New Year Plan For A Successful Year

Updated on Oct. 28th, 2024.

Do you have a new year plan?

Every year, it’s the same story.

As the new year rolls in, people are floating on a cloud, powered by the holiday spirit and the promises of new beginnings.

The euphoria carries on until mid-January, which is when, for most people, reality strikes back with a vengeance: resolutions are broken, credit card statements show the real price-tag of all the celebrating, work is still hell, and that dream relationship is still nowhere to be found.

Basically, life is still life. And for many it still bites!

I am not trying to rain on the parade.

I simply want to point out something often overlooked in this period: if you don’t take an (honest) assessment of where you stand in life AND take concrete steps towards change, you can’t expect things to magically transform themselves just by a simple digit change on the calendar.

A solo retreat for your year reflections

In order to successfully plan your new year, consider first reflecting on your past 12 months to evaluate things.

Here are a few prompt ideas to fuel your end-of-year or new-year reflections:

— What was the overall mood of your year?

— What did you like best?

— What were your biggest wins?

— What did you least enjoy?

— Where did you underperform or underdeliver?

— What were some of your biggest challenges?

Personally, I find that stepping away from the hustle and bustle of my daily life by taking a solo retreat helps me with my year-end reflections.
It gets me out of tunnel vision and allows me to have a bird’s-eye view that provides clarity on where I am, what is happening in my life, where I want to be, the challenges I am facing, etc.

Now, don’t panic, I know that, like most women, you’re busy.

A solo retreat doesn’t always have to be a big production that involves traveling halfway across the world.
It could also be a staycation.

The goal is simply to slow down, reconnect with yourself, and gain insights to propel yourself forward.

If you’re short on time (and brain availability!) and you’d like an easy way to plan such a retreat, my plug-and-play weekend retreat planner has everything you need to create a custom solo retreat in no time.

Of course, this is just the beginning.
Again, hoping things will change because of the arrival of a new year is delusional.

You also need a new year plan!

Your new year plan

Avoid common new year mistakes

As mentioned before, ‘new year, new me’ often turns to ‘new year, same old’, and new year’s resolutions quickly fail.

If you want your fate to be different, your new year plan will need to account for the most common causes of failure.

— Don’t rely on will alone!
— Set the right goals!
— Avoid self-sabotage
— Keep yourself accountable.
— Establish a system that helps you succeed.

Capture your new year vision

Now that this is out of the way, the next step is to project yourself in the future: where do you want to be 12 months from now?

Try to capture that vision as precisely as possible.

At this point, most people like to establish SMART goals. In my experience, that’s not the most efficient way to reach your goals.
So instead, I make a vision board.

Time and time again, I’ve realized that making a vision board allowed to cut down on many steps and reach my goals in a fraction of the time that it would have taken with SMART goals.

A little caveat, many people are under the impression that a vision board is a sort of craft project. That’s a huge misconception and a mistake that will either yield no results or, worse, send you off in the wrong direction!

My vision board workshop can help you craft your new year vision, avoid those common pitfalls, and have a successful year.