The New Gear
Happiest of New Year’s to you and your families! After a hectic Holiday season, it’s nice to finally get back into a motivational flow, am I right?! I know for many, the New Year can bring about a sensation of hope, and a surge of motivation. For some, the New Year is a daunting and anxiety filled time of year. I wanted to bring about a method that I have been testing out in smaller time gaps throughout the years before, but am now putting into a YEAR plan. I have found, through others, and my own personal experience, that jumping in full fledge tends to backfire…and it backfires pretty quickly; especially with New Years Resolutions! I know I’m not the only one that has set a Resolution at the start of the year, went into it full fledge (high energy), only to hit an obstacle a few months (and sometimes only a few weeks) into the year, causing me to ditch the originally Resolution all together! I feel your self disappointment! But, I truly wanted to shift my mindset around New Year Resolutions, rather than give up on setting them all together! So, today I’m going to share some of my insights that I am putting into action this year. These steps will ensure I don’t give up on my Resolutions, and potentially, give up on myself. I call it, “My New Gear”!
The Plan Prep
The Main Goal
Pick the most basic overhead goal you want to achieve in the next year! Yes, take the entire year to achieve this one! (i.e. Build a website, lose weight, gain ___ # of clients, etc.) Be basic in this choice, and write it on the top of a notebook page. WRITE IT DOWN! This is just to get the motivational juices flowing. This should be a tough, but definitely achievable goal, and something that is a necessity for your life to be fulfilling and unique to YOU. (Are you sick? Do you need to transition to a healthier life? Do you need to make more money? Do you want to help others? Do you want to be more involved in community? etc.) FInd something that will serve you, and manage to cause a positive ripple effect in those around you. (That general becomes a great motivator when it becomes mentally taxing!)
Note specific details. This is when you decide on numbers, exact dates, or where you want to take your main basic goal (i.e. 20 lbs, published by 12/17/2023, open doors in downtown by 11/13, have 3 consultations by 6/21, etc.) Be exact on these numbers, dates, and locations. Then WRITE IT DOWN…right below your basic goal. These will be your destination guides for you to refer to all year long! This is YOUR ULTIMATE GOAL, your resolution if you will!
Schedule Your Life
Now that you have exact dates, numbers, and places figured out, get yourself a planner/calendar! No, not a digital one. A real, have to use a pencil to paper, planner/calendar that lasts to 2023/2024. TRUST ME…it makes a difference! Go as froo froo or as basic as you want, I will not be judging your preference! Whatever makes you want to use it, get that one! Now, write your ULTIMATE GOAL on the opening page. When you have the goal written out, find the destination date and mark it however you would like to in your planner/calendar. Place a red X, draw rainbows, put stickers, you get the picture! Make it look like that is the most important day in your planner/calendar!
Once your destination day is marked, go back to the beginning of the year…the day you are presently living in…this is when the real planning begins! If you have kids, ya’ll know that their schedules fill our lives up very quickly, so this part is very important if you are living with others. Note important dates throughout the entire year. This may take a bit of time, especially if you have more than one other schedule to maintain in the house like me! But, it really only took me about 30 minutes…and my family is full on chaos! Ha. Its is important you do this before you get to the next step. So go through everyone’s schedule, make sure all other members of the family are aware of the schedule, so no surprises pop up last minute. Not that there won’t be…life isn’t set in stone, but at least you will have a basic outlined map of where you will need to be on certain days and times. THAT is why this step is so important. Mark down competitions, practices, carpools, games, vacations. All things that involve YOU being physically there, get it on your calendar! If this takes you more than an hour, you may need to have a come to Jesus meeting with your family…that’s not cool…or healthy for anyone in your house! Now that that part is done…
The Plan
