How to Plan Your Year in 8 Step

Every day you decide whether you are the driver or the passenger in your own life. You are the one who decides which you want to be. 

Does life happen to you or do you choose what you want yourself? When you choose the road you want to be in, you take control of your life. Give yourself the chance to meet your goals,  identify what support you need to succeed, and to start fresh. 

What’s your vision for 2020?

Where do you see yourself at the end of the year?

What’s your focus for this year, what do you hope to achieve and create?

Today I will walk you through a step-by-step process for planning your year ahead. It’s never too late to start. 

The end of one year and the start of the next is the perfect time to take stock of where you are at. I did this process to start my year. 

Why do this process?

You can be the driver of your life or the passenger. Which do you want to be? Have life happen to you, or create the life you choose for yourself?

You get clear on what you really want and what the focus is

You get to take back control of your life

You greatly increase your chances of meeting your goals 

You will identify what support you need to succeed

It’s a fresh start – wipe the slate clean and start over.

1. Do the End of Year Review Process

Let go of the old, capture your learnings and forgive your mistakes

I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to do an end of year review or whenever you want to start the process, in order to clear the decks and create a firm foundation for your new year planning.

2. Brainstorm your ideas for goals for the year.

Simple!

Just have fun with this. Grab a journal, some chocolate and a nice cup of tea, coffee or my favorite hot chocolate, and allow your mind to dream and your ideas to flow!

3. Set goals for each aspect of your life & a theme for the year

I recommend creating goals in each category of your life. I like to use these categories:

1. Business
2. Money
3. Relationships (Friends/Family)
4. Love
5. Fun
6. Personal Growth
7. Material Abundance
8. Health/Fitness
9. Home

You don’t need to have loads of goals for each category. Just 1/2 well thought through goals can be very powerful.

I like to brainstorm my goals and then choose which ones I will focus on this year. Most people overestimate what can be achieved in a year, and underestimate what can be achieved in 3 years. 

Action Step for You

Rate on a score of 1-10 how satisfied you are with each aspect of your life right now (the categories above)…. the lowest scores will indicate the areas that need the most attention.

For example, my personal growth score is currently 8, but health (weight management) is a 3 so that guides me to put more focus/time/energy into that area. I have less personal growth goals this year, it’s more about sustaining the good practices I already have in place and going deeper with those. I always have goals in all categories, but some are high growth and other low growth depending on a given year.

Now set your goals.

Don’t get stressed about getting it right! It’s ok if you don’t meet all your goals, at least you know where you are headed, and by keeping your focus on the destination you will eventually get there. Use your intuition and experience to set appropriate goals.

Setting your theme for the year

I pick 1-3 words that are the key themes for my year. This year my words are:

HAPPINESS  

GROW

INSPIRE

These have a personal meaning for me, and also have multiple meanings. They make me feel excited and inspired.

Action Step for You

Look at your goals, your desires and feel into what your key theme/s are

Is this a year that’s all about launching a new business, programme or up levelling your income?

Or is it a year you’ll graduate and start a new chapter in your life…

Or maybe it’s a year of adventure, travel and explore the world, learn about yourself…

Now, of course, you will have goals in all areas – family, business, money, travel, etc but knowing your key themes will guide your priorities and also manage your expectations.

If it’s a year of exploration around your next steps, deep inner work or healing for you, don’t make that wrong. Know that the deep inner transformation happens first, BEFORE the external results show. And they will! Oh my, they will….

These words guide your focus for the year and help focus the brain and guide your actions.

4. Write out your goals and keep them visible

Now you have your goals, it’s time to record them in a way that keeps them in front of mind.

The most important thing here is to write out your goals as if it were already true excited and like I can do anything now!  I love celebrating with my family and friends and feeling confident, capable and happy. I was able to get my dream job and earn enough money for my trip next year with my mother. I love the amazing feedback I got from my happy clients and boss who just love my work, and I feel so appreciated and loved!”

You want to keep them in front of the mind, make them as real as possible, and somewhere you will see them every day. 

Action Step for You

Decide how you going to record your goals 

Put in the front of your journal

Put in the spreadsheet you use daily for tracking your finances and business numbers

Create a vision board where you will see inspiring images of what it looks like and feels like to have accomplished your goals (as if it was a present reality). Vision your new life, how you will feel and find images that represent that. Some images might be literal, and others will evoke the feelings you want to have when your manifestations come true. Source images from magazines and Pinterest.

5. Create a Financial & Business Plan 

I have several spreadsheets for tracking my numbers.

A Personal Financial Spreadsheet with my personal outgoings and expenses so I know exactly what needs to come in and what it is for (money loves a purpose!)

A Business Calculator with projections for sales & revenue for the year

I’ll be sharing more about this process in my new Money Programme out this Spring. Watch this space!

Action Step for You

Get clear on your numbers

Look at your overall income goal for the year and play around with ideas for how you are going to get there (this is where spreadsheets are good because you can play around with different possibilities).

Get in reality around what your outgoings are – both business and personal.

I track all my accounts each week on a Monday morning and enter the balances into a spreadsheet.

Don’t get overwhelmed here – just do your best. If you find it impossible or avoid it like the plague, then it’s time to seek some support in this area!

6. Review the support you need to meet your goals

Now you are clear on your goals and your number goal, you can look at what support you need to get there.

Coaching is incredibly powerful and with the right fit coach for you, you can accelerate your results and reach your goals far sooner and much more easily than you could on your own.

See it as an investment in your Success (p.s. Nobody successful got there alone…..just saying….)

Here are some ideas for ways you could uplevel the support in your life.

Home help – cleaning, household chores, shopping, errands. Those time-consuming tasks that take you away from your work and business, or eat into your leisure time.

Bookkeeping – set up an electric system for storing and tracking your expenses and receipts and hire a bookkeeper to do your accounts

Business training on areas you need more knowledge in, like social media, sales funnels or key skills in your profession. Online courses and in-person training are both powerful yet different ways of learning.

Action Step for You

Make a list of the knowledge and skills you need to reach your goals

Ask yourself what extra support do you need to guarantee your success?

Do you need help getting over your fears and blocks and limiting beliefs?

This is the single biggest area I have found to transform my life and business. When you get support to clearing and healing what’s holding you back inside you clear the path to success and receiving everything that’s possible for you!

7. Create a new daily routine

We talked about BIG goals, now we are going to talk about tiny changes. Yes, the tiny needlepoint moves you make each day that add up to big change over time.

Rarely does change happen in one huge moment – moving abroad to start a new life in the sun, getting married or having a baby count as big change that happens overnight, but most transformation happens through baby steps, one after another that gradually builds upon the one before.

THE LITTLE TINY THINGS YOU DO EACH DAY MATTER.

Little by little, making a new decision in each moment, a little change day by day, week, by week, and a year later you’re in a whole different place.

Now is the perfect time to look at your daily habits, things you do every day that over time make a big difference.

Action Step for You

Review your daily routine – the things you aim to do consistently each day.

My 2019 Daily Routine consists of:

15 mins Meditation

30-45 mins Walking

20-40 minutes reading current news 

Tracking Money Daily (income, value, and outgoings)

End of Day Gratitude – 10 things I am grateful for. 

If this is new to you, just pick one small thing to start, do it for a month, so it becomes a habit, then add a second thing in Month 2, and then by the end of the year, you will have a whole new consistent routine!

Don’t aim for perfection – aim for good enough.

If I do this 5-6 times a week I am happy and proud of myself, but I love meditation so much I always do it every day, because it changes how my whole day flows and I love that!

When you start to see the benefits you will become more motivated to continue to do whatever it takes to get through that first month…. rewards, alarms, electronic reminders, post-it notes, public commitments, supportive groups, and friends…

8. Manifest your Goals!

Now you have clarity on your vision and goals, and you’re excited about what you’re creating, it’s time to manifest!

Take action now on your goals….set up appointments, make inquiries, block out time for holidays, conferences, trips in your schedule. This tells the Universe you are serious about your goals.

Clear the blocks and fears that are standing in the way of you reaching your goals successfully.

Everything you desire is possible for you (those desires are planted in you for a reason). It’s your job to clear the boulders and rocks (negative beliefs) that are blocking the way. 

Success is about looking forward but also about letting go of the past and what no longer serves you, and we’re going to be doing BOTH in this unique new course.