How to Have an Amazingly Satisfying Year

I started taking stock of my year in 2002. I found it useful at the end of the year to list what I have accomplished, what I am thrilled about, what I wished had turned out differently, what I am proud of, what I learned, what were the pleasant surprises, and the not so pleasant ones, what I want to develop as a habit, and what I want to do differently in the future.

My plan for 2005 is to make it the most amazingly satisfying year yet. If you follow these simple steps and do the work, you can have incredible results too.

First Figure out What You Want

In order for the year to be satisfying, the results and outcome of your actions have to fulfill YOUR needs, expectations, wishes, and desires. So, naturally the first step is to figure out what those needs, wishes and desires are.

To do that, set aside some time, find a quiet place, arm yourself with a pad and pen and complete the exercise below. List the different areas in your life that are important to you. Here's a typical list to get you started: your health, your financial situation, your relationships, and your career. You can use these or substitute some items or add to them.

Next, choose one area; any one is fine as long as it has importance to you. Then list the needs and desires that you have regarding this area of your life. When you run out of needs, then move on to the next area you want to achieve results in, and start listing your needs and desires for that area. What usually happens is that one area will trigger additional thoughts about another one. So, you don't need to be systematic about this. You just want to get through all the areas you want to focus on, and get as complete a list as possible.

Now that you know your desires, converts those into outcomes that will satisfy these desires. For example, one of your desires may be to improve your financial situation. The outcome that satisfies that desire is to have a reserve fund in the bank. So, go through your list of desires and define your outcomes.

Then convert your outcomes into goals. Building on our example, a goal could be to have put aside a reserve fund of $5,000 by the end of the year. Check how well you have defined your goals by verifying that they are specific, measurable, actionable, relevant and time-based. Go through your list and convert your outcomes into goals.

My suggestion on developing goals is to try to have a selection of short-term (1-3 months), medium-term (around 6 months) and long-term goals (1 or more years). It is important that you have all three because if your list consists only of big, hairy, long-term goals, it is hard to keep yourself motivated. But if you can celebrate accomplishing a few goals each quarter, it is much easier to keep going.

Now Figure out What You Have to Do

By now, you might be a little overwhelmed because you have 4 pages of goals. So, it is time to prioritize. Review your list, and rank the importance of each goal. Choose a simple system, like assigning them a rank of 1, 2 or 3, with 1 being the most important to you. I have to stress again that this is about what is important to YOU, not what you are expected to care about, or what society thinks should be important to you. Unless you truly care about the outcome, you will find it hard to motivate yourself when it comes time for action.

Now select the most important goals you want to work on. Don't discard the rest, just put them aside till you have time for them. Now, convert the goals into actions ? what do you have to do to accomplish the goal?

Again, building on our example: to save $5000 in a year, you have to put aside $420 a month. Can you do that? How? One action might be to establish a monthly budget that enables you to set aside that amount each month. Or another action might be to review your monthly expenses and decided what you can cut out to enable you to contribute to the reserve fund. Put as much detail as you can in your actions. Make sure that you give yourself deadlines for completing them. If you have an on-going action (like working out 3 times a week), assign yourself the action to develop a tracking system to let you know whether you are sticking to that commitment of not.

Now you have your road-map for the whole year. All you have to do is to take the actions needed for success. Do a check-in quarterly to see how you are progressing. Make adjustment based on what you have done and what might have changed in your life (nothing should be set in stone). Celebrate all your successes along the way, and just keep going. At the end of the year, you will be amazed at all that you have accomplished, and how good you will feel.

© 2004 Inez O. Ng

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Do you need some structure and accountability to propel you forward? Personal Coach Inez Ng has worked with professionals and entrepreneurs to transform their aspirations into reality. While focusing on specific areas, her coaching positively impacts all areas of her clients' lives. Learn more about coaching with Inez at http://www.RealizationsUnltd.com

---

Seven Steps for Success

"The secret of success is to make what you are... Read More

I Don?t Believe in Failures

I prefer to call the challenges, obstacles, side-tracks, and barriers... Read More

Getting Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable

They say that if you really want to stretch yourself... Read More

Learning How To Fall: You Have To Learn To Fall Before You Can Ride With Confidence!

About a month ago, I was hit by a car... Read More

Emerging As Winners!

People like to emerge as winners by hook or crook... Read More

Changing Your Luck

In this week's New Age Notebook, I am going to... Read More

How to Talk Yourself Into Success

You've tried and failed. You've watched others fall. You're wiped... Read More

Dare to Dream Again

Do you remember when you were a child and no... Read More

Ingredients For Success

Management by Objectives, strategic planning, quality, teams, re-engineering. Passing management... Read More

If Youre Not Ready - Dont Start!

There are times when we feel we should take action,... Read More

From Making a Living to Creating a Lifestyle

(excerpted from the Day That Turns Your Life Around)After having... Read More

The Secret Key (Part 1): An Overwhelming Purpose

Imagine that you are in a dimly-lit room. You don't... Read More

Potholes On The Road To Success

Howdy folks, today I would like to speak to you... Read More

Success Takes Practice

As a speaker and trainer, people often approach me after... Read More

Tracking Success With A Goal Tracking Chart

Creating a goal tracking chart is as simple as drawing... Read More

Animal Teachers Reveal Success Through Pleasure

What the anteater and otter show us about success?It's been... Read More

Perseverance Lead To Walt Disneys Greatest Success!

When you are in business every person you hire gets... Read More

Breakfast of Failures

"If you want to increase your success rate, double your... Read More

Decision-Making: The Right Way!

Why do some people end up with boring jobs living... Read More

No Shortcut To Success

Sometimes short cuts are not worth taking. They may bring... Read More

Chinese Gooseberries and Oprah?

Oprah and Harpo Productions, consistently reap awe-inspiring progress and record-breaking... Read More

Do You Fear Your Own Success?

Noted author and self-worth teacher Eric Butterworth* says, "Poverty is... Read More

Succeed !

Are you successful? What does that word mean to you?... Read More

5 Key Ingredients of Business Success

What do you need to have for a successful business?... Read More

The 8th Habit Covey Forgot - The Making of an Expert!

I could labor the idea but then that would only... Read More

Self-Improvement Secrets

* Perfectionism is a time waster.Strive for excellence on important... Read More

Limiting Beliefs - How to Break Through the Barrier

Circus trainers used to tie a chain around a baby... Read More

Vacation Your Way to Success!

All work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy... Read More

I Havent Failed...I Just Havent Finished Yet

How many times do we fail at something, then attemp... Read More

The 10 Questions to Ask Yourself If You Haven?t Reached a Dream

Following are a series of questions I needed to ask... Read More

How to Network Your Way to Success

Successful people do not achieve success on their own, they... Read More

Setting Yourself Up For Success

Most people want to be successful in life. But success... Read More

Two Key Success Skills - Take Action Now And Be Bold Enough To Talk

I am writing this article to cement two key success... Read More