| HELLO, DECEMBER ...THE TIME IS NOW!
Have you ever been in a corporate or business environment where planning for next year begins in the fourth quarter of every year? If so, it's an excellent discipline embraced by many organizations. Yet many businesses and individuals don't follow a disciplined process that adequately prepares them for next year, let alone the future. Do you?
Instead, time gets away from you, the year comes to a close, and little-to-zero planning has occurred to generate a decidedly different new year. How about you? What are you doing personally, professionally, or as a leader to get ready for next year?
Do you plan professionally but fail to give that same attention to your personal circumstances? As a leader, are you helping those around you adopt the discipline of planning? Are you a role model for discipline? Or do you do nothing at all? There are, of course, numerous scenarios that might describe your situation. The urgent question is: what have you done to adequately prepare for a year that will be decidedly different than this year?
Peter is a client of mine with high energy, lofty goals, and complex plans. Yet, every year he tends to fall short of his goals and ambitions. Last year, we decided to approach the impending New Year differently.
I asked Peter to take out a blank sheet of paper and think about one to three items (actions, behaviors, or ideas) that would create a decidedly different year for him. He wrote down two words: Simplicity and Consistency.
I then asked Peter to create a simple three-step plan that would help him focus on those two words. His plan included:
- Start each day with a simple affirmation for my daily focus of simplicity and consistency.
- Read 10 pages of a book every day.
- Take a 10-minute walk after lunch.
At first, it seemed a bit underwhelming. There were no lofty ideas. No complex plans. Just these three actions, repeated daily.
But soon, something remarkable began to happen. The simple morning affirmation set a calm tone for his day. His frenzied energy gave way to reflective thought and awareness. Reading 10 pages of a book exposed him to new ideas, sparking simple creativity and quiet inspiration. The midday walk cleared his mind, improving his focus for the rest of the afternoon.
By spring, the effects compounded. Instead of falling short of his goals, he started achieving them. He began fulfilling ambitions that had previously been elusive.
By the end of the year, Peter had read over 3,600 pages of books filled with innovative ideas and achieved a clarity he had never experienced while in his hyper-active mode.
Those small, repetitive actions created the shift needed to fulfill goals and ambitions. Simplicity and Consistency proved to be a powerful combination.
Peter had learned to do more with less. What might you learn if you used a similar, simple but effective planning technique right now?
The first thing for you to think about is what does decidedly different look like? You don't need to come up with a grandiose picture of what that might be. Just identify one, two, or three items that would make a significant difference in whatever you're doing right now.
Once you've identified those focuses, you're ready to figure out how you are going to make them come to fruition. Don't over-complicate it. Again, identify one, two, or three actions that will initiate the shift needed to change what you are currently doing.
Commit to those actions and suddenly, you're doing something decidedly different.
The key is to keep it simple. Make it easy and make it repetitive. That way you do it; and you do it again and again.
Year-end planning doesn't have to be all about the goals and numbers. Sometimes the simplicity of three removes the complexity of multiple focuses and effort; and actually, opens a different door for you to walk through for remarkable achievement.
You don't have to give up your goals and ambitions. Just plan to get there in a decidedly different manner to create a decidedly different year.
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