070: Creating a 2020 Vision

This episode is going live on Black Friday. That means we have about 4 ½ weeks left in the year. It also marks the time where we tend to begin to think about what we want to accomplish in the coming new year.

For me, some years are full of great expectations, hopes, and dreams. While other years I just hope I can survive.

However, I have recently tried to be more realistic about what I want to try to accomplish in a year’s time. There have been many years where I have set vague and unrealistic goals. But over time I’ve learned how to set specific and more achievable goals. 

I want to help you have a more meaningful and purposeful 2020. When you get to December 31, 2020, I want you to be able to look back on the year with a feeling of satisfaction. And I want you to know you had a successful year. No matter what that looks like to you.

So, in an effort to be able to help you better, I have put together a Master Class that is recorded over on The Planning Woman Facebook Page.  Click here to watch the class.

This Master Class will last about 45 minutes. I will walk you through steps to help you begin to shape your vision for 2020. This is not a goal-setting class. Although, what you learn in this class will definitely help you set goals for sure.

The main purpose of this class is to help you think through what is currently going on in your life so you can figure out what needs to change so that you can live with more meaning and purpose. Without a vision for what you want your life to look like, you’ll never be able to set meaningful goals.

You may be in a season of life where everything is changing and you finally have the opportunity to pursue things that are important to you. Or maybe you are tired of just trying to survive each day. You don’t even know who you are now or what you should be focusing on in your life.

I think your time will be well spent to be a part of this class no matter your age, the season of life, or the circumstances you live in. 

Click here to access the free printables that go along with the class.

And did I mention, the class is absolutely FREE! Yes, I’m doing this because I want to be able to help as many women as possible learn how to live with greater meaning and purpose. 

Let me share a little bit about what you are going to learn in the Master Class. Then if you want to go deeper, you can watch the Master Class to learn more.

So what does it mean to create a 2020 vision?

First, I need to say how great I think it is that it is the year 2020. There are so many ways to play off the number of 2020. When I hear 2020, I think about 2020 vision or the phrase, “hindsight is 2020.”

Right now we have the advantage of 20/20 foresight, not hindsight. We can make the year 2020 be one of our best ever if we will make the effort to dive into our past, assess where we are today, and determine where we want to be by December 31, 2020.

Before we can look ahead to 2020, we’ve got to look back over 2019 and assess how this year went. Asking questions such as what went well this year and what did not go well this year can help us to begin that assessment. These questions can seem so simple. However, physically writing down the positives and negatives of the year can be very powerful.

After all, if you don’t know what didn’t go well this year, how will you know how to minimize those negatives in the coming year? For example, let’s say you had great intentions of changing some things in regards to your health. However, you did not follow through with the plans you had for exercising, cooking more meals at home, and talking to the doctor about some health issues you’ve had.

Physically writing that down can help you to assess if this is something you still want to pursue in 2020. And if it is, you can begin to evaluate why you didn’t follow through with your intentions.

As you’re looking back at 2019, you may also want to ask yourself what significant milestones happened this year. Or what did you learn this year? These positive experiences can be great motivators for future action because they are proof you’ve seen some success.

Once you’ve thoroughly reviewed 2019, it’s time to begin thinking ahead. One of the best exercises I’ve done in relation to goal setting is looking ahead through the next 4 years. I write down the ages of everyone in my immediate family for those four years. Then I write down significant events or milestones that will happen in each of those years.

Let me share my family as an example. In 2020, my husband will be 52, I’ll turn 49, my son will be 21, and my daughter will be 18. She will also be graduating from high school. In 2021, our ages will be 53, 50, 22, and 19. Besides celebrating my 50th birthday, there is no other big event in 2021. Then in 2022, we’ll be 54, 51, 23, and 20. My husband and I will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary. And my son will most likely be graduating from college.

You may be wondering why all of this would be important to know. Writing all of this down helps me to see what I’m going to be focusing on with my family life. Planning for graduation and sending my daughter to college remind me that my husband and I will be empty nesters. Remembering this will help me as I plan my goals for the year. I will make sure to include goals about how my husband and I will spend our time as empty nesters. 

You may have events in the next four years that include a new baby, retirement, or other life changes. Looking out over a period of time longer than a year can put life into perspective and give you ideas on how to prepare for what’s coming now instead of waiting until it actually happens.

After you’ve figured out the big things that are going to happen in the coming year, it’s time to determine your priorities. I’ve said on a previous podcast how I believe our priorities change over time depending on the season of life we’re in. And I still think that’s true.

When you know your priorities, you can set more meaningful and purposeful goals. Without knowing your priorities, you can spin your wheels striving for things that just really aren’t worth your time and effort.

Knowing your priorities can give you confidence that you are setting the best goals for yourself.

I’ll go over how to set priorities in more detail in the master class. However, I’ll share the steps here so you can begin thinking about them.

1. Determine your current roles and responsibilities
2. Decide if your current roles and responsibilities are still relevant to your life
3. Think about other areas in your life that need your attention
4. Set your priorities based on your current roles and responsibilities

Now it’s time to set your 2020 vision. You know what worked and didn’t work for 2019, you know what big life events or changes are on the horizon, and you know your priorities. I think the best question you can ask yourself to set your 2020 vision is what do I want my life to look like on December 31, 2020.

If you can answer that, then you’ll be well on your way to creating goals that are meaningful to your life and will give you greater satisfaction when you achieve them.