This post is part 5 in a series designed to help you usher in the new year. You’ve done your brainstorming, now it’s time to sort through what you’ve written and see the bigger picture. If you missed any of the previous posts, you can find them here:
To A Meaningful Year: Rest
To A Meaningful Year: Reflect
To A Meaningful Year: Making Space
To A Meaningful Year: Brainstorming
Your brainstorming sheet will be filled with personal and professional goals, things you want to learn, people you want to connect with, experiences you want to have, and places you want to travel.
Lay it in front of you and take a moment to soak it all in.
Then, grab some colored markers or pens. Imagine each word or phrase is a star in the sky of your future. Your job is to connect those stars to create constellations. Every time you find items that are related, circle them with the same color marker and draw a line between them.
For example, if you wrote buy new camera, take a photography class, and start taking better photos, that’s a constellation. If you wrote get my yoga certification, connect with the yoga studio, and start offering yoga classes, that’s another. There is no set number of stars in a constellation – include as many as make sense.
Constellations help you connect small goals into bigger dreams, and they help you see what’s most important to you. Have a ton of stars that are all connected? That’s a clear signal you shouldn’t ignore.
Now, some of the items on your brainstorming sheet may be big, gigantic things. Figure out what I want to do with my life isn’t a star – it’s a whole freakin’ solar system. In this case, break it into smaller pieces. What does this big goal contain? Break it down into stars and planets.
The purpose of this activity is to help you find patterns and sort through the muss. Chaos is overwhelming – even when it’s stuff we want.
When we’re overwhelmed, we don’t make progress toward our dreams.
We let yet another year go by while the gifts we’re meant to give the world collect dust on our mental shelf.
Not this time.
This is your year.
If you’re ready to do the work, I’ll help you create a plan.
Join me virtually on Sunday for:
From Dream To Done:
Project Planning for the Year Ahead.
This class will help you sort through the big, amazing things you want to do in your life. It will help you avoid common pitfalls, and stay motivated over the long haul. Most importantly, you’ll walk away with a clear plan for what to do, in what order.
Click the link below to register:
