5 Steps to Creating a Bigger Brighter New Year
Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences and failing to achieve anything useful – Margaret J. Wheatley
While some people prepare to unwind and relax at the end of a year, some of us gear up for the upcoming new year. This is the time of year when I, like many people, spend time thinking and reflecting. As the end of a year approaches, my thoughts turn to self-reflection. This is usually the time that I start thinking about and reflecting on the year that it was and the year that it wasn’t. I spend time looking back on what my accomplishments and results and also what I didn’t achieve and what I am still aiming for.
When we are self-reflecting with honesty and truth, we ask ourselves:
- Did I achieve everything I wanted or set out to achieve?
- What did I not acquire or achieve and why?
- What can or should I do differently next year?
When we consciously reflect on our life we can benefit by transforming all of those experiences into genuine learning. It can enable us to evaluate our experiences, learn from the mistakes, repeat what has been successful, revise and create a plan.
If you want to create a bigger, brighter and more productive New Year, here are 5 steps to creating a New Year Plan.
Where am I now?
Reflect on where you are right now and what you have achieved in all areas of life, say your health, career/business, relationships and your finances. Ask yourself these questions and be honest in your answers. What has been your achievements? Where have you been successful? What did you do well and need to continue to do? What has been a challenge and why? What has held you back and stopped you from achieving your goals? What have you learnt that you can bring forward to use as a valuable resource? To create a plan, you must begin with getting clear about where you are now.
Where Do I want to be?
Identify what your ideal life is and what it should be like. Be clear with your life purpose and why you want the results you are after. Is it inspiring enough to get you over the line? What are some of the things that you have already accomplished and want to improve on? What has been challenging and what do you need to learn to get through it. Let’s start with answering where would you like to be in 5 or 10 years’ time? What are some of your dreams and desires, big and small things that you would love to achieve or acquire? Perhaps it might be getting fit and being at your ideal weight, stop smoking, buying your dream home, travel to a new country, skydiving, taking up a new hobby such as painting, learn a new skill or language or even how to perfect that favourite family dish. What will it mean for you to have or achieve these things? Where you want to be needs to be strong, it should excite you, inspire and drive you to take action.
How do I bridge the gap?
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. You cannot get to where you are aiming to go until you clearly define where or what that is. Create and set a yearly goal for all the areas of life that you want change and then break it down to 90 days and 30 days. Be specific when creating your goals. Setting goals helps you focus and allocate your time and resources efficiently and it helps to keep you on track and motivated. Make sure that the goals that you set makes your heart sing so that if the road gets tough it keeps you moving forward. You can use a vision board to create a picture of your future and a representation of where you want to be. Your mind responds to visual stimulation and when you create a vision board you will stimulate your mind to work to achieve the images that you have of your vision. Surround yourself with a support team that will encourage and push you along. Identify what you need to learn and find people who can help you.
Action Plan
Break down the goals you have set into weekly action plans. Break it right down into small chunks that you can work with on a weekly basis. Smaller steps are more manageable and doesn’t upset your routine dramatically. Create a list with action items that has a time frame against each item. Establish habits that enhance and support your goals and remove habits that are restricting you. Make sure that that the action plans you set help you progress towards where you want to go. Break free from your comfort zone and stretch yourself mentally and physically to overcome fear and doubt so that as you move forward your confidence will grow.
Monitor your progress
Too often, people give up when they don’t get the results they want. That’s no way to succeed. You have to be willing and flexible in your approach and evaluate and re-evaluate your plan and do things a different way. You can’t be doing the same thing and expecting a different result. If what you are doing is not getting you to where you want to go, then try something else. If that doesn’t work, then try something else. Sometimes you have to try something radically different and all it might take is a change in course direction. If you keep checking and evaluating, adjusting and changing what you do, sooner or later you will find the right formula that works and your success comes in. Never give up.
Life should also be about celebrations, so when you have achieved even your smallest of goals, pat yourself on the back, feel the satisfaction of having achieved and reward yourself.
Oprah Winfrey says: “The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate”.