Planning for an entire year can seem a bit daunting and that’s the exact reason why many people just don’t do it. If planning for your work or business goals becomes a burden, then meeting those goals will too.

As the saying goes, the most effective solution is the one that you will actually use. That might mean that your friend Susie’s approach (which works great for her, you see her over there killin’ it) might not be the approach that works best for you.

In this post I’m going to break down how I approach business planning and how I’m using it to reach not only my goals as an entrepreneur, but my mental health, and physical wellness goals as well. I take wellness and self-care seriously, arguably more so than my business. If my mind and body aren’t well, then my business will definitely suffer too.

I’ll also share what digital planner I use to keep up with my to-do lists and establish healthy habits throughout the year.

Start Planning Anytime

If the inspiration strikes, take advantage! I don’t subscribe to the “new year, new you” dogma. If that works for you, keep doing you babe, you’re amazing!

Planning often revolves around a yearly calendar, but I don’t think it has to. Planning at the start of the year can alleviate some mental clutter and help you reorient yourself in the new year, but I think you can plan for the next year of your life and business on any date in the calendar. 

I usually ease my way into the new year and my planning tends to happen throughout January and maybe into February. But I’ve also started a fresh plan in November. Things change and you shouldn’t let an old plan (or no plan, I see you) hold you back. 

Toss that dated plan in the trash, say a quick “thank you for helping me realize you weren’t the right plan for me,” Marie Kondo style, and move on with your life.

Why is Creating a Plan Important?

If you’re like me, you know that a goal that you actually write down becomes more than a wish or a dream, once you write it down and put steps to accomplish it, it becomes a plan.

Following a plan doesn't sound quite as romantic as “following your dreams,” but to make those dreams a reality, most of us are going to need some solid steps to follow. I certainly do!

Once you have steps, the goal becomes a lot easier to reach. Big goals require a lot of work, which means a LOT of small steps. Break it down into as many tasks as you like to reduce overwhelm.

How to Create a Yearly PlaN

Life is about more than just work, that’s why I like to keep all my goals in one spot. My mental wellness and self-care goals are in the same planner as my work and business goals.

Why put everything in one place?

Keeping things together helps me remember to take care of myself, while I’m “taking care of business.” I track stuff like hydration and exercise each day on the same page that I use for my to-do list.

Keep Your Yearly Plan simple and Easy to Reference

I’ve found that a complicated plan is one that is quickly forgotten or never made at all. Keep your yearly plan for high-level goals, you can break them down in your quarterly, monthly, and weekly planners later.

I use my own Work & Wellness Digital Planner to create a yearly plan for my mental health, physical wellness, and my work. Each gets its own page which I can easily reference during the later planning stages to make sure I’m focusing on what’s most important to me.

Hot Tip: Take your time. Remember you’re creating a plan to manifest a new reality. Simple doesn’t mean quick. Set aside time for this task like you would any other. I like to spend about an hour or occasionally two for each yearly plan.

What to Include in a One Page Yearly Plan

Here’s what I include in my one-page yearly planners.

1 A Reflection on the Previous Year

In order to get where you want to go, it’s important to know what actions have led you to where you are now. I keep the journal for this area rather small, but you can do a longer journal if you need more space to get to the heart of what’s landed you in your current reality.

In order to manifest a new or even continued reality, this step is super important. We do an awful lot of thinking, and to be honest, not all of it is helpful. What I’ve noticed is that even a quick journaling exercise can help you realize something you might be doing which is preventing you from reaching your goals. It can also help you see clearly the things you’re doing right, things that you should continue doing.

It’s important to reflect on what you’ve accomplished, what you’ve enjoyed, what you didn’t enjoy so much, and areas for improvement.

2 Write Down Your Goals for the Coming Year and Into the Future

What do you want the next year to look like?

• For mental health I like to ask “how do I want to think and feel?”

• For physical wellness — “how do I want to feel in my body?”

• For work or business — “what does the future of my work/business look like?”

Sometimes we don’t make a change because we haven’t put into words what change we actually want. We’ve likely thought about what being successful would look like for us, but we haven’t actually written it down.

Even if you want to continue what you’re already doing great at, knowing how you got there and continuing those steps is going to be key in helping you feel successful throughout the next year.

3 Identify a Limiting Factor or Limiting Belief

Often, what is preventing us from reaching goals is actually a belief rather than a physical barrier. Though it could very well be a physical barrier like needing funds for a big investment.

Based on your reflection you should have a few ideas of what your biggest limitation is. If you still don’t know, try digging a little deeper with a longer journal entry. Talking it over with a close friend (or the right business coach) may also provide the insight you can’t see for yourself.

4 Generate Possible Solutions to Overcome Your Biggest Limitation

This is my favorite part because this is where a future reality begins to feel tangible and accessible. I like to come up with at least 10 possible solutions that will help me overcome the limitation or limiting belief, and help to get me closer to my vision.

It sounds hard at first, but give yourself a little bit of time. I usually get 2 or 3 solutions down in the first minute, stare at my page, then off into space, then back at my page before filling in the other 7 over the course of 10-15 minutes. Don’t fret if it takes a little longer. This isn’t the time to be in a hurry.

5 Find your Sweet Spots

From the 10 solutions you came up with:

1. Add a checkmark for the ones that are low-hanging fruit, the easiest to accomplish

2. Add another check mark if that solution would pay off BIG if it works

3. Highlight the solutions that have two checkmarks - those are your sweet spots

6 Make an Action Plan to Manifest Your Goals

Use your sweet spots to create actionable tasks for yourself. Keep in mind that some solutions might require various subtasks. You can break them down even further in your quarterly or monthly planning, for now, keep it more high-mid level. 

Just because one of your solutions didn’t fall into the “sweet spots,” doesn’t mean you have to write it off. If you feel that a particular solution is worth pursuing, but perhaps isn’t easy, or the payoff is unknown, that is totally up to you to decide.

There you have it, that is my exact process for yearly planning and the same one that I use in my own Work & Wellness Digital Planer.

Follow Through on Your Goals by Breaking them Down into Actionable Steps

You can break down your action items:

• By quarter - I like to start with Q1 and don’t plan all my quarters at once, but you can if that’s your thing. You can plan out the entire year in quarters. Grab that action plan from your yearly planner and add high-level tasks into Q1 (or whatever quarter you’re starting in). For big tasks you might want to dedicate an entire quarter to just one.

• By month - Break down high-level tasks into smaller ones as necessary.

• By week - At this point, you’ll be breaking down bigger tasks into ones that you can actually check off. Creating sub-tasks, is a great way to get that sense of accomplishment and reduce overwhelm when working towards a larger goal.

• By day - I don’t know about you but I like to check off as many things as possible in one day, it helps me feel productive, and that little mind game actually makes me more productive. Make it easy to complete tasks and give yourself a little high five when you tick them off your list.

IMPORTANT!!! Showing yourself some self-love and kindness along the way is vital to success. No one ever gets EVERYTHING on their to-do list done ALL THE TIME. Seriously, you aren’t alone my friend.

Practicing kind words towards yourself when you don’t accomplish everything you hoped and acknowledging the things you have accomplished - in writing - can go a long way in boosting your confidence and help push you closer to reaching your goals.

Want to plan the way I do? Grab your own interactive Work & Wellness Planner from my shop to organize all of life’s goals in one spot. I use it daily to track everything from the year’s big goals, down to how much water I’m drinking on the daily.

Want to try out my daily planning page?

Downlad the daily digital work & wellness planner and journal page for FREE. Use it on your tablet or print it if you prefer an analog approach.

If you need to keep things simple, these two pages will help you take it one day at a time.

By joining my mailing list you’ll receive a few monthly emails from me and can opt-out any time.