Outstanding, a New Year! I love this part of the year, each year-end I have a ritual, between Christmas and New Year I take time away from my business, away from everything and everyone to reflect on the year that just ended. I ask myself the following questions:

• Am I proud of what I’ve achieved this year?
• Did I try something new? (This question is actually a dinnertime question each week at our house.)
• What worked?
• What didn’t work?
• What could I have done differently?

Then, I set the foundation for the New Year ahead, with this 5-step approach.

[tweetthis]Set the foundation for the New Year ahead, with this 5-step approach.[/tweetthis]

No. 1 Decide what this year will be all about

You see I name all my years, I decide what this year will be all about with one word – and that one word is what guides my actions all year long. For 2017, my word is HUGE – it’s going to be a huge year all around – both in my personal and my professional life! So there’s no playing small this year, it’s a huge year.

No. 2 Clarify the mission

I believe your life’s mission evolves with time and should be clarified and refocused every year – it’s the journey of a lifetime. Even more important, I believe we need to read it if not every day, at least every week to ensure we stay on purpose.

No. 3 Set three types of goals

I set three types of goals – I must give credit to Darren Hardy for this idea, an idea he got from another billionaire businessman.

• What is my impact goal for the year?
• What is my income goal for the year?
• What is my lifestyle/personal goal for the year?

From there I list everything that needs to happen to achieve these goals, for example:

• Host “X” number of workshops
• Start writing for Forbes.com (btw, I already submitted my first article this year!)
• Create “X” number of YouTube videos

No. 4 Create an engagement plan

As the saying goes “a goal without a deadline is just a dream,” I set deadlines for every project. And since I like things to be simple, I put all my projects and my deadlines onto one sheet called an engagement plan (you can download it here).

Each month, there’s a business project that needs to be completed. This year I’ll be measuring each project completion, workshops and the number of YouTube videos we create – to reach my impact and income goals.

Contrary to some approaches I don’t consider “sales” as a target. Sales are the results of actions you take. Your brain doesn’t work in the future nor in outcomes, it works in the present moment. That’s why coaches will never tell their athlete “run this 100 meters in ‘X’ seconds” – the brain doesn’t know what to do with this information. The coach will tell his athlete, “plant your feet firmly on the ground, keep your arms close to your body…” Now those actions the brain can actually use and execute.

Do I ever measure sales? Of course, but only at the end of each month as I benchmark them against the actions I did.

No. 5 Break things down in bite-size chunks

Finally, each Friday afternoon as I do my planning for the following week, I break things down even more: what actions are a “must do,” a “should do” or on my “wish list” this week to make the projects happen? Then I schedule everything in my planner: I’ll do this task Monday from 2 to 3, this task Wednesday from 10 to 11, etc.

If you want to read more on the difference between planning and scheduling (a completely different thing and a game-changer), read or re-read, our e-book on personal productivity, simply click here to download it.

So there you have it, a 5-step approach that brings you down onto one single piece of paper that will drive all your efforts for 2017.

Get ready because it’s going to be a huge year 🙂

Download the worksheet I use here and make it your own!

Join in the conversation

Now I’d love to hear from you, let me know: What’s the number one goal or project you’re committed to bringing to life this year? Share your comments with me by clicking here.

Until next time! Stay strong, you never know who you’re inspiring!

More insights and actionable ideas?

For more business insight, resources and actionable ideas, follow Twitter or join the discussion on my Facebook page or join our community on YouTube.

Send us an e-mail to let us know what you think of my newsletter.