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[LIFE DESIGN] Start Your New Year with a PLAN📆

[LIFE DESIGN] Start Your New Year with a PLAN📆

I like to start my annual planning the week of Thanksgiving because it gives me time to "percolate" on the question of "what do I want to do/be/accomplish next year." This is a big, boundaryless question and I find that questions like this are best answered with some writing and contemplation coupled with enough time to think about it.✍️

In this newsletter I'll give you some tips and ideas for how you can start thinking about 2026, and if you'd like more guidance from me, I've created a couple of on-demand videos to help guide you through my process for thinking about each year.

Listen/watch the episode here: https://bywdreams.mailerpage.com/133

"If you don't know where you want to go, then it doesn't matter which path you take." ~The Cheshire Cat, Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

You can't get to your destination without a plan and you also can't create a plan without a destination in mind. In my mini-course "Get Organized 2026," I'm going to guide you through figuring out where you want to go. If you'd like to join me for that, go to http://TinyURL.com/GetOrganized2026

Regardless, I believe most people can benefit from a paper planner, and you can find the planner I've been using for about a decade right here. There is a lot of brain science about the benefit of handwriting in goal attainment and also increased learning, and I like this planner because it is big enough to contain an entire year and pretty enough that I want to spend time with it. Can you use another planner? Of course, but if you join Get Organized 2026 I'll go into more detail about the benefits of this planner specifically and how to use it.

One of the first things many people do when planning their year is to write down their goals, however, you might start this exercise and realize that you don't have a lot of goals. This might be because you need time to percolate on this big question, as I mention below, and maybe in a few days you'll jot down a list of 25 - 50 goals in record time. However, some of us require more direction and for those people I have a suggestion: write a letter to your present self from the perspective of you near the end of your life. You might not think this type of creative writing is helpful, but you might be surprised. I currently spend about 10% of my time on a goal that I didn't even know I wanted until I wrote it down. So many of us have been conditioned to surprised our desires, sometimes we need to trick our brains into being honest, and this writing exercise is a great one.

Some other journaling exercises that I find helpful include doing a writing prompt every morning and a single line of journaling at night. For these two exercises, I like these options, both of which make FANTASTIC gifts.

Writing exercises like these are so important to help you figure out what you believe and desire. In this fast-paced life, we don't spend a lot of time contemplating, and these journals help you do just that. And what you'll learn about yourself isn't just important for planning, it's also great information for interviews, or if you speak on panels or podcasts, and to share with people you trust. There's an expression, "If you don't know what you stand for, you'll fall for anything." I believe many of us don't know what we stand for and that's a problem for society at large.

So spend some time now to start thinking about what you want your 2026 to look like and by the time January 1st rolls around, you'll have some strong direction to apply to your daily life so that you can roll into the new year with momentum and excitement!

Listen/watch the episode here: https://bywdreams.mailerpage.com/133

NEXT EPISODE

Dec 11, 2025: Interview with my friend, public speaker, and play expert Jeff Harry https://www.rediscoveryourplay.com/

Resources:

-My favorite planning tools http://tinyURL.com/shopbywd

-Get Organized 2026 https://tinyURL.com/getorganized2026 (Use code PODCAST for 25% off VIP package)

-Website: http://BYWDreams.com

-My books: http://TinyURL.com/BYWDbooks

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