“Life must be lived forward, but it can only be understood backwards.” – Soren Kierkegaard
Last summer was packed with the best ‘stuff’ of life:
10-days in Florida with my family.
Countless nights at home.
Family dinners.
Evening swims.
Ice-cream cones.
Having this summer was a big goal of mine in 2016.
In order to accomplish it – or simply be home for it – I had to significantly slow my work and travel schedule during summer. To have the luxury of doing this, I had to spend the preceding months launching my On Fire book, planning for my Live Inspired Podcast and surrounding myself with an amazing team to help me deliver consistent inspiration via events, Monday Motivation blog newsletters, vlogs and #AskJohn articles on Parade. Now, let’s bring this back to you.
Have you set any goals, resolutions or plans for 2017? If so, did you account for this truth: “Life must be lived forward, but it can only be understood backwards.”
The above recap of my idyllic 2016 summer is how I began planning for 2017. Looking back is a critical step. When we do, we’re reminded of what we’ve accomplished, where we’ve fallen short and most importantly, who and what really mattered.
I learned this truth 10 years ago while reading Your Best Year Yet. This book asks (and expects you to answer) 10 simple questions. After: You have a 1-page, personal plan to live your best year yet. The first question asked is an invitation to look backward and take stock of the year that just passed.
My friends, today we find ourselves in the 3rd week of 2017. Most of the professional, relational and personal commitments we’ve made have been swallowed up by old habits or lost to a lack of clarity.
But it’s not too late. Would you like to set a goal that you can achieve by December? Or, if you are one of the dedicated few who are still on pace: Would you like a plan to keep your momentum?
It was such an honor to invite the author of Your Best Year Yet to join me on the Live Inspired Podcast. We walked through her 10-questions one by one and I am so thrilled to be able to share this guided tour of a plan that changed my life and my business, with you today. (Listen to the Live Inspired Podcast Ep. #012 with Jinny here.)
My friends, you can