As with most years, the hopes, dreams, and disappointments of the year before are still fresh in our minds so January is always full of resolutions – this year I will do this, stop that, more of this, less of that, etc… The key to success this (and any other) year is managing how you spend your time well. If you don’t manage this, the last month of the year is almost guaranteed to come with a lot of frustration and disappointment at having failed at your goals for the year.
But here’s a question for you: beyond creating isolated resolutions for yourself, do you have a Vision for the year? A vision is essentially the big picture of what you want to achieve, some things may happen within a year, some within a shorter or longer period.
The essence of having a vision is to create a context for your life. This vison can then be broken down into specific goals to fit into defined chunks of time – daily/weekly/monthly/annually. If you’re wondering just why having a vision is important, here are 3 things to note:
- A vision increases your chances of achieving your dreams.
- A vision helps you to stay focused on what you desire for YOU.
- Not having a vision leaves you susceptible to the whims of others, and you may be tossed and turned by the opinions and circumstances around, leaving you without direction and purpose.
So HOW do you create your vision for 2019? One thing you will notice is that every vision contains certain elements, and when creating your own vision for 2019, these elements must make up your vision. They are:
- Who do you want to BE in 2019?
- What do you want to DO in 2019?
- What do you want to HAVE in 2019?
Here are 4 other things to consider:
- Make it BIG: With these three goals in mind, let your imagination run wild. Dream big. Think of everything and anything you can about how you see yourself halfway through the year, or at the end of the year, and write everything down. Your vision should be big, and don’t worry about how impossible your dreams look.
- Be Specific: After writing everything down, get specific. Your vision is to be an author this year, so you write, “I want to be a published author by September 2019.” Having a specific vision helps you to create your action plan and strategy for bringing that vision to life.
- Think long term: Don’t be afraid of not achieving your vision this calendar year. Try to see yourself two years or three years from now. Don’t limit yourself to this year alone, limiting yourself might limit your vision.
- Be Flexible: Things will happen that you couldn’t have planned for. Stick with your vision anyway.
This year I want you to take charge and I’ll be sharing thoughts and resources on how you can take charge of different areas of your life going forward.
The first thing I’m sharing to help you kick-start this journey is a Free Goal Planner for January. Click on the link, download and print or fill online, but most importantly start putting action to your dreams.
This will be your best year yet!
