2009 Year In Review and 2010 Future Planning

Well, it’s that time of the year again!  Time to reflect on what you have achieved in 2009 and what you will set as goals for achievement in 2010.

I love to take the week after Christmas and schedule some time for reflection and planning, since it seems to be a low activity week (for me at least!).

Here’s what I do.

First, ask yourself what you achieved in 2009.  Analyze every area: personal, business, financial, health, family, relationships, spiritual, etc.  Write a list of things that you achieved in 2009 in each of those categories.  It doesn’t matter how big or small.  Write all of your accomplishments down.

Then, ask yourself what you want to achieve in 2010 in all of those areas: personal, business, financial, health, family, relationships, spiritual, etc.  Answer this question:  “If I knew I couldn’t fail, what would I like to achieve in the area of ______ in 2010?”  Then fill in the blank for all your areas, and answer the question.  What you will have at the end is a list of goals for 2010.  You may have more than one goal for each area.  Again, specifics are not the issue; it’s more important that you do it, period.

Now, take the year-end goals that you just wrote for yourself that you would like to accomplish in 2010 and assign visuals to them.  I am a big visual person, so each year, I create a dream board, or vision board, that has visual reminders of what goals I am working toward.  What’s really amazing is coming back years later to find that everything on your dream board has been achieved.  So, grab some old magazines and start cutting out pictures that remind you of your goals.  Make a collage and hang it somewhere that you will see every day.

Next, make positive affirmation statements about your goals.  Make sure that you are saying them as though you have already achieved the goal, in present tense.  For example, if you have a goal to have 5 shows each month, your affirmation might be, “I am effortlessly holding 5 or more shows every month.”  Write these positive affirmations on an index card.  Start reading this card out loud to yourself every morning and evening (some even post them on the bathroom mirror).

Finally, you must take action.  So, take your goals, and break them down into bite-sized pieces.  So, if your goal is to hold 5 shows every month, then what will you do to reach that goal?  Write down a list of activities that you can do to help you reach that goal, and then set time frames to them.  For example, to book more shows/presentations, you might want to: 1) start making 3 new contacts a day, 2) attend a networking function, 3) do customer care calls for your existing customers, 4) hold a booking blitz, 5)challenge yourself to get 100 “no’s” in 30 days, etc.

Once you have made a list of activities, then, you go one step further and assign a time frame to DO those activities.  As the old saying goes…How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time.  Same is true with your goals.  How do you achieve your goals?  One step at a time.  So, each month, take a step forward toward your year-end goals.  Commit to doing something toward those goals every week, every day.

And, when you find yourself doing an activity, check to make sure that the activity you are doing will further one of your goals and help bring it to fruition.  If not, change activities if at all possible, so that you are always doing something toward one or more of your goals.

Once you have this plan in place, it’s easy to start working on small steps that will help you reach the bigger goals you have set for yourself.  Base them on what you have achieved in 2009.  Take time to applaud your efforts and your accomplishments before you set your sights on new goals for 2010.  Reflect on your dream board from this year, as you make your new one, and see how many goals you achieved this year from your current dream board.  Have fun with the process and enjoy better goal setting and more consistent achievement in all your goals.

One of the goals that I hear the most is to manage time better.  If this is an area you would like help in, you’ll want to pick up your free CD: 7 Secrets to Saving 24 Hours of Time Every Week, or purchase my 14-week Video Training Program, which also comes with the free CD.

To your success,

Dr. Laura

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