5 Ways To Intentionally Plan for the Best Year Yet

Depending on whenever you find this post, I assure you that you’re not too late in planning for the year you want to have. Two things can be true at the same time. You can be strategic and intentional, yet give yourself grace and move at your own pace. It’s one week into the new year as I type this, and while I don’t have all my plans laid out quite yet I know that it’s ok. While many people rush to have all their goals and plans laid out and in motion by January 1, I just want to remind you that it’s still winter. In nature, winter is when things die and hibernate. The true new year is in spring. And think about it, when spring hits, you still have 9 months. By my calculations, that’s still time to birth something *wink* (girl math).

Reflect and Plan with Year Compass

I became familiar with Year Compass a few years ago, and it’s been a wonderful exercise to close and reflect on the previous year and tool to intentionally plan for the upcoming year. I recommend giving yourself a couple of hours to complete it, or break it up in 2 sessions where you reflect on the year you’re closing out before planning the next year. You can download it completely free here.

Write Your Future Self A Letter

Have you ever written a letter to a past or future version of yourself? I’ve done this exercise a number of times over the years, and you’d be surprised how you can forget that you ever did it. Whether you stumble upon it later, or have it sent to you physically or digitally, it’s nice to see what has transpired in that time. With Future Me you can write a letter to yourself and choose the date the letter is returned to you. I wrote my letter to myself a few days ago, and I have already completely forgotten what I wrote, so I’m excited to see how it applies next year. Write your future self a letter here.

Use AI to Develop Your Daily Goals & Habits

I read this peer reviewed article (I watched a video on TikTok) of this woman who used Chat GPT to get a daily schedule and routine for herself based upon her birth chart. While I believe in automation, efficiency and most importantly the stars, I was still skeptical. However, after I did it, I was gagged as the recommendations were given to me were spot on for how my days go when I feel the most productive and in alignment. It breaks your day down in segments and tells you what to focus on and how to intuitively go about your day.

Here is the exact prompt that I used:
“Create an ideal daily schedule, mantras, career goals and love goals for a woman with: ____ Sun, ____ Moon, ____ Rising, ____ Venus and ____ Mercury.”

Give it a try and tweak wherever you feel necessary.

Set Up All Medical Appointments

Pretty self explanatory. I’m a woman who has entered her fourth decade and a cancer survivor, so staying on top of my health is paramount. Set up all your appointments with your dream team: Internist, OBGYN, Therapist, Optometrist, Dentist and any other specialist you may need to see. Get a full blood panel. Get every screening. Schedule that follow up that you’ve been avoiding. Get that second opinion. See your dermatologist (if you have one) and schedule and appointment with your esthetician as well and get a facial.

Purge

What more do I need to say? Get rid of everything that doesn’t need to come. And I’m not just talking about clothes and shoes. Lighten the load so you can freely move forward. However, to get specific, I want you to go through your closets and get rid of things that no longer serve you. If it’s ill fitting, the wrong size (too small or too big), doesn’t spark joy not in good shape, let it go. Take inventory of the furniture and things around your home and the energy it holds. Update things if you must. There is no reason you should not be comfortable in your space. Lastly, I need you to go through all of your beauty products and discard things that are expired (You should be doing this every 90 days anyway).

I hope some of these tips help you and I pray you have the most intentional year yet!