Planning can be done at any time of the year but most of us focus on the start of a new year as a good time to look to the future.

Many of us set New Year’s resolutions in our head, but then we find by the end of January we have failed to act on our enthusiasm for the upcoming year, or we have already given up.

PLANNING will take you from being very vague about what you are doing to being very specific, and done correctly, will help you have your best year ever.

WHY Do You Need To PLAN?

Spending time to plan the upcoming year properly means that we can get so much more out of it. There is a part of our brain called the Reticular Activating System (RAS) which works like our antenna. If any of you have looked to buy a car, you will notice that you start seeing that car everywhere although you never really noticed it before. This is because:

“Our Reticular Activating System Seeks What We Set For It”

If we can spend considerable time thinking about what we want, we feed these thoughts into the RAS which will then start alerting us about how to get what we want.

How To Have Your Best Year Ever – The 5 Step Strategy

1) Plan To Plan

Set 1-2 days aside this year to plan for next year. Take yourself away from your normal environment and even better is to go into nature and find somewhere with an open view.

2) Put Pen To Paper

Write down your goals for ALL areas of your life. Start with your personal goals

3) Plan Around The Big Events

Work out what you want to do in the next year and put your ‘rocks’ in first. Use the yearly planner to get a clear view of the major events for your year.

4) Quarterly Planning

Plan your quarter (90 days). If I drive from London to Edinburgh, I know my destination but I only ever focus as far as I can see. A quarter is short enough for me to still see but enough time to really get some things done.

5) Schedule It

If it’s not in your calendar, it doesn’t get done!

PLANNING is a skill that was not taught properly at school but when you master it, it can make an amazing difference in your life. I’d recommend everyone investigates learning more about planning strategies.

Do you plan to plan, and do you have any further tips on how to have your best year ever and to increase your productivity? I’d love to read your comments below …