I LOVE planning, and I LOVE preparation.

Asking yourself tough questions in order to get to your SMART goals

Organization should probably be my middle name (but for those of you who don’t know, my middle name is actually Lynn).

That’s why when I get to talk about how I prep for the New Year – systems, processes, steps – I get pretty fired up :)

But today, I thought, “Why not try something different…”

And so instead of having a complete blog post with all the nitty gritty details written out, and then recording the audio blog episode, I decided to record the podcast episode without really knowing where it would go.

Why would I do that after just talking about how much I love planning and preparation?

Because, the stream of consciousness that you’ll hear in today’s episode is exactly how I feel about goal-setting and planning for a New Year: it’s hectic and unpredictable, and there really is no specific set of steps that will help EVERYONE do it successfully from start to finish.

That said, I do have 5 steps that I think are an amazing starting point when it comes to preparing for the New Year – these will help you at least get set up!

What I talk about in this episode

• The fact that I don’t know what I’m going to talk about
• How John and I have separate, personal goals that we set each year for the business (in addition to our shared goals)
• What questions I ask myself in order to “see” what my goals might be for the New Year
• The 3 Words exercise (thanks, Chris Brogan!)
• My 3 words for 2016… tune in to the ep to hear what they are! ;)
• My 3 SMART goals for 2015 (and why I missed the mark on 2 of them)

The tough questions

• Where am I right now in my business?
• Where do I want to be in my business?
• What could I improve upon? (something I’m doing now that isn’t working)
• What could I double down on? (something I’m doing now that IS working)
• What are a few of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in the past year?
• What do I already have knowledge / expertise doing? (doesn’t have to be something you’re currently exercising in your business – it could be anything!)
• Based on everything I’ve just written down (my answers to each of the previous questions), what are a few recurring themes?
• Based on those recurring themes, what 1-3 SMART goals can I set in order to make the biggest impact over the next year?

I’d love to hear from you: does this information help you on your journey to setting and accomplishing your biggest goals?

Is there something that is holding you back from setting your goals for the New Year?

Fair game! – drop your feedback in the comments section below, and I look forward to engaging with you!

:) Kate