Ah, another year is coming to a close. It’s out with the old and in with the new, that weird old man is retiring and baby new year is bouncing onto the scene. Side note: how does that baby age so much in one year? Okay, back on track. This is my last post for 2017 and I thought I’d talk about what most people are talking about at this time of year – goal setting.
Now, I use quite a few systems that I’ve learned over the past few years to plan out my goals. I’ve gotten them from various webinars, books, courses, old planners, and online blog searching. I have no idea who to attribute most of what I’m going to talk about to specifically because at this point it’s a hodgepodge of styles with my own added flair!
I like to start with a general brain dump of things I would like to get done, accomplish, get better at, finish, etc. That list usually looks like a hot mess, but from there I’ll separate the do-able from the wishes, the first things first to maybe if I have time, and then I make a quarterly plan. This year was easy, actually, because I know I want to launch my newsletter (with that freebie I keep hinting about) in February and my debut novel will be self-published on Amazon (more about that in 2018) in either March or April so my Quarter One goals were set. I have a few things bulleted out for Q2, including writing the 1st draft of book #2 and researching blog guest posting, and then I just have a list called: ???? This is a maybe/future list that includes starting a YouTube channel, planning our August family vacation (we know we’d like to go somewhere this summer, but we’re not sure where we’re going this year yet so, for now, it’s on the ???? List), and when to publish/launch Book #2 – only because I have no clue how fast I’ll be able to write and edit since this current novel has taken me years!
I also added some health & wellness goals to my list, music and hobby goals (I want to start singing again and I think I’m getting a hand-me-down acoustic guitar and would like to learn that as well), and some overall family goals (like taking my little one to more museums, doing more things around Queens, and getting the rest of the apartment organized and finished). My year is shaping up! It’s all very exciting, shiny, and new.
I am definitely getting excited, especially after I did one final step of my yearly planning…the tarot cards! I bought Biddy Tarot’s 2018 Planner this year but not to use as a plan-your-day type calendar (I’m still using my Erin Condren bullet journal hybrid), but to help with tarot study – it has monthly spreads, weekly cards, new moon and full moon intentions, quarterly reviews, and some fun journaling prompts along the way. I did the big New Year’s Eve spread and that was nice, but then I went ahead and also did the Q1 Manifestation Spread (where you talk about your biggest goal for the quarter – mine was launching The Art of Lying) and baby, hold on to your socks – because this was a doozy of a spread.
You basically go through questions about where you are right now with your goal, what weaknesses and strengths you have surrounding the goal, what you need to let go of, what action steps you need to take, and what…overall…the next three months might look like. These cards were totally speaking to me, they were extremely positive and point to the fact that I am on the right track to finishing Q1 strong!
I won’t bore you with the nitty-gritty details, but I will share with you what I wrote in the summation box of the planner: This spread has shown me that I need to continue the New Year with hard work and expert planning. I need to let the creative side celebrate her wins and much earned success, while my business side makes decisions based on knowledge, research, and gut intuition. I need to stay true to myself, be authentic and human in my marketing and promotions, stay down to earth, but don’t neglect my health in striving for perfection! If I do these things, keep up my confidence and courage, I should achieve my goal!!!
Now, I’ve done quite a bit of 2018 planning – last week’s Word of the Year and this week’s goal planning, but I’m not done yet. The writing mastermind I am a part of is having a big Planning Party soon and my mentor will be sharing a workbook PDF that will have questions, prompts, and other goodies for us – now I doubt any of that will have me changing my plans much, but it might help solidify things for me – things I’m worried about, things I’m trying not to freak myself out about (like all the decisions that business side of me actually needs to make soon), and it might just help me narrow down my daily tasks and to-do’s better. And, I love a good planning party.
So…what have you been planning for the new year? Any goals you’re just itching to get started with? Do you do the whole goal setting thing or resolutions? I personally think both can work as long as you have a plan in place and not just a wish…like I wish I was 25 pounds lighter, but actually, say – I will work out three times a week, cut down to carbs at one meal per day, and meditate daily to help alleviate stress – now that would be a plan! Also, that sounds very similar to my plan for health and wellness. HA So, share! I’d love to hear what you’re working on next year and where we can maybe each other stay on track.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and a Lovely 2018 to you and yours!!!