The holiday season is in full swing and to say you’re busy is an understatement, right? The new year is rapidly approaching. You want to finish the year strong, but this often means some other tasks and projects are left incomplete. And the thing is…it takes time to plan your year. And setting aside that time can be a real problem – especially if you follow the calendar to start your year.
As the end of December begins to wind down, the likelihood of focusing your energy on finishing the year strong can easily push plans for the next year further down the list. It’s as if the planning for the new year is abandoned because it takes up too much space in your schedule to do.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
You can create a simple plan for your new year that allows you to look beyond a vague (and often demanding) resolution. It’s time to give your intentions for the months ahead the attention they deserve. All it takes is blocking out 25 minutes of time over a 10 day period to build a solid framework for your year.
Don’t think it’s possible to make that time happen? Think about it this way:
There are 15 days between the date of this post and the end of 2015. That’s a total of 21,600 minutes. I’m asking you to spend no more than 25 minutes a day for 10 days on this planning process. That’s 250 minutes in total. If you do the math, that works out to 1.16% of the amount of the time left in the calendar year. Surely a focused plan for the next 365 days is worth such a small investment of focused time.
Surely you’re worth it…right? Of course you are.
Now if you’re ready to take a brief look at how this plan works, read on.
How The Plan Works
There are really 3 things you need to keep in mind when building a simple plan for your year:
- Have a simple focal point that represents your entire year.
- Have monthly pillars that you can look to at regular intervals throughout the year.
- Have daily triggers that keep you from guessing and get you going every day.
When you intersect all three of these aspects in a simple yearly plan, you’ll have taken a huge step towards having the year you want anytime you want.
The best part? You can start that planning process right now. You just need to do the following:
- Pick 3 Words for the year: I’m not a big proponent of New Year’s Resolutions, so instead I choose three words to help me propel the year to come to great heights. This idea came from Chris Brogan (and was introduced to me by my former podcasting partner and good friend Michael Schechter) a couple of years ago. Your Three Words should be chosen in a way that they act as driving forces for everything you do in the year to come.
- Choose themes for each month of the year: Monthly themes are key because they keep you aware of the bigger picture on those occasions when you get caught up in the minutia of the day-to-day. Having a compass of that nature can really help you make the most of your energy, your time, and your year.
- Choose themes for each day of the week: Every day has one so that it triggers your overarching focus for that particular day of the week. (Note: That doesn’t mean you only do that activity on that day, but that activity/type of work gets your overarching focus.)
Just by completing the steps above you’ll be well on your way to crafting the year you want to have.
But if you want to save even more time, I would like to help you craft your plan for 2016.
In fact, with my help you can craft your plan for the next year in half the time. That means you can have your plan for the next year ready to go in just 125 minutes over 5 days – even less if you’re ambitious enough!
How can I help you with this?
TimeCrafting is the key.
This method that will show you a framework that is simple, durable, and flexible. Plus, with regular updates and bonuses, TimeCrafting can help you craft your annual plan for many years to come.
I want you to have a plan going into and through the year. And I want it to be as simple as making a New Year’s Resolution but with more weight and substance. I want your plan to be lasting and have impact – both now and in the future. TimeCrafting can help you make that a reality. And it can help you starting now.
