The new year is here, and most of us use the turning of the calendar to reflect on the past year.
So here is your no BS, not very detailed, less than perfect, completely doable, pretty quick, amazingly useful recipe for building your own one-page strategic plan for 2024.
You can complete this in about 10-30 minutes depending on how fast you are.
What I’m saying is that you can plan your upcoming year in less time than it takes to watch one episode of Yellowstone.
This is for you. Not for your employer, or your business.
And it will give you some basic direction for the upcoming year.
Without further explanation, here are the very simple steps:
Write down all the bright spots from 2023
What went well?
What are you thankful for?
What are you proud of?
This is important, but we’re not very good at reflecting and celebrating. For some people, just surviving 2023 was a win! Celebrate it!
No matter how hard the year was, there are all sorts of things to be thankful for. Write down a comprehensive list.
Write down all the EBI’s (even better if) from the same period.
Now reflect on what could have been better. Not that things were a disaster, but surely there were parts of the year that could have turned out better.
One caveat: EBIs are only things within your control. Flooding/weather doesn’t count. The economy doesn’t count. None of those things are in your control.
But there are things that you could/should improve on. Write them down!
Choose the (up to) top 3 opportunities facing you in the next 12 months
What would change the game for you this year? What does 2024 need to be about for you? Here are some examples:
- To build deeper relationships with my young family
- To finish my education (or part of it)
- To accomplish a big task at work
- To get fit
What are your top 3? Maybe you only want one. That’s okay too.
Choose the top 3 threats facing you in the next 12 months
Here’s what you ask for this category. If you were doing this exercise in 12 months, what sad story might you tell about the last year? How could things have gone off the rails?
Of course, we can’t know the future, but what are the threats you can see?
Are your threats:
- Financial
- Relational
- Health oriented
- Personal
You pick!
Bring it all together
Review your bright spots list.
How could you have more of those?
Look at your EBIs. What needs to get better or get fixed?
Come up with your list of 3-5 goals for 2024.
Tape them to your bathroom mirror and look at them every week before writing your task list
This will keep you on track to accomplish your goals for the upcoming year.
Or here’s another option for you. I have a FREE course on building your own personal plan. You’ll do these exercises and more.
I was recently a guest on a podcast and the host said, “I wish I’d done this 10 years ago! I tell everyone in my workplace to build their personal one-page plan.”
You can find a short course on how to do it here:
https://professionalleadershipinstitute.com/course/goal-setting/
Yesterday is over. Give up all hope of having a better 2023. For good and bad, it’s done and
Can’t.
Won’t.
Ever be changed.
That’s good news too. All of the bad parts are left behind. All the good parts lie in front of us.
The shadow by my finger cast,
Divides the future from the past;
Before it sleeps the unborn hour,
In darkness and beyond thy power;
Behind its unreturning line,
The vanished hour no longer thine;
One hour alone is in thy hands,
The NOW on which the shadow stands.
-Henry Van Dyke
Getting ahead is about getting started!