This was my favorite part. (I’m not kidding. The kids were at school, Rick was working in his office. I poured myself a cup of coffee, opened my calendar, and only thought about MY ultimate goal for the year, and how I would conquer it! Ahhhhh-enter sigh of joy!) Sit yourself in a place free of distraction. Grab your calendar/planner and your notebook. In your notebook, write out the steps you need to take in order to achieve your goal. (i.e. lose weight-change diet & exercise; build website-find platform or build own; gain clients-marketing & build reputation, etc.) These will look basic on the first round. Once you have the first round complete, get more detailed by asking “how” you will do these steps. (will you hire a coach? will you research reviews? will you take a class? will you hire a marketing firm? etc.) Once the “how” question is answered, begin to ask the “where” of your action steps. (will you be completing these steps in a location? will you go to a gym? will you meet clients at an office or coffee shop? will you need a laptop at home, or can you travel to a destination to work? etc.) The “where” question may be odd, but believe me, it will assist greatly in the planning process! Did I tell you to WRITE DOWN all your responses to your questions in your notebook? Okay…do that now, if you haven’t already! This brings us to the best part of building your plan…the “when” question…
DO NOT begin this step if you feel you still have more steps to detail from the previous section. Okay, now that you’re ready, open the planner/calendar. Remember the destination date you have already marked? Look at your action steps one last time. Now, flip to your destination date, and communicate with the logic of your mind for a moment. Ask yourself, “Will I fulfill all of my action steps in order to achieve my ULTIMATE GOAL by this date?” Really let it sink in. You may need more time, or even less time. Adjust as needed. You will be able to see a much more clear picture after this step. You need to begin plugging in the steps you are going to be taking throughout the year on to actually dates, times, and locations. (Definitely have your notebook handy!) Think through each step before marking the planner/calendar. How much time will each step take? Do you even have time on certain days, with everyone else’s schedule? Are you giving yourself time to stay healthy, eat, sleep, and exercise (these are important for you to maintain all year as well!)? Once you know for sure that a date, time, and location will work, mark it in the planner/calendar. Keep adding your action steps until you get to the destination date. Did you give yourself enough time? Perhaps too much time? That would be great, but here is what I will say to having more time in between. It is wise to keep that time available! Like I said before, life is unpredictable. Keep some time open for the surprises life WILL give you throughout the year. (A last minute trip, a surprise visitor, last minute school functions, etc.) Once all of the steps are plugged in, give your planner/calendar one more look through. Did you mark in all action steps? Destination date is most visible in your calendar/planner? Family schedule is accounted for? Vacations are accounted for? Do you have marked time blocks for eating, sleeping, and exercise? Beautiful! Now, take a deep breath and give yourself a relaxed hug…YOU ARE GOING TO CRUSH IT!
Maintain The Plan
I wish I could tell you that this will stay exactly as you have marked it! But, life happens! This is why giving yourself enough time in between your action steps is key. To make sure you are setting yourself up to achieve these action steps, weekly planning will need to take place to maintain your original plan.
Pick an our or two on the same day weekly. (I typically schedule my weeks on a Sunday evening or a Monday morning, depending on my weekend schedule-and sometimes I’m just plain tired!) Open your calendar/planner for the week. Look ahead to the next action step. Now look to the action step you are currently working on. Are you on track to be able to move to the next step when the time comes? What do you need to do this week in order to stay on track? Fill in your weekly action steps in the time appropriate blocks you have available. Is this achievable? Yes, it is!! Just like that, you have your week planned out. All that planning you accomplished at the start of the year, makes maintaining your plan all year through much easier! Keep up with your weekly planning, and adjust where needed, but make sure you fill in “make up” time when you need to as well. This will ensure that you reach your ULTIMATE GOAL without a stressful “crunch time”!
This is not a typical plan for a New Year Resolution. I truly want this year to feel amazing all the way until we hit the next New Year. My plan this year is to go into an aggressive low gear all year long. To not hit a wall because my energy and motivation got burnt out, mainly cause there never really was a thorough plan to begin with! Crushing the year is the resolution of 2023 by strategically planning out every action step, and hitting mini goals throughout the year, in order to find the destination of the ULTIMATE GOAL! I hope some may find this plan and embrace it. I understand the self disappointment, and sometimes self hate that many of us inflict on ourselves when we feel we “quit” or “walked away” from goals that we set. I’m hoping this plan will set you up through the entire year, giving you mini goals for you to feel proud to achieve, and an ULTIMATE GOAL you KNOW you will conquer…as long as you find your gear, and stay in it!
Happy New Gear!!!!
