Week #121 – New Year, New View! (What are you looking toward in 2017?)

Sunrise (photo credit: Grace Church)

Week #121 – New Year, New View!  (What are you looking toward in 2017?)

Happy New Year, Tribe — and Happy First Friday of 2017!!!

As I mentioned last week, I hope you made some time over the holidays to look back at the year we just completed and CELEBRATE the things that went right.

And, I hope you have a plan in place to keep track of the good stuff that will come your way in the year ahead.  Because we are already well on our way!

January is a natural time to look ahead and set new goals, focus on new targets, and dream new dreams for the year ahead.  There are many thought leaders who say that the best time to do this is in November — before the holidays — so you can hit the ground running in January.  Well — I’m hearing from plenty of people who are just NOW turning their attention to the year ahead.  So if you’re just getting started — you are not alone!

Here is a collection of tools that might help jump start your thinking!  (And if you have a favorite tool or technique you use, please share it with me and I’ll add it to the list!)

  • YOUR “ONE WORD” — Two or three years ago I ran across a little red book called The ONE WORD That Will Change Your Life.  The gist is this: while contemplating the year ahead — and working through a few questions (in the PDF on the website: www.getoneword.com) — you come up with ONE WORD that encapsulates what you want the year to mean to you.  Then, you make a plan to keep it front and center to live out daily.  What ONE WORD would you like to make your focus for 2017?
  • David Allen (author of Getting Things Done) offers a series of “Year-End Review” questions on his website that prompt you to “complete and remember” the year behind — and “create” the year ahead.  (The link is from a previous year so just modify the years to 2016/2017.)  You can move through this list quickly with first thoughts — or spend lots of time really unpacking things.  What would you like to create for yourself in 2017?
  • Another favorite is the “Clean Sweep Assessment” — a more mathematical measurement of personal satisfaction in four key areas of our lives: physical environment, personal well-being, money, and relationships.  How do you tally up?
  • And, of course, there is always traditional goal-setting — taking a dream and using the “SMART” acronym to break it down into: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound action steps.  Just remember to put a little WHY behind your WHAT — and consider and even SMART-ER approach by adding EMOTION and RESULT to the mix by asking WHY?  (“So that I can FEEL…” and “So that I can achieve/accomplish/acquire/arrive at/accept…etc.”)         .

Your Happyness Challenge for the week ahead: It is a NEW YEAR and a NEW VIEW!  What are you looking toward in 2017?  Take some time this weekend to think about the year ahead.  What are your goals, dreams, aspirations, and visions?  Where do you want to be next year this time?  What is your WHY?

And again, if you have a favorite reflection or goal-setting tool that you use, please share it with me in the comments or via email.  And if there is some way that I can help you set a goal that will Spread Happyness to you or someone you love, please let me know that too!

“Make voyages!  Attempt them!  There in nothing else!”  (Tennessee Williams)

Spread Happyness — share your dreams, goals, aspirations, or favorite tools in the comments!

1/6/16 by Grace Church
© Grace Church
grace@spreadhappyness.com