At this time of year much is being written about goals setting. Google the term, and you can find all kinds of information about setting goals. Different systems, and methods. I’m sure they are all very helpful. They all focus on the how. What’s more important is the why?
Why do I set goals?
I think of it a bit differently. Instead of setting goals, I see it more like pre-planning my year.
Earlier this year my daughter was planning her wedding. She had a vision of what she wanted it to be like. She wrote things down, made lists, talked to people that could help. Then on the day of the wedding, it went off without a hitch. It was a fantastic day!
What if she wouldn’t have spent time planning? What if she would have invited people to just show up, and then ask someone to take pictures, someone else to get the food ready, and so on. It would have created a lot of stress for herself, and for the people that came.
It works the same way with every aspect of our lives. Do we have a vision of what it should look like? What we will be doing? Who we will be with? Is it written down?
I don’t get really fancy when I’m preplanning my year. I just open a new Word document. I plan for three main areas. Personal. Business. Financial. Then I write 7 items under each area that I will focus on. That’s it.
Then I review my list regularly. Most experts say that you should look at your list every day. I try to. But, to be honest, there are more days that I don’t look at my goals, than there are days when I do.
But, going through the process of thinking about what I want to do, and writing it down helps. I have it written down so that when things get crazy, I can go back to what I had pre-planned, and get back on track to where I’m going. It keeps me focused, and energized, and on track.
What do you do to pre-plan your year?
