Hi, Empowering Friends!
Do you start your next week today?
Do you start a new day the night before?
Do you start working on yourself before something really bad happens?
Do you start preparing for the coming months at the very beginning of the year?
The past few weeks have been intense for me as I worked on my own, diving deep into myself—my core values, beliefs, and habits—reflecting on the past year (2022) and planning for the next level in 2023. It was tough, not because of the number of tasks to complete, but because of the need to let go of certain things or put them on pause in order to prioritize what truly matters this year in the grand scheme of life.
Do you do this? Do you seriously audit your year, month, week, or even each day?
For me, auditing and planning for the entire new year typically takes almost two weeks. That’s quite a long time, right? How long does it usually take you? How much time do you spend sharpening the axe before a new year, month, week, or day begins?
This quote reminds me to appreciate the value of preparation, even if it seems time-consuming in the short term:
"We have to plan when we are most alert so that we make wise decisions even when we are not at our best."
When we return to our daily lives, we often fall back into old routines and the fast-paced rush of society, which can affect our clarity of mind. That’s why, once we decide on the habits that truly matter, we commit to them for the entire year. Looking back, we’ll see how far we’ve come. And of course, there’s always room for flexibility—to observe, adapt, and welcome unexpected opportunities along the way. Some call this luck, but in reality, it comes to those who prepare and clearly know their direction.
My Approach to Planning the Year Ahead
Re-write my life mission.
Re-define my core values.
Reimagine my vision for life in 10 years, 5 years, 3 years, and in 2023. It should stretch me, help me grow into a better person, and increase my impact.
Evaluate 2022 to understand where I am in my long-term vision.
What have I achieved?
What could I have done better?
What principles of thinking and behavior will guide me in the coming year?
Documenting this as a personal annual report, similar to a company’s newsletter, to track progress and insights.
Re-defining the 7S for 2023
Self-Identity: Prioritize three core values.
Social Role: Prioritize three key social roles.
Skills: Identify three essential skills to master.
Social Circles: Choose three communities to be part of that will nurture my values, roles, and skills while also allowing me to contribute.
Success Stories: Study the journeys of three people who overcame failures and achieved both success and fulfillment. Learn from their resilience, skills, principles, and habits. Reflect on whether I could be such a person for someone else.
Services: Reconnect with the value I bring to others in all that I do.
Scheduling:
Plan out key outcomes for 2023 and break them down into months, weeks, and days.
Identify essential habits to develop every three months, every month, every week, and every day.
Start executing today’s habits today.
What else do you do to prepare for the new year, month, or week?
Wishing all of us a great day, week, month, year—and life! ❤️
