Tell me if this sounds familiar. You finally hit a moment of motivation and decide to put it to work to plan for the perfect year. You start thinking about all of the things you need to accomplish and even write them down. Things go well for the first week, but progress seems slow. Within the next two or three weeks, you decide now is not the best time. Wouldn’t it be nice to have goals work for you finally?

 

Planning your year can put your mind at ease, but it can also be overwhelming at times. A list of things to complete over the next twelve months is a lot! Thankfully there are some great ways to plan the perfect year for yourself and avoid feeling overwhelmed!

 

 

So here is how I recommend you plan your year;

 

Step 1: Write it Down!

Write down your goals. I suggest you use the SMARTEST framework from my previous video. Be sure to keep your goals to seven or fewer for the whole year. Too many goals can become overwhelming and cause you to procrastinate or even give up the goal entirely.

 

Step 2: Cut Your Year into Quarters

Break your year into four quarters and plan when you want to work on each goal. This helps by setting smaller goals that are more reasonable. Big distances are covered easier by smaller steps! For best results, work on only 1-2 goals per quarter. 

 

Step 3: Evaluate

Once you get done with each quarter, evaluate your progress. Did you complete your goals? If not, that’s okay. Look at what you accomplished and celebrate that! Also, look at what kept you from achieving your goals. 

 

After giving it some thought, either place the goal on your calendar for the next quarter or delete it. If it wasn’t that meaningful, isn’t a good time right now, or isn’t sustainable, you can delete it in favor of working on something else that would be more productive.

 

Incorporating these strategies into setting goals for the perfect year will help them to become a reality. Ultimately it all comes down to taking smaller steps. We see people achieve big goals and expect to be able to jump to success in an instant, but a long hike begins with humble steps. Stay on that journey, and you will reach the summit in no time!