How to plan your year (whether you know what your goals are or not!)

At LH Agenda, we don’t just set and forget yearly goals. We like to check in on our goals every few months, reflecting on what we’re most proud of to date and how we can better utilise our existing skills. We like to refresh and consider where we want to be and how to get there efficiently, using our strengths and identifying growth areas.

So, with this in mind, here is our tried and tested (traditionally unconventional) guide on how to plan your year (no matter what month of the year it is!).

Conduct a life stocktake before thinking about how to plan your year

Reflect on your confidence, health, your relationships with family and friends, your productivity, self-care, etc. and give them a rating out of 10. Did any areas surprise you? What areas of your life are you currently excelling in, taking for granted or have been pushed to the side? Knowing where you’re starting the year will help guide you on where to direct your focus. From here you can decide to play to your strengths or concentrate on the areas you commonly avoid.

Don’t feel the need to know everything about your year all at once

Some people already know what they want their new business or adventure to be, but often people know they want to do something that’s for them, that uses a side of their personality that they like (their creativity, their attention to detail, their expertise etc) but don’t know exactly what they want to use it for. That’s totally fine, and in fact, it’s exciting not to know as it means you have a clean slate ahead of you.

Utilise this by writing down what you enjoy and are passionate about, what’s holding you back, your values, your desired legacy and who can help support you in this journey.

Monitor and celebrate your behaviours

Phillippa Lally, a health psychology researcher from the University College of London, found that it takes two months for a new behaviour to become automatic (well actually, 66 days). This is why we recommend including quarterly reviews in your planning.

Adopt both a birds-eye and bitesize approach

When you’re planning your year, consider the whole year, what you want to achieve and when. From there break it up into quarterly goals, weekly goals and daily to-dos. You can carry over incomplete tasks and also keep the big picture simple.

We’re always so inspired by you and the LH community, so be sure to share your annual plans by using #LHAgendaSetter over at @LHAgenda.

The photos in this post are from our LH planners which include everything you need to make your dreams a reality.