The New Year is coming soon, so don’t sit down and make a list of haphazard resolutions. Take a bit of time to do some planning. If you have a significant other, this is a great time for you to both sit down and do a bit of long term planning. Every year my husband and I do this. We sit down on New Year’s Eve with a bottle of wine, and discuss what we want to accomplish in the next year. Of course we also go over the plans we had made the previous year and see where we hit and where we miss. So having paper and pen in hand is a great plan.
But where do you start? It’s easy to get lost in a discussion and a downward spiral as you look at all the things that you didn’t accomplish. Although it is important to review these things, they can also become very depressing, so don’t focus on them and make sure you spend most of your time looking at what great things happened.
Preparing for the New Year is a huge tradition in my family. It is a great time to take a fresh breath to a new start. Of course any day you can start new, but the New Year has significance that other days just don’t. I’ve put together a list of things that I like to get done in preparation for the night.
1. Undeck the halls. Christmas is over, and I don’t like having the tree up past New Years, so everything gets boxed up and put away ready for next year. I tell many people that it’s bad luck to have a Christmas tree up twice a year, I’m not sure how true it is, but I would stubbornly argue that it’s a fact.
2. Clean up. Clean up the house, get the floors cleaned, and things put away. It’s nice to start the New Year with a clear, clean place to live. Having a tidy place gives your mind a chance to concentrate on other things like your goals, instead of focusing on the dirty dishes in the kitchen.
3. Deep cleaning. This is for those who really want to start off with a bang. Now I know that it’s still a busy season with family and friends to meet with, but even if you can’t do the entire house, start with a couple of rooms. Deep cleaning is when you get into those insignificant corners where the dust bunnies collect and give them a good wiping out. Deep cleaning might even be a drawer (that insistently messy kitchen junk drawer), or your purse. Just dealing with getting a couple of things cleaned and organized well will put you on a good track.
4. Unfinished jobs. Those are those little projects that you just haven’t gotten time to do that just keep nagging at you. There is no time like just before the New Year to get some of those things out of the way. I had a closet that I needed to paint, and needed to paint, and needed to paint. Well, just getting out that brush and doing it was such a relief. Do you have any unfinished projects?
5. Thinking. Don’t just sit down on New Year’s Eve and expect to come up with all the solutions for your goal planning. Think about some of the things you would like to do. What things might be holding you back. If you put together more of a list, then you will have a better time of it on New Year’s eve.
6. Prepare. Some people go out and bring in the New Year with friends, and that is great, because friends are so important. If that is the case, perhaps you do this on the evening of the first day of the year. If so, make sure you have some treats to make you happy. Maybe it’s a great cup of coffee, or wine like me, or a snack that you like to treat yourself with. Sit down and make the place cozy and comfortable so you can dream and plan.
Okay, so you’ve set the stage, gotten all ready for the night, ready to face the New Year with new goals and lofty dreams… Alright, step back a bit. What do you focus on when you are goal planning? There are different areas in your life that may have different goals. So I make up a list of those areas. They will change for everyone, but here is a good start.
1. Relationships and Family
2. Faith
3. Health & Fitness
4. Financial
5. Personally Me
6. Fun Time
7. Home Projects
8. Learning
9. Charity
10. Thank yous
11. Business/Job
So first, take a look at the past year and think about what you didn’t get quite done, or what didn’t work well for you. Don’t leave it at that. Think about each of those things. Those things you didn’t get done, were they really that important to you (obviously not). Are they even worth doing, or will they simply go away? Perhaps they aren’t worth beating yourself up about not doing…maybe it just wasn’t that important, so let it go and move on. You can’t change the past, and it’s not worth getting upset at yourself for not finishing something. There is probably a reason. To help, you can list the consequences of not getting those things done or what the consequences of for the things that didn’t work well for you. Now is the time to determine if it is important enough to concentrate on for the New Year, and how the best way to do that is. Maybe your approach last year just wasn’t the right one.
