Personal Planning for the New Year: 4 Steps to a Fulfilling and Productive New Year
My mission today is to get you to schedule time to reflect and plan for next year before the end of this year.
People have asked me about my process of reflection and planning for the coming year, so I want to share that with you in hopes that it might encourage you to be intentional about preparing to have a fulfilling and productive new year.
This Christmas week, I will be taking the day to reflect on the year that was and to consider the year to come. It’s one of my favorite days of the year.
Above: One of my favorite spots in our beautiful little town of Poulsbo, Washington, known locally as “Little Norway.” Today is one of my favorite days of the year. A day to step back and reflect. On the year that was, what I’ve learned, and on the year to come.
It’s so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day, the urgency of the moment, and lose track of the bigger picture. Dedicating time to reflection and planning is so important.
Four Steps to a Fulfilling and Productive New Year
Following is an overview of how I structure my reflection and planning time each year. Feel free to steal whatever works for you and toss what doesn’t.
Here we go – four steps to a fulfilling and productive new year:
Step One: Reflection
The first thing I do is mentally “relive” the year, month by month, and write down the milestones from the past year in bullet form – those things that stand out to me, whether positive or negative.
Milestones: Things that stand out from the last year, month by month (good and bad!)
Reflections & Observations: After writing these, I review the milestones and ask myself, “What do I notice? What stands out?”
Learnings: Finally, I ask, “What have I learned or can I learn from this year?”
If you are anything like me, you have made generalized assumptions about the year – this year was fantastic, challenging, exhausting, etc. We tend to oversimplify and generalize when we could learn from a deeper examination of the year we’ve just lived through.
💡 Takeaway: It’s amazing the personal insights that come when you take the time to reflect on the year’s milestones, personally and professionally, and ask, “What have I learned?”
Once I have reflected on the past year, I look forward, starting with setting and reviewing life priorities.
Step Two: Priorities
I keep a list of priorities, both personally and professionally. I first developed my list years ago with the help of Bobb Biehl’s “Bucket List/I Want Chart.” Each year during this time, I review and update the following:
Lifetime Priorities: My top three life priorities. I review these annually, and they almost never change.
10-Year Priorities (End of 2033): My top three priorities for the next decade. I review these annually, and they rarely change.
3-Year Priorities (End of 2026): My top three priorities for the next three years – these change or get refined annually.
1-Year Priorities (End of 2024): My top 3-5 priorities for this next year – these always change and are set each year in light of where I’m at.
I created these priorities years ago and update them each year, but if this is your first time writing down your life priorities, it will take you a little longer.
💡 Takeaway: Creating a personal and professional list of your long-term priorities is a great way to give your short-term goals context as you set them in light of what is important to you in the longer term.
The next step is to turn this year’s priorities into measurable goals.
Step Three: Set Measurable Goals
The next step is to review my priorities for this year and ask, “How will I know I’m making progress toward my priorities? How can I measure each of these things?” I then set out measurable goals for each area of my life. This took me a while to figure out over the years, but it’s helpful to turn priorities into things you can measure.
Some of my measurements are inputs, and some are outcomes. An input is something you do that you can measure that will lead to the outcome you want, i.e., if I do this thing X number of times, I believe it will lead to the outcome. By contrast, an outcome is something that I can measure that happens that shows I’m on track to achieve my goal.
Let me give you an example.
For example, one priority I had for this year was to do more keynote speeches. I set a goal of a specific number of keynotes. I translated that goal into a series of inputs: identifying potential conferences, developing 1-2 topics that could be keynotes, and connecting with specific individuals who might be able to help. The outcome was the simple goal I wrote down – give X keynotes.
Similarly, another goal was to build cash reserves for the business. That translated into a monthly savings goal (input) to build up to a specific end-level of cash reserves (outcome).
A personal goal for 2023 was to take my wife and daughters on 1:1 dates at least once a month, which also went down as a measurable goal – at least one date/month.
The last thing I do is take those goals and write them down in a way that I can track them throughout the year.
Some years, capturing my goals visibly means getting them to fit on a single piece of paper and putting them up next to my desk. In 2023, I took a step further and put my measurable into a spreadsheet format, with every week and month of the year listed so I could write down my progress (or lack thereof!) monthly throughout the year. That might sound like a lot, and it is – it’s not for everyone.
But by documenting my goals and then reviewing them monthly throughout the year, I could recognize when I was struggling with progress on a goal, that my priorities had changed, or that I needed a new goal.
The final step of my process is to summarize my vision for the coming year in a single word.
Step Four: One-Word Focus
Finally, and throughout this entire process, I am thinking about what single word I might be able to use to summarize my focus in the coming year.
Of course, this one-word focus is not a new idea – many others use it, including Bobb Biehl, whom I mentioned earlier.
This single word becomes a focusing point, a personal rallying cry – an orienting word or phrase that can be used throughout the year to help make decisions and remind us what is important at this stage in our development.
What is one word that best summarizes what you want to focus on in the coming year?
For me to be honest, I typically end up reflecting on it for a couple of weeks. I try out different words or phrases that come to mind. Often, it’s not until January that I settle on that single-word focus. Everyone is different, and for some, it’s easier to do this than for others.
When I decide on the word, I put it in HUGE letters at the top of my list of goals and put it up next to my desk.
Here’s a quick recap:
Reflect on Milestones - Review the year’s milestones and ask, “What have I learned?”
Review Life Priorities - Set and review your long-term life priorities as well as priorities you want to focus on in the coming year.
Set Measurable Goals - Turn your priorities into things that you can measure – either inputs that you believe will help you progress towards your goal or outcomes that show evidence you are making progress.
Establish a One-Word Focus - Summarize your next year in a single word or phrase that can act as a reminder of what is important throughout the year.
Now it’s your turn.
Schedule Time Before Year End
My encouragement is to look at your calendar right now and find one or two blocks of time before year end. For me, that’s either just before Christmas or in a quiet space between Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
When my kids were younger, the week between Christmas and New Year’s was a no-go – my focus was on family during that time. Those years, I would schedule this time in the first couple of weeks of January. It wasn’t ideal, but such is life.
Take a moment to look at your calendar right now and schedule that time.
Go ahead, I’ll wait. 🤔
Got that time held on your calendar now?
Even if you can only find ONE hour during this holiday season, please do it. You will be thankful you did.
Regardless of when you do it, if you take the time to reflect on the year that was and consider the year to come, I promise you won’t be disappointed.
💡 Takeaway: Take time annually to reflect on the past year's milestones, asking, “What have I learned?” Consider what your life priorities are for this year and beyond. Set goals that align with those priorities, and consider a single word to focus you throughout the year. Schedule that time now.
I would be remiss not to acknowledge two people who have impacted me most in this area.
Special Acknowledgements
Bobb Biehl has been the most influential person on my annual rhythm over the years – he has not only been a personal coach and mentor – he has coached over 5,000 executives and written a couple dozen books and resources. I would encourage you to check his resources out.
Jon Acuff is a self-described goal nerd. He is UBER-passionate about setting and finishing goals and wrote the book All It Takes is a Goal. I highly recommend his books, podcast, and weekly email, “Try This!”
Until next time… Surfs Up! 🌊
- Dave
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