It’s time. Past time, really. You need to start planning for next year.
It doesn’t have to be difficult to write a plan, but you do need one. The biggest organizations need plans and so do individuals and freelancers.
Where do you start? Get out a napkin. They’re the traditional planning medium for great ideas. If pressed, you can use an ordinary piece of paper. Put your electronic devices away and sit with your paper, a pen, and ask yourself one simple question:
What do I want from next year?
Don’t judge or limit yourself. Write down your answer. You can decide later if this is a goal for next year or the next decade. Just write it down at the top of the page.
Now, at the bottom of the page, write down where you are now, what you have now, your current reality. For example, if your goal is to “Publish a book,” your current reality might be, “I have an idea for a book, but I haven’t started writing yet. I don’t have a publisher.”
In between your goal and your current reality, this is where you write your goals. These are the steps, the pieces of your plan. If you need more than one napkin, you’re going into too much detail. Stay at this high level. Say what you want, state where you’re are, then draw a path to get yourself where you want to go.
If you have more than one goal, get more napkins.
Once you’ve written down your goals, your realities, and the steps, now you can pick up your digital device and flesh things out. Those things will include a budget, known obstacles, and assembling a team.
Better get started. Not much of this year left to plan for next.
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