel motivated a few weeks or months into a resolution.
Now, I know there are a ton of personal development articles and books on creating new habits, the importance of planning ahead, etc. – I’ve read quite a few but again, those are written for the masses so the challenge was how do I take a tested model and customize it to fit me.
In 2018, I decided to create my own planning and accountability process for personal development and business growth. Each year, the process is tested and modified to mould to me a little bit more – as it gets stronger, my discipline improves and my goals are achieved.
Today, I want to share with you three of my processes in the hopes that you find comfort in knowing that growth and development are not one-size-fits-all and that it inspires you to break away from the mould of what everyone else is doing to make your own plan for success!
February 1st
The first decision I made is that I plan for and ‘celebrate’ a new year for my small business on February 1st.
I stopped forcing myself to find the time to dedicate towards reviewing the past year, setting goals and creating strategies for the next year during October/November/December because that is typically my busiest season – both professionally and personally -- and I would struggle with scheduling time to work on my business PERIOD – much less strategically thinking and planning for the next 1-3 years.
So, I created a schedule and strategy that works for me!
Due to January being a slower month on average, it gives me the opportunity to be creative, brainstorm ideas, reflect on the past year, and spend dedicated time working ON my business.
I start by reviewing the past year’s successes and growth including financials and benchmarking, opportunities for improvement, and absolute fails.
I take the time to identify lessons from each and make decisions about carrying them forward into the New Year. Next, I brainstorm and identify my new goals, create and plan a strategy to achieve those goals, update my budget and projections, and review programming and resources such as my pricing, web site and social media.
Identify my wants!
The second decision I made is within the first two weeks of January, I write down three different types of “wants”:
Personal and Professional Development Goals (monthly, quarterly and annually)
SMART and adjective-based
Promises to myself
One-year reflection – describe what my life looks like one year from today
The reason I use three different methods is because each method on its own is restricted. But when I write potentially the same ‘wish’ or ‘want’ down in three different formats, the blended result is so much stronger, impactful and motivating.
Make strong, impactful and motivating goals!
Plus, I don’t just write down what my goal or promise or want or wish is at the end, I clearly lay out HOW I plan to achieve each item.
Examples: do I need to purchase something to help me, do I need to change when I go for groceries or how I buy food, do I prefer to track information via an app or handwritten notes in a journal, do I need to purge something to make room for something new, etc.
No vagueness or ambiguity. This helps me to stay accountable and understand what my next steps are without opening up the opportunity to hesitate, second-guess or talk myself out of something.
Another popular question I get asked is why I make promises to myself. I read a quote in a book last year that not only made sense to me but also changed my perspective as to how I hold myself accountable:
“Constantly raise the bar with yourself! […] Keeping your personal promises is the single most underused, undervalued and ignored source of power for people. […] Your promises are the future. Your feelings are the past […] Make bold promises that go beyond what you think you can do and then turn your life inside out to keep them!”
Do the Work -- Gary John Bishop
I review these monthly to remind myself of where I’m going and how I’m going to get there.
If disruptions happen along the way, each is amended as needed. But I keep going!
Gratitude & Purpose
The third decision I made is to start being clear with what is important and what is not important in my life to help me grow and make the changes I want for my future.
First, I write down everything that I am grateful for and how each directly impacts my current life today, how would my life be different if it was missing, and how I anticipate it to impact my life one year from now? I also try to get really specific with how does each align with my current life and future growth.
I also make a second list of items, ideas, plans, clothes, people, etc. that are distracting me or negatively impacting my life, my choices, my financials, etc. and identify at least three from the list to purge that are no longer needed or do not serve a purpose.
I’m 40 years old and I’ve accumulated A LOT of things and ideas from books to pictures to furniture to notebooks full of creative thoughts and new services that I’ve wanted to offer through my business.
They don’t all serve a purpose any more. Some never did but I still kept them – just in case (wink). This purge helps to make space for new, relevant ideas and opportunities, as well as helps me focus on my current purpose, intentions, goals, aspirations, and promises.
We are surrounded by people and things that are constant distractions – both on and offline. It is important that we surround ourselves with the people and things that benefit our overall well-being, enhance our health and lifestyle, as well as directly contribute to the personal and professional growth that we want for ourselves.
I would love to hear about how you make New Year’s resolutions or plan your goals every year.
I wish you an ambitious and successful 2022!
Jodi