How to make your year spectacular!

Have you ever reached the beginning of December and wondered where the year has gone? 

Mariah Carey is ringing in my ears, and all I can think about is how the last 12 months have been little more than a busy blur. As Ferris Bueller once said “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while - you could miss it!”

A couple of years ago, I got chatting to an elderly lady on the platform at a tube station, and she said something that really stuck in my mind. “It’s all over in the blink of an eye,” she said. “One minute you’re 16 and it’s all ahead of you, and then before you know it, your kids have grown up, you’re retired and all that’s left are the memories”.

She asked me if I had children of my own, and we soon got chatting about all the plans we had for the next year…and that’s when it dawned on me…how much have I actually achieved this year? What goals did I set at the beginning of the year? I remember saying that I wanted to go camping at least 5 times, and we didn’t even make 1 trip!

I’m so grateful for the conversation I had with that lady, because it lit a fire beneath me, and made me realise that - if I plan on living a life of fulfilment, I’m going to have to be a bit more strategic about the way in which I plan my time!

Instead of looking at the year ahead as a blank canvas - what if we look at it as an itinerary…

Blocking out time

If you’ve ever noticed that meeting up with your friends can seem like an almost impossible task, you’ll most likely have concluded that it all comes down to planning. Unless one of you takes the initiative and gets a date in the calendar, you’re destined to a lifetime of text messages that start with “sorry I’ve been a bit crap at staying in touch”. 

We all lead busy lives, and will inevitably choose the pleasure of letting things roll by without anyone having anyone to blame, over the pain of having to carry out a small amount of admin.

So, instead of remaining “off the radar”, and having nothing to say to your friends other than reliving anecdotes of years gone by, grab your journal, a pen and a cup of coffee, and let’s make sure that this next year is the one where you smash it!

Let’s start by laying out the year on two of the pages. If you’re using a swanky diary, this may already be done for you, although I often find that the boxes are too small to write in. Alternatively, if you journal on a computer, you can create a spreadsheet to the same effect. The aim here, is to have the whole year laid out so that you can see everything at once. I prefer to do all of this in my journal, because that’s where my goals for the year live, and it makes sense to have this all in one place.

Next, run through your goals and imagine what your year would look like if you were to achieve everything on your list. Remember that you’re not looking to plan every single day to the dot; you just need to include all of the milestones and the events that will make you look back and say “I’ve had a REALLY good year!”

Holidays, trips and memories

Let’s start by blocking out any holidays or trips that you’d like to take. Insert your adventures into your ‘yearly outline’, thinking about likely weather conditions and public holidays. It’s also useful to include any family birthdays or significant events that might require your attendance. 

Once you’ve taken this step, you’ll see that your year is already starting to take shape. Nothing but good stuff ahead!

Personal Targets

Next it’s on to the personal goals that you’ve set yourself. They might be fitness related or a new skill you want to learn, or maybe you want to quit smoking or drinking. The important thing is to imagine yourself on new years eve at the end of the year. Think about what you want to have achieved. What would you be proud to say you’ve accomplished?

Break all of your targets down into manageable steps and plot them out in your outline.

Work Goals

Now it’s time to look at your work related goals. If you’re starting or growing a business, your goals might range from tangible to far fetched. If you’re planning on a promotion or reaching a financial target, you might have a nice round figure in mind. Either way, if you want to achieve your goals, you’ll need to have a clear road map, and it’s the milestones that you’re going to place in this planner. 

Be careful not to get too bogged down in the details at this point - this is an outline. The nitty gritty of how you’re going to actually reach these goals requires systems that you’ll think about elsewhere. So, be realistic about your time frames, but get those targets in there!

By now, you should have a clear outline that includes everything you want to achieve. This is the road map that you follow throughout the year. This is the framework that will keep you on track when you are overwhelmed or when you can’t see the wood for the trees.

It’s very easy to get caught up in the hectic day to day of life of the 21st century, and I think it’s important to glance at this outline every day. It allows you to maintain perspective, and to keep your eye on the long game. 

I’ve persuaded many friends to try this technique and the responses have been massively positive. 

If you’d like to go even further down this rabbit hole, and become ultra productive - take a look at my post on weekly planners, which condense your yearly outline into smaller, actionable chunks. This will help to eradicate the need for procrastination or time wasting as you move along a self designed conveyor belt, constructing your best life one step at a time.