How To Plan For A Great Year Ahead | A Beginners Guide

Namaste and Happy New Year my friends. This is a very significant time for most people as they set goals and work towards achieving them while letting go of the things that no longer serve them. It is indeed very important to be clear on what your focus is if you are to achieve your goals. What better way to start the year than with a solid plan? In this post, I hope to help you on how to plan for a great year ahead and help you bring out the best in yourself. 

It is common for people to list out the goals and resolutions at the beginning of the year. However, most of us slowly fall out of the plans to achieve these goals within the first few months. (I have been that person and in some areas of my life still am). We’ve all been there and it is okay. What’s not okay is if we choose to stay there and not make any changes in our lives. This new year is a new opportunity for all of us to have a clear focus, make a solid plan, and implement it daily. Let’s break it down so that you can start waking up and make the dream work every single day.

So what can you do to plan for a great year ahead?

• Review your last year:

  Take the time to review and reflect on the last year, this is a very important first step you should consider in order to have a razor-like focus on what you truly want and do not want this new year that’s’ ahead of you. Contemplate on what went well and what did not, what you want more of and what you want to let go and what new things you wish to accomplish this year.

• Let go:

  It is too easy to feel held back by the past failures and shortcomings of your life and bring it to this new year. While I do understand it’s not easy to just forget about your past, I do believe it is very much possible to look at your past from a different perspective and change how you feel and react towards it. With the right kind of mindfulness practices, you have the opportunity to change what you think about the past and start the new year with a clear conscience.

• Make a solid plan for this year (and the next 5 years):

  This is one of the most important steps to make sure you are redirected whenever you find yourself confused and lost (happens way too often, right?). You’re definitely not alone. Write down the goals you want to achieve during this calendar year and then also write down what your goals are for the next 5 years. While you can try new things every year, every successful person has goals that are just growing year by year (not changing every year). So, take the time to really think about what you want to achieve and mindfully write it down. What I am trying to say is your 1-year goals and 5-year goals need to have some sort of correlation for you to be able to implement them successfully. 

• Daily Action:

  Also, where the magic happens. Listen, the above will be pretty much just a piece of paper without this step. The most important thing you can do to achieve your yearly goals is to make the dream work, task by task every single day. You don’t need to write this down every day, but it would help if you remind yourself every day of what you intend to do that day to move closer to your goals. I personally do this through daily affirmations before and after my morning meditation.

• Review, Revise and Adapt:

  Change is the only constant thing. Sometimes, it is normal for you to feel that some of the goals or actions you are taking are not taking you towards your goals. When this happens, do not feel demotivated. Instead, take the opportunity to take a step back and turn inwards to find solutions. It simply may be that you have overlooked certain aspects of your goals in which case you can make some changes to guide you towards your goal again.

One thing is certain here, the only way this new year is going to be any different from the past years is if you actually make a plan and take the necessary actions every day. And remember, some days will be hard to navigate through and it’s normal to feel stuck sometimes. Just don’t let yourself stay there for too long. If I may give you one piece of advice to take with you as you progress this year, it is to always take matters of your life into your own hands and to know that your life will only get as good as you make it. I wish all of you a great year ahead and hope I can help you grow into a better version of yourselves this year.