Anchor Yourself in Your Achievements. Now is the time to celebrate how far you have come in 2021. Make yourself a list of accomplishments big and small. Made a new friend. Launched a new venture. Didn't kill my spouse after 18 months of staying home. Make a list of things that you are celebrating, what you are proud of. Look back at how far you have come this year and truly give yourself a pat on the back.
Ground Yourself in Gratitude. Reflect on who and what has helped you, cheered you up, and gotten you through 2021. All those accomplishments we talked about celebrating, all the things that you have, and all the people you care about get added to the list. Reflect on the growth you have had throughout the year and be grateful for the challenges that have shaped you in your life.
Reconcile with Your 2021 Goals. Some happened, some didn't. Some you crushed, some you canceled, and some you outgrew. Give yourself grace AND a kick in the pants. Now is the time to be realistic about what didn't get accomplished and WHY. Understanding what went right and what went wrong for our list of goals is the first step in creating more success for Next Year's goals. If you didn't have goals for 2021 then now is the time to reflect on if your life is moving forward, towards the person you want to be, the work you want to do, and the things you want to have. If it isn't you need goals.
Cast a Vision for Your Future. Okay I know that sounds grandiose but that is quite simply the "person you want to be, the work you want to do, and the things you want to have"-thing that I just mentioned. A vision is a picture of where you want to get to so that you know where you are going and can figure out how to get there. It's as simple as closing your eyes and picturing yourself a year in the future (or 3 years, or 5 years, or 10 years).
Create a Plan for 2022. Next Year should inexorably lead you towards the life you want AND if you craft it well, it can also be a journey you enjoy. Creating a plan for next year is not about locking yourself into a set of goals or tasks; we don't write these things on stone tablets. Rather, it is about sketching out the checkpoints that will help you get to where you want to go. Planning out when and where you will take vacations, and what work you want to accomplish, and (most importantly) how to balance those things out so they don't encroach on each other, is the key to a balanced year.
Incorporating these things into your Fall so that January 1st doesn't catch you unprepared is the first step to a life (and by extension business) that is built intentionally. I work with business owners because entrepreneurship requires that we be intentional with our time, energy, and attention, but this all applies to building an intentional life regardless of entrepreneurship.