OMG. It’s Over. Now the Work Begins.

The organized have been shopping for a month (or more). The prepared for at least a couple of weeks. Most of us lived in denial until a week ago or so.

But it’s now over, thank goodness. Or is it? Crap! We gotta take down the tree and lights and a plethora of Christmas garbage… it was beautiful. Now it’s just another stinking thing to do.

And oh no. We have to exchange some of our gifts or if you are a “sale-aphile,” then you’re out doing serious shopping with even greater hordes than before Christmas. This is NOT the season to be jolly. It’s the hangover, and more shopping just becomes taking some of the “dog that bit you.”

Take my advice and SAY NO. Don’t do it! You have more important things to do. In fact, in my mind today begins the best week of next year. Let me explain.

Today Begins the Best Week of Next Year

Sure, you’re going to have to clean up the house. And you’ll probably have to do some kind of shopping. That’s just part of the deal. Accept it and move on to important things. Like Dreaming About Next Year!

Holy Cow, I’ve read more blogs and listened to more podcasts on “2015 Goal Setting” than ever before. If you’re a blogger then so have you. Do you feel like me? Are you sick to death of it? If I did all the things suggested about planning for 2015, I couldn’t start the year until after February.

Oh, don’t think I’m against planning. I just don’t believe it has to be all that complicated. Simple, effective and efficient. That’s the way I plan. And I’m a planning fool. But before I’m a planner, I’m a Dreamer.

Man I love dreaming about what I want for the next year, especially in 4 areas: Passion, Purpose, People, and Power. I call these the 4 P’s. The first is Passion which is creating a list of things that will excite me and keep me passionate about life; The second P is about accomplishments that will give me a sense of Purpose and meaning and significance. The third P is about things that will remind me how to love and nurture the important People in my life; and finally, the fourth P has to do with actions that will leave me rooted in the divine Power that orchestrates the cosmos (however you might describe it).

Oops, I got a little ahead of myself with the details. Let’s get back to dreaming. What 3-5 important things do you dream about happening next year? Personally, I dream about (1) My Company, Right Things, helping to make a genuine impact on the people who get us and want us. I dream about (2) making a difference through executive coaching and encouraging anyone I come into contact with. Finally, I dream about (3) taking 2 international trips. Oh, and just between you and me, I still dream about that Aston Martin—ha… maybe some day.

What about you? What do YOU dream about? Don’t be afraid. Dream big. Make your dreams count otherwise they’re not really dreams; their only ordinary planning and we’re not ordinary-type people. We’re difference-makers! The world is a different kind of place because of our small, but significant participation.

So, now, what do you dream about?

Making Your Dream Come True

Every year between Christmas and New Years Pam and I go away for two nights and one full 24-hour day devoted to writing down our dreams and talking about how we’ll make the next year great.

You don’t have to have a significant other. You can go alone. Or take a friend. And then spend 3-4 hours thinking/talking about next year—2015.

Here’s what Pam and I do. We definitely go out of town or someplace that puts us in a creative state by getting away from our “everyday.” We usually do 4 or 5 things:

We start by having fun: fooling around, going to a movie (or two), visiting art galleries, window-shopping, eating interesting foods, reading. You know, normal kind of vacation stuff. Then we get down to the business of planning out next year:

1. We evaluate the last year as spouses and parents…
   1. What kind of husband and wife were we? Then we talk about what we think we need from each other this next year. How can I be the kind of husband or wife you need me to be?
   2. What kind of parents were we? Even though our son is an independent 22-year-old adult, we are still his parents and he still needs us. How can we best serve his needs as we pour all the love we have on him?
   3. What were the highlights of the year and what were the not-so-high times? We then ask ourselves what we can do to make 2015 even better?
2. We create our Spending Plan. “Spending Plan,” sounds sooo much cooler than budget, yuk!
   1. Since we’re both self-employed we talk about where we think the money will be coming from and the probability of it coming in. (It helps that I’ve been self-employed since 1990 and Pam since 2004, so we have a good idea of our income streams.)
   2. We track our spending very closely—you have to when you’re self-employed—so it’s pretty easy for us to calculate where and how much money we will spend.
   3. We plan and calendar the time(s) we will travel: vacations, visiting family, and conferences.
3. We share our dreams and how we’ve planned to make them come true…
   1. We offer feedback to each other.
   2. We encourage each other.

And that’s it. We’ve taken a mini-holiday; we’ve talked about how to love; we’ve agreed on spending; and we’ve started to make our crazy dreams come true by taking the first step: writing them down and telling them to someone we trust. Our accountability has just doubled. We also systematically check our progress monthly throughout the year using a +, √, and – system. It’s very easy, very quick and very useful.

What about you?

I challenge you to set aside a time so that next week is The Most Important Week of 2015.