I’ll start my post with a quote from Charles Kettering, “Every time you tear a leaf off a calendar, you present a new place for new ideas and progress.”  As a chapter closes, you can start a new chapter like a blank canvas that allows you to paint your vision of what you would like to achieve this year.    It is a great opportunity to focus on what is really important to you.

Here is my approach to creating a new year’s plan:

– What is the overarching theme for your year? My overarching theme this year is personal growth and pursuing my love of teaching.   What is your theme?

– What do you want to achieve this year?   I taught leadership development in the past.  I stopped for over a year and began teaching again in November.  It brought back great memories and now I want to do at least four courses this year.

– What changes do you want to make?  I want to be mindful that I need to put in the time to achieve my goal.   This year, I will plan and allocate time and commit myself to making my goal happen.  I need to be disciplined to achieve my vision.   I plan to read and review my work at least three hours per week.

– What bad habit do you want to stop in order to make progress?   This is the toughest one because family and work precedes my personal goal.   I need to be disciplined and stop procrastinating.   You need to be specific with this one because addressing the bad habit will ultimately help you achieve your goal.  If you fail in doing this, you will miss your opportunity to better yourself.

– Creating a plan is great, but taking action is more important.  Make sure to create an actionable plan that follows the SMART principle.  Specific – the action must be clear and concise.  Measurable – you must be able to measure and count your progress.  If you cannot measure, you cannot gauge your progress.  Actionable – your plan must be actionable and not vague.  Realistic – it must doable within the timeframe provided, and finally, Timebound – you must give yourself a deadline.

– Find an accountability partner – this is the most important step.  You need to make sure you have this.  This person will hold you accountable and challenge you to make sure you are executing your plan.

A plan is only as good as the person who makes it.   Ring in the new year: think of it as another opportunity to make it right.  Have a great 2018 everyone!  May the new year bring good health, happiness, and prosperity.