Women, Supercharge Your Power! Plan Now to Make 2021 Your Best Year Yet!
It’s hard to believe 2020 is drawing to a close. As we approach 2021, it might feel doubtful that it could be your Best Year Yet. Better than 2020? Definitely! The best ever…could it be, with so much uncertainty and loss? It’s because of this uncertainty that it’s so important to pause, assess and make adjustments. Otherwise, it’s unlikely that 2021 will not be your best year yet personally and professionally. Your future is built upon the choices you make today.
As women of power, we sometimes forget that ‘where we are right now’ can be one of our strongest stability points. Remembering to stop, breathe, and regroup or simply slowing down and acknowledging that we’re okay can be so helpful.
Part of our personal POWER routine is to use our Best Year Yet tool — we find a quiet space and ask ourselves a series of searching questions to observe and celebrate everything we’ve accomplished during the present year and from this we create a plan and momentum for the upcoming year. Here’s a sample of the Best Year Yet questions we consider:
- What did I want this year?
- What actually happened?
- How do I want to design next year?
- What do I want?
- How do I want to end this year?
- What did I accomplish?
- What did I learn?
- How did I limit myself?
- What are my personal values?
- What roles do I play in life?
- Which role is my major focus for next year?
If you’d like to copy these questions into a document and spend some time answering them, we’d be honored and thrilled. No matter how you approach 2021, keep these three priorities in mind…
Priority #1 Fuel your body, mind and spirit. Every day you expend energy and it’s important to constantly replenish it.
Priority #2 Make restorative sleep, good nutrition and exercise a priority. Your health, mental clarity and ability to be productive depend on it.
Priority #3 Develop systems. Goals are fine, but if you want to create real change, it helps to have supportive systems in your life so that you perform important tasks automatically rather than relying on willpower.
Giving attention to these priorities and implementing the following nine suggestions will give your POWER a boost, as you focus on making 2021 your Best Year Yet.
1. Deal first with “what is”. As women, we tend to get caught up in worrying about “what ifs”. They’re not real until they happen. And most likely they won’t happen, if you deal successfully with what’s in front of you.
2. Remove distractions. Use the rest of this year to get rid of the clutter in your house, mind, desk, email inbox or schedule. This will help make room for any opportunity that arises.
3. Revisit your original goal. After 2020, your goals or the way you envision your Big Dream unfolding might not be relevant anymore. You might need to refine these to make them fit present circumstances.
4. Clearly outline your metrics of success. Progress is measurable, even if it’s just one step forward. When you define your goals and break them down into consistent, small changes, according to a yearly, quarterly, monthly, and daily schedule, you’ll maintain your focus and motivation. This connects each day’s activities to your significant life goals.
5. Celebrate every win, small or big. Get up and dance, grab a latte, call a friend, share it on our Circle Facebook group. Make each win memorable, because that’s how you’re going to know at the end of the year that you really did make 2021 your best year yet!
6. Assess your skills and close the gaps. When you focus on nurturing a growth mindset, not on making resolutions, you engage your innate capability to change and develop whatever skills are needed, making you flexible and resilient enough to try Plans A to Z, until you succeed.
7. Hold rest and reflection breaks as sacred. Meditatively and mindfully “hear” what your body is telling you about the choices you’re making right now.
8. Connect with accountability partners, coaches, mentors, and supporters. The Hawthorne Effect shows that our productivity usually increases when we know someone is watching. When someone holds us accountable, we build more structure into our days, which is so important during these times of physical distancing.
9. Plan for “bad” days. Feeling down, making mistakes, having setbacks are part of life, so embrace them as your body and mind telling you it’s time to regroup. Rest, learn a lesson from the experience and re-center yourself. (Our Daily Start to Gratitude & Empowerment guided visualization practice is a great way to do this.)
Reviewing and planning are indispensable tools for creating the “Best Year Yet” personally and professionally. Our December Great Circle Call will focus on this topic in more detail. You’ll discover an action-filled activity that will guide and anchor you in finding our way forward. Plus a fully engaged group of women who want to fuel and use their POWER to achieve something great. Please join us! There’s no cost or obligation, except to come with an open mind and heart ready to empower yourself to fulfill your biggest dreams. Sign-up now, so we can send you the link.