Second, take a look at things that worked out well for you. Show some gratitude for the things that worked out. Why did they work out so well, and how can you make that happen again. Use the strength of what worked well to help you do it again and again.
Third, take a bit of time to dream. Think about where you want to be in five years. What do you want to be doing. Are the things you do today supporting what you want in five years? This is an important thing. Many people live day to day and are just running around in circles. What do you really want? Think about if money was not an issue, and what would you do with your life? Is there any aspect of that life in your current position? How can bring it into your life, even if it’s only a portion of it?
Forth, now look at that list I gave you. For each of those categories write some things down that you would like to accomplish, or at least work towards. Are those things getting you closer to your goals? If you are working with a partner, you may each have your own goal list, but some of the things may be duplicated on your list. That’s a great thing because it’s always easier to work at a goal when you have someone supporting you with the same outlook. Here are some examples for the categories.
1. Relationships and family – Take a trip out to see my sister, make time to have friends over once a month (dinner, game night)
2. Faith – become more involved in my church
3. Health & fitness – take time to exercise, research yoga classes, eat vegetables at every meal
4. Financial – save $500 per month into the vacation fund,
5. Personally Me –go to the spa 4 times, Make time to do some things just for me
6. Fun Time – go to 6 movies this year, Learn how to ski, plan a picnic party in the summer.
7. Home Projects – build cupboards in laundry room, replace humidifier, fix broken window, weed old garden….man, there are lots of these things, so don’t get carried away, keep only the most important ones.
8. Learning – Learn speed reading, read 15 books this year, take underwater basket weaving course.
9. Charity – Decide on two charities to work with, volunteer time with Salvation Army,
10. Thank you’s – I know this one seems odd, but think of people who you are thankful for, people who help you that you don’t normally think about. Like someone who was really helpful in a store (how cool for their manager to get a letter telling them what a great help they were). Or your mailman, garbage man, a friend who was there when you needed them, or someone who simply did what they were supposed to do. Send a card of thanks.
11. Business/Job – This can also be a big one. But it could be impacted by your decision for your five year goals. Think about things you can do to improve your job, or your ability in your job. Think about if you improved how you do things in your job, where you could move up to in your job (maybe a thank you letter will come to your Boss about you).
So now you have a whole bunch of stuff here to work on, so what do you do with it? Don’t try to do it all at the same time….you will be destined for failure if you try to do that. Go through your list and pull out three or four of the most important ones. It doesn’t mean the other ones go away, but they will be there in the back of your mind, and may influence some of the things you do. Also, if you accomplish one of your four focus projects, you can add one of the others later.
That should be the end of your New Years Eve goal planning
The first week of the New Year is when I sit down and take a closer look at those goals. Some of them may be very simple and you can accomplish them without much planning. Others will need more work. Planning in your first week is the key to getting on the right track. Take a look at your goals, and some you may be able to break down into smaller steps. Maybe you need to do a bit of research, or shopping, or designing, or reading. This will help you take a larger goal and make it workable for the year. Remember it doesn’t mean that just because it’s a new year you wave a wand and that goal is to be completed…this is a work in progress, and you may fall down during the year, but you can always have the chance to pick yourself up and climb back on that goal.
Making goals for the New Year doesn’t have to be this onerous thing. You can make it fun, after all if it takes you closer to where you want to be, then it should be fun…right? Many people make resolutions and then after two weeks they fail, and they think “well I didn’t do it so I may as well give up now and try again next year”. Don’t do that. If you can change one thing a year to improve yourself or your situation, that is a great accomplishment, imagine if you can do three or four a year. Most people don’t do any. It’s up to you to make the changes you want, so empower yourself and take charge of your new year, and enjoy.
Karen Biko
Quite an interesting story! I’ve had my share of tenant experiences too, but that’s really something. It’s a good idea to do an e-mail search like you did.
I’ve found out a lot of useful information from Google which helped me in my decision making.
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