Are you feeling those New year vibes yet?

I have been thinking a lot about what I’m going to do to make sure that I am living up to my own expectations this year, what I want to work on, and what projects I want to see come to life.

And I wanted to share a few things to think about and some things to implement in your businesses or your creative lives to help you have the best year ever.

Define it

Ask yourself, “What does the best year look like to me”? This goes beyond achieving certain goals. It’s a reflection of your overall quality of life during the year.

How does it look? How do you feel? What are you spending your time on? How are you growing personally? Who are you connecting with? What impact did you make?

There’s not just one way to measure a ‘best’ year. You get to determine your own parameters and checkpoints.

Set your goals

Of course, I’m not going to skip the goal-setting piece. You need to have some goals so that you know what you are aiming towards. What goals do you want to achieve during your best year? What things if you focused and worked hard would make you feel like you were living the best year?

Pick a few areas of your life that you want to focus on (Health, Finances, Business, Family) and set your goals around those things. Write these goals down. Stick them on your mirror. Make them the screensaver on your phone. Keep those goals front and center.

How many goals are too many?

I cannot say definitively for you how many goals is too many goals because I don’t know your resources or your level of ambition. But a rule of thumb is to set up to 12 goals in a year. That’s just 3 goals every quarter and it should be manageable for most people.

Create a plan

Bonus Points – If habits are the foundation of this plan.

If your goal is the destination, then your plan is what you need to do to get there. Map out all the possible ways to reach your goals. Then, pick 3 to tackle over the next quarter.

Put a system in place to track your progress

You need a system. Doesn’t matter if it is paper, digital or a combination of both.

Your project management system helps you see the big picture, all of the current projects, ones that are pending or are not completed. A system should also help you determine what you should be working on day to day because you already have it all planned out and broken down. Then, it should tell you when you need to be doing what.

Find a system that you will commit to and make using it a part of your routine. Add regular progress reviews to your calendar and check in with yourself often.

Hold yourself accountable

If you’re going to have your best year, yet your best year ever, you really have to hold yourself accountable. After you have put your system in place, use it to establish some type of daily routine.

During your review sessions, be honest about the work that you are or aren’t doing. If public accountability works for you, find an accountability buddy.

Work with your natural tendencies

Stop trying to fit the square pegs of your life into the round holes of someone else’s systems.

I know that when you are trying something new, it’s very helpful to see how someone else does it. It’s really helpful to read blog posts, listen to podcasts or watch YouTube videos about how other people are getting things done.

You get a sense of what are they using. What some of the shortcuts they’re taking. The different kinds of tools they are using. But ultimately you have to figure out what works best for you and what works with your natural tendency.

Make smart investments in yourself

Stop acquiring knowledge and start applying it. Only purchase information that you plan on implementing in the next 90 days. I call it just in time learning. If you’re going to invest in a course or another type of information product, let it be something that you need to learn and apply right now. If it’s longer than 90 days, you don’t need it yet. The time is too far out. Leave it where it is.

Dump perfection for performance

Aiming for perfection is not going to help you get across the finish line. Your plans don’t have to be perfectly executed for you to win. You can still win by focusing on performance and taking imperfect action. Allow yourself some grace.

There you have it! These are my top tips for having your best year ever. In the comments, share 1 things that you’re committing to achieve over the next 365 days.