New Year, New Path, New You
As we start this New Year I know many of us are looking at our goals, planning, maybe creating some new affirmations and a focus for the year. My wife and I will be doing that as well. Every year we carve out a day to dig really deep into our individual, personal and business goals. On recent years we’ve traveled to Cabo San Lucas, Lake Arrowhead, Lake Tahoe, Palm Springs and combined doing our goals with a little mini-vacation between Christmas and New Year’s. This year we decided to tighten our budget and do a stay-vacation and do it right in our awesome little community of Encinitas California. It was much more cost-effective and just as enjoyable with the same great results. So whether you can travel and make this a fun excursion in doing your own goals or you do it right in your own backyard, there really is no excuse to not make this a priority in your life. You may have heard it said that some people plan more time and discussion around their vacations than they do around planning their life and their future selves that they want to become. Think about that one.
As an alternative approach we have an entire process we go through to make sure we are making planning really relevant and digging deep into the experience. Many of the categories we cover range from our businesses, financial, physical, spiritual, family, community, fun and travel, education self-improvement and more. We do this first individually and then together as a couple with combined goals. As she writes all of hers down and goes through her own process and system that works best for her, I do the same on my end. Mine are probably a little bit more in depth, more detailed and go out longer in time. But the process regardless is just as valuable and works for us both in our own ways. I’m probably just a bit more anal about it than she is in the approach. But it is all good and seems to flow. Once we are done doing our individual goals we then take the time to share our goals with each other in each category. We then turn our dining room and living room walls into a flipchart wallpapered art work that only we would understand. After reading each of our goals to each other we pull out two or three for each category that we both mutually agree upon and are passionate about. Those go up on one of the flipcharts. We then take pictures of each flipchart on our ipads so we always keep them close. I also read them into my iphone recording app with music playing in the background so I can listen to them when I exercise. As an example on these goals under “Family” we may have something like “the third Sunday of every month we have a combined family event and invite all of our immediate relatives and we celebrate any birthdays and anniversaries or special occasions in that month on that day.” We actually started doing that one a year ago when we planned our goals and for 2015. We in turn averaged probably nine events throughout the year on this goal. These were all hosted by individual family members on their any given day and it made a great memorable time together for the family. We did things like go bowling, went to the beach, a pool party and anything that was in alignment with the goal of having more and deeper family time. This is just one example of us taking of our similar individual goals and combining with conviction some of them into one couple goal. We turned this it into a reality for us and in this case others. We do this same exercise on each of the categories I listed above. Going through this experience not only helps each of us as individuals make sure we get our goals done at the beginning of the year but it helps create even deeper bonds within our relationship and marriage. We do this again half way through the year to recap and adjust if needed. It creates a really great platform and vehicle to discuss in depth all the varied layers and levels of our lives that sometimes get glossed over in this fast-paced life we all live. I highly recommend going through this process if you’re in any type of couple relationship with someone else. If you are single and are not currently part of a couple(or don’t want to be) than this process works equally as well to do it by yourself. The good news is it’ll probably go faster as you have one less person answer to. Ha, ha however, if your goal is to change that, well then make it a goal to find your ideal mate. You can map all your detailed descriptions and criteria around that person you desire. This could be one of the things on the top of your goal list.
Remember to make sure all of these are with the S.M.A. R.T. approach. That is they are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timeline driven. Making sure each of your goals have these criteria covered will make them more clear and tangible as you move ahead creating your new dreams into reality. I wish you the start of a great New Year and may 2016 be one of your best years yet! Also remember the great quote by Napoleon Hill “Anything the mind can conceive and believe it can achieve!” Happy New Year!
Source: Stephen Rodgers via The Alchemy Advisors
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