Over the Christmas / New Year holidays, my wife Jo and I will be creating our 2017 Master Plan. Over the past 6 years we have discovered a powerful way to plan for the coming year. We both run businesses and are quite driven to succeed. Life can be very hectic and is sometimes stressful. Our planning has helped us to achieve our business goals AND create a lifestyle we enjoy. With our 2017 Master Plan nothing important gets missed.
5 Steps to create your 2017 Master Plan
- Use the holidays to relax and unwind. If you have had a busy year in 2016 the end of year is an important time to reflect and review. Even good things run their course. When you are in the midst of busyness it is impossible to have clear perspective on business or on your own life. We strongly advise taking some time to stop and unwind over Christmas and New Year and enjoy being with the people you love.
- Reflect on and Review 2016. If you are a driven business person your mind will often drift to thinking about your business even on holidays. Use this relaxation time to reflect and review this past year. A simple way to do this is to take a blank A4 page and divide it into 3 sections. Head section 1 – ‘Keep’ (those things that went well and you want to continue); Section 2 – ‘Delete’ (those things that have run their course and should be cut off); and section 3 – ‘Change’ (those things that need adjustment). This is your review template. If you have any ideas for changes quickly write them in Section 3. This gives you a simple framework to do a review of your business and your life over a few hours and over several days. Include your partner where appropriate.
- Imagine how you want your life to be by December 2017. Once you have wound down a little and are less connected to the busyness of every day work you can find some perspective. Imagine you are the end of 2017. Write down what you see. What have you achieved? What important developments have taken place? How much have you earned? How do you want to feel by the end of 2017? What will have changed around you? What will have changed within you? Paint this picture as clearly as you can in words. Imagine it. See it. How would life be if what you see became real?
- Set goals across the key areas of your life. Next, you need to assess where you are now. A reality check. And then answer the question, ‘What changes must take place in order to get from where you are now to where to want to be by the end of 2017? Set goals for your business and then set goals across all the key segments of your life.
- Make plans for each goal and add action steps to your schedule for the first quarter (until 31 March 2017). This is critical. Goals without a plan are wishful thinking. It takes a bit of effort. It must be written down. Many people who set goals do it mentally but never write down their goals and schedule their action plans to achieve them. To make this work, you need to break the year into weeks, months and quarters and make sure you have actions scheduled that will help you achieve your goals across your life. Not just business goals. Goals and plans for your key relationships, health and fitness, leisure, wealth creation, your friendships, your personal growth and so on.
Join our ‘Take Back Control’ Retreat in January 2017
For the past 3 years my wife Jo and I have been sharing the principles and the process we use in our Take Back Control Retreat each January. We will be doing this again on January 21 and 22, 2017 in luxury accommodation at a beautiful beach-side location not far from Sydney.
Can you imagine two uninterrupted days to create your 2017 Master Plan?
Jo and I facilitate a process that enables you to focus on your life and business with a small group of like minded business people, high achievers, in their particular sphere. This retreat is for busy business owners and corporate executives who want to Take Back Control of their world. Participants leave with a great sense of peace that they have the important things in their world scheduled in their 2017 Master Plan.
Click on the link for more information about how you can be part of our 2017 Take Back Control Retreat.
Bonus video:
So many business owners are working very hard to make a living. Check this video to see which type of business owner you are ….
