Planning Works

            Last week, I wrote about David Allen’s thoughts about setting goals.  In the same podcast, he talked about starting one’s goal setting activities by looking back.  As we begin the year, those of us who are thinking about plans for the coming year might just want to start with that.  Just how is it done?  Here are some steps: 

1.      Think of yourself a year ago.  What did you want to happen in your life then?  Did you have any goals in mind then? 

2.      What did you do as the months progressed in the past year?  Were there special activities from January to December that particularly stand out for you now?  Any moments or accomplishments that you are particularly proud of, even if these were not even part of your goals and plans for the year? 

3.      List them all down. 

4.      Feel good about these accomplishments over the past year, and stay there. 

5.      Remind yourself of all the things you were able to do by going back to your list every so often, particularly when you are feeling bad or useless. 

After doing that exercise above, you might be in a good frame of mind to think about what you would like to accomplish in the coming year.  So, you might want to think about the following: 

1.      Where are you now?  What do you want to work on?  You can make as many as 50 goals if you want. 

2.      Remember to cover the various aspects of your person, such as: 

-physical self – your self-care habits, eating, sleeping, and exercising

-intellectual self – learning something new, embarking on a hobby, finishing a particular book

-emotional/spiritual self – your inner-care habits, being true to yourself, and living a meaningful life

-social self – nurturing valued relationships and creating new ones

3.      How do you hope to accomplish these goals?  What will you do to create the right environment so you can do them?  Remember that you need to be at least somewhat convinced that these goals are realistic and that you can achieve them. 

4.      Accommodate activities in your schedule that would target these goals. 

5.      Every so often, go back to these goals so you can tweak them or even revise them all together. 

Planning is one of the most important habits of personal effectiveness.  We often forget it because we are inundated with just too many things to do.  What we are neglecting when we do this is a clearly thought out path that would help us achieve exactly what we want in the best possible way.