Realistically, there are two weeks left in the calendar year. Once the date is in the 20's, it's kind of all over in December.
Loggedoff, the company that operates Nero's Notes has its year end at the end of January. Lime, my consultancy business, runs until the end of February. I could move year-ends around, perhaps unifying them, but I enjoy keeping them separate. Closing all the books together would seem a huge task, whereas taking them on one at a time, is less daunting.
In December, I begin planning my year on a personal level. Inevitably, this waterfalls down into the businesses. I direct them both.
Today - Tuesday the 7th, I am logging in to The Sweet Setup to kick the process off with a workshop led by Shawn Blanc. (Disclosure - that's an affiliate link) If you can make it, come along. In any event, take a look at the planner, I find the process really useful.
As preparation, I'm taking a first run through the workbook. Partly, this is because I know that the initial section is quite hard work. Let me explain.
Part 1 is the review. "Celebrate & Reflect." 1: Highlights & Accomplishments 2: Challenges & Frustrations 3: Life Assessment
The workbook provides some prompts in sections 1 & 2, and this gets me into the swing of things. Who doesn't like thinking about all the things that went right, and laughing at the things that went wrong. Ah! What a tangled web we weave! What japes!
Then comes the hammer.
"Life Assessment. You have six primary areas of life. For this section, we're now going to take a brief look at each of these areas."
- Career. Oh yes. Let's get into it.
- Relationships. Ah. A bit personal isn't it?
- Physical Health. I say. Must we?
- Inner Personal Life. You are aware that I'm British?
- Finances. Oh, come on. This is no fun.
- Rest & Recreation. What? I know how to rest!
For each area, I self-assess a rating for 2021. From 1 (Not Good) to 5 (Amazing).
This should all be easy and straightforward. However, whenever I start looking at these things, I am immediately drawn to doing something else; anything else. Even writing this post, I'm distracted, employing every avoidance trick in the book.
It's the honesty. That's the challenge. There's no point in an exercise like this, unless it's authentic.
Have I been a good husband? Could I have done better for those I love? Did I even try?
I'm fatter at the end of this year than I was at the end of last. Usually at this point, I'd write a deflecting wisecrack. But tonight, I'll be scoring myself, and it's not going to be pretty.
Inner personal life? Why am I here? Is there a God? Blimey. I don't know.
Employing a process like this forces me to face truths that I might ordinarily avoid or wisecrack my way around. It's powerful.
From there, I'll move on to working out what I want 2022 to look like, and I'll do so with enthusiasm and anticipation.
This process in December greatly informs how I want the businesses to contribute to my year. Once I have a clear direction for myself, planning for the business is easy.
My writing is supported by people like you. You can become a member of the site here . Members access the serialisation of my first novel draft, and give comments to me in a member's Slack. They also get a free electronic copy of anything that I publish during their membership. Sign up - help me move writing from a side-project to a main project.
