How’s your week going?

Have you had a chance to complete last week’s exercises?

In case you haven’t done the 5-minute exercises, you can find them here.

How did they go? Did anything surprise you?

Hopefully you found a few nuggets of wisdom and positivity from your 2016.

I always gain a lot from reflecting – even if it’s just for a few quick minutes.

Reflection gives me opportunity to see what’s working well and what needs improvement.

Rather than continuing to spin in the hamster wheel of life, I can slow things down for a bit and see more clearly how I can make life even better.

In this same light, it’s important to take time to develop a vision for the year ahead. It gives you grounding, propels you toward success faster, and calms the water when things get rocky.

You can keep coming back to your vision throughout the year, and you should.

As Steven Covey states in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, we should “begin with the end in mind.”

Why is a vision important?

• It centers us on what we truly want and care about.
• It launches us toward our goals faster and more efficiently.
• It calms us when we’re overwhelmed.
• When we write something down, our chances of doing it are significantly greater.

As Kathy Caprino shares in a recent Forbes articles, “You must understand exactly what you want and what matters most to you.”

So where can we start?

Developing a vision for 2017 isn’t as daunting as it may seem. Even just a few sentences gives you a focus for the year and sets you up for real success.

Here’s a 4-step approach to creating your vision for 2017:

1. Imagine

Imagine for a moment that it’s your ideal December 31, 2017. You’ve had the most incredible year and you’ve achieved everything you wanted. You feel like you’re on Cloud 9 – you are truly and completely happy with yourself.

Now close your eyes. Develop a clear image in your mind of that ideal December 31, 2017.

Ask yourselves these questions and write the answers in your journal.

• Where am I and what am I doing?
• How am I feeling?
• What am I most happy about?
• What great things did I accomplish this year?
• How does it feel being at peace with myself?

2. Capture your new ideas

Now that you’ve completed the vision in your head, jot down 5+ bullet points about your new, exciting thoughts for 2017.

3. What to do and not do

As you look at your vision list for 2017, pull out your answers from last week’s exercise. Looking at your answers, what can you do or not do to ensure you have your ideal 2017? Jot down a few ideas.

4. Capitalising on your strengths

Review your answers from last week’s exercises with this question in mind, “What do I need to put into play in order to accomplish my 2017 vision?”. Write down a few ideas.

So now you have a vision for what you want, and some ideas of how you’re going to get there.

Feel free to refine and tweak your vision as needed. Make sure you feel excited and on-board with what you wrote down.

I’d love to hear how this exercise went for you. And I’m curious about your ideal visions for 2017! Shoot me an email with what you came up with.

Next week we’ll talk about putting everything into action.

P.S. If a friend would enjoy preparing for their best year yet, please forward this email to them!