7 Effective Strategies to Plan a Year Ahead

Making New Year’s resolution is a popular tradition. At the end of December, many of us sit down to look at the year that has just finished and plan for the year ahead. To make this planning truly efficient and useful, I developed my seven strategies. Let’s explore them together.

Celebrate Your Accomplishments

You should always start by thanking yourself for all the good things that have happened in the previous year. Take time to reflect on what has happened, how it has influenced you and how it has changed you.

Think about all your accomplishments in the year that has just passed. Often we do not take enough time throughout the year to mark our achievements and praise our hard work. Now it’s time to do this and give yourself a well-deserved round of praise.

Mark the Changes

You need to remember that so many things can change within a year! Try to understand how many things have actually happened during the year just gone. I was a completely different person 12 months ago. And I had completely different thoughts on my mind. This year, I’ve launched so many new products, I’ve grown my channels so much, and I had so many big things happening in my personal life. A year ago, I could not even imagine doing all these and reaching those levels.

Do the same for yourself. See where you have started one year ago and compare how much you have done since then. It should be not only about your victories but also about mistakes and losses. There is no progress without some mistakes, so remember them and formulate clearly what you have learned from these situations. It will help you to avoid similar mistakes in the next year. You will be more productive using this analysis of the previous year strategically.

Choose a Theme or a Topic for the Next Year

Having a topic of the year helps to focus on the major life-goals and remember what the most important thing you are trying to achieve is. For instance, back in the year 2017, my topic was “keeping the balance”. I realised that I was working too much, often putting aside such important things like my health or my relationships. In 2017, I worked the whole year on improving these things. I actually noticed that I started to worry less.

Formulate Your Goals Clearly

When you sit down next year and think about the transformation that has happened to you, where do you see yourself? Try to answer this question but do not be too strict with yourself. Think about achievable goals. If you set the bar too high, you won’t be able to get there. It may make you depressed and underachieving even when it is not the case.

I advise you to focus on two major things. Usually, when we start trying to concentrate on more than two things, we may start feeling anxious and depressed. It decreases productivity significantly. You start worrying instead of working towards your actual goals. So do not take on too much.

When you plan the next year, think about the first two things you want to do next year, the first two steps to take. When you try to plan too far ahead and imagine the next 100 steps, it does not work. There are so many circumstances that can change everything. Your plan won’t be efficient anymore. Plan for that particular moment and let your ultimate goal be your lighthouse.

Make sure that these two goals are clear and that you know how to reach them. Let’s say you want to study abroad, for instance, at an American University. Start by making a list of the universities that are interesting to you, learn about the application process, necessary exams and dates when you can take them. This is a clear goal. If you just think: “Oh, I want to study in an American University,” it leaves a lot of uncertainty and makes the goal less achievable. If you are not sure how to specify your goal, try to find help in reliable resources.

For instance, to learn more about studying in the USA, check out LinguaTrip.com’s online consultations and webinars about applying to an American university. Or download my book “The Step by Step Guide to Enter a University in the USA”. It has detailed instructions and up-to-date information on grants and scholarships in the USA.

Don’t be afraid of setting material goals

Your goals should not be too abstract because it’s difficult to be motivated by them. For example, a goal to earn a lot of money is a bad goal. Instead, think about making some purchase with this money and be motivated by your dream bag, car, or trip.

You can always change your goals

I don’t mean you should give up when there are some difficulties. But sometimes throughout the year, your situation may change significantly. It’s the time to reset and re-evaluate your goals. For instance, you may have planned to watch all the classic Hollywood movies or read the full collection of Charles Dickens’ novels. However, you may discover that it is not as interesting or as useful for you as you’d imagined. If there are some better opportunities to pursue and more useful things to do, go for them. Just bear in mind your major goal and check from time to time that you are still on track for achieving it.

Let’s imagine one wants to visit 30 countries a year — they plan all the vacations and weekends ahead but in real life there’s not enough time and money to fulfill the task. And this person decides to visit two countries and make these trips remarkable and well-planned. They will see the places off the beaten track, meet the locals and maybe even learn the foreign language.

By the way, you can learn English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Czech, Thai, Korean, and Portuguese. Sign up for the consultation — managers at LinguaTrip.com can recommend suitable options for you.

Ask for help when unsure

If you cannot formulate your own goals for a new year, ask somebody close to you to assist you with that. Ask them how they see you and what in their opinion you are missing. Trust me, they may offer you a very unusual perspective. Who knows, maybe that view from the outside will help you to discover your knowledge gaps or missed opportunities. Then, you will be able to cover these gaps and be more productive.

Summary

To set up goals for the new year, start by looking back at the year that has just finished. Celebrate your accomplishments and note your mistakes. Use them strategically to be more productive in the new year. Clearly formulate for yourself two to three major goals. Discover the steps to achieve them and plan the first couple of things you will do to get there. Do not plan too far ahead and be flexible in changing your goals throughout the year. Just never forget your major goals, your team of the year, and always ensure that you are on the right track.