How to plan for the year?

2023

Jan

16

2023 is going to be our year, now it is our turn – it is said all over social media sites... Instead of posts, challenges, to do lists, we have put together some thoughts that can really help everyone have at least more or less the 2023 they want.

Self-reflection

It might seem like a cliché, but self-reflection is the basis of everything. If you do not know what you really want, how could you achieve your goal?!

It sounds relatively simple at first, and many people get it right from the start. But are they really their own goals? Are they not just trying to meet something? Are they sure that this is what they want?

It does not hurt to have a bucket list, but it is also good to look behind it a little: are there common motives for the items on the list? If 5 of the 10 on the list are about travel, should the focus rather be on the journey rather than the destination?

Self-reflection is hard work, but it is worth it: it makes everything easier. However, it is something you cannot get on your own without feedback, you need not only friends/family members, but helpful outsiders.

I recommend the services of the UP Career Office, they can help you with this too.

Life rhythm

"Wake up at five in the morning and do not dare to hit the alarm clock," say the smart ones on social media. That might work for a morning lark, less so for a night owl. It is good to know what time of day, week, year we are really in our element and what we can make of it. For example, if you are most productive in the afternoon, you may not need to schedule monotone work for then. The time of day also has its own limitations that determine activities - for example, as a musician, early morning will not be the best time to practice, even if we plan for it to be optimal for us.

Unfortunately, we also need to be aware that other people's rhythms may not be the same as our own - big differences can cause problems, especially in relationships.

We can plan as we please if we do not care about our life rhythm - because in the long run it will prevail and it will give a hoot about our plans!

I recommend Life Rhythm - Productivity Mobile app as a starting point.

Design

The Year Compass is very popular - deservedly so - as a starting point to start the year. Perhaps the best thing about it is that it helps us in all areas of life to identify the major milestones leading to our success.

Yet simply completing the Year Compass is not enough, because it is no use circling the big goals we have set for 2023 if we miss out on how to make them a reality!

Execution

Our plans become a wish list if we do not make them happen bit by bit every day. Crystallising your annual plan on a single page has its benefits: it can be pulled out from time to time and easily reviewed to see the entirety of our superbly planned year.

However, it is necessary to know on a daily, weekly basis what we need to do to make our plans a reality. There are many to-do-lists, even on mobile apps. Of these, I now recommend one of the most stylish in my opinion, Memorigi. For those who would stick to the handwritten versions, I think I am not saying anything new when I suggest the bullet journal method.

Resilience

Oh, yes! The magic word that has come to the limelight in the last 2-3 years. The pandemic, the Russian-Ukrainian war, rising overheads, inflation - to name just a few, the effects of which affect everyone! Nobody foresaw them, but we all - like it or not - have had to adapt to them.

You cannot prepare for everything.
You cannot give 100% in every area every single day.
You cannot ignore your emotions and just execute your dreamed plan like a robot.
You have to be able to relax and you have to be able to compromise on your goals.

This is where the UP Career Office can help.