Annual goal setting is one of my favourite things to do.

Wow, that came out a lot dorkier than I was expecting.

But I can’t lie. I really enjoy looking at a fresh year and thinking about all the things I’m going to do.

If you’re looking to do some planning for the year to come but don’t know where to start then read on and you might find something in my process that works for you.

A lot of my planning stems from Nicole Avery’s process at Planning With Kids. But over the years I’ve tweaked this to suit my goals a bit better. However, I’d definitely recommend her post as a good starting place.

Step 1 – Review
First stop for me is to review the year. This is an easy do as you can read here how I track my days and then months. At the end of the year I have a spreadsheet filled with what writing I did, movies I watched, books I read, friends I caught up with and more. It’s really at the end of the year that I’m so grateful to myself for taking the time to do this as I often think I haven’t done much but I’m always surprised by how much life and work is in there.

Step 2 – Reflection
I have a bit of a think about what I have achieved throughout the year as well as what didn’t work and I use these questions to guide me.
– What were your successes?
– What didn’t work out?
– What made you happy?
– What made you unhappy?
– What did you want to do more of?

Step 3 – Looking ahead.
I love this bit! I have a look at the calendar and see what’s coming. I think about what might be happening for other people in my family or when my next book will come out, or workshops and conferences I want to attend. I use these questions to guide me.
– What is on the calendar for you?
– What is on the calendar for your partner?
– What ages and stages are the kids at?
– What other commitments are on the horizon?

Step 4 – Someday/Maybe Projects
I do keep a list of Someday/Maybe goals in my Toodledo app. This is something David Allen of Getting Things Done advises; to pop down random ideas or projects we want to tackle as we think of them. Looking at them as Someday or Maybe ideas. I often find I scan the list and delete a few ideas but there will always be something that pops out that I decide to add to my list of “I wanna do this, this year.”

Step 5 – Brainstorm.
Having worked out what worked last year and what didn’t, what’s on the calendar already and what are some things I know I want to happen, I then let my brain swirl around a bit and jot down random thoughts and ideas on a big sheet of paper, this could be anything from learning to surf to creating a writing workshop, to nailing meal planning. No idea is too big, too small, too complicated or too stupid.

After all of the above, I generally take a break. The process can take a while and sometimes it’s good to let all of my thoughts and ideas settle before coming back to it the next day or whenever I’m ready to do the nuts and bolts of my year.

Step 6 – Pulling it Altogether.
Having seen everything on a page I need to work out what can actually happen and what is just not going to fit on my plate, no matter how badly I want it to. Over the years I’ve realised how important it is to not pile on the goals, it only leads to stress and then disappointment when I don’t get there.

What I end up with at the end of all of this is a list. It doesn’t sound that exciting but the list will act as a guide throughout the year. Once I have my list I’ll roughly note where I want things to happen but I’ll save the detail of ‘how’ for when I’m doing my month or term planning. I’ve learned not to waste time planning the whole year as things change, life happens. Instead, I focus on what I need to do in the next three months to reach those big picture goals.

If you check out Nicole Avery’s post she creates an overarching annual goal statement and finds quotes that match with the goals. I find this hugely inspiring each time but then I find I often forget to refer back to the statement and quotes so I’m going to try skipping this step this year and see how I go.

Do you have an annual goal setting process? I’d love to hear it!