Ooh I love a little New Year’s planning. But, it’s not always easy to get into the right mindset for it–it’s easy to start thing about what you ‘should’ do, and as a friend of mine once said, why would you want to should all over yourself? Thinking in terms of shoulds is NOT inspiring. And New Year’s planning is all about inspiration. So today I’m sharing a question that helps you find it.
Listen To The Podcast Here
A Super Helpful Question to Ask When New Year’s Planning Is…
What new things do I want to create this year?
You’ve REALLY got to work hard not to censor yourself when answering this question, because your ego will just love to chime in and say, what are you thinking? That’s not possible. There’s no way that’s going to happen. That’s just your ego doing its job, which is trying to keep you safe, which is another way of saying trying to avoid any change–even positive changes.
YOUR job is to thank the ego for caring but get right back to dreaming about what you want. For two reasons — first, if you don’t know what you want, you’re a lot less likely to get it. And second, where there’s a want, there’s a way. Answering this question is to figure out what your personal wants for the coming year are.
This is basically naming what you’d like more of this year, thank you very much.
It can be hard to do, because it’s difficult to envision sometimes something you haven’t had or experienced. I just want to acknowledge that. But don’t let it stop you– jot down everything that comes to mind. I don’t care how realistic it is, or isn’t. This is the list version of a vision board, so just put down anything that’s speaking to your heart.
Try not to be too specific here. You can figure out later how to actually give it form. (My free e-book, 4 steps to a Better 2021 can help with that, too.)
Something new I want to create this year is…
more habits and traditions around getting the family outside. Nature and fresh air and sunlight and exercise is all so important. And we do some stuff, like a yearly camping trip, and dog walks. But the kids really know how to ski now, so maybe we find a way to ski more and get outside this winter. Or getting a hammock, or a porch swing. It could take a lot of forms, and the specifics aren’t necessarily what you want to write down now–it’s the bigger picture thing.
If you have ideas about how to give that big picture idea form, write those down too, it’s good information and you want to capture those specific ideas somewhere, but just know that there are all kinds of ways to get what you want. You don’t want to get attached to any one specific idea. Because if you’re dead-set on going skiing, you may not notice that you could fulfill that same desire by going snowshoeing, for example.
Get your free New Year’s planning e-Book!
I’ve also created a free e-book that is a companion to this week’s episodes. It’s called A Better 2021 in 4 Easy Steps, and it helps you take the insights that you’ve gotten from this week of reflection and then get going on a path that you’re excited about and motivated to keep up with. It’s totally free and it’s available HERE.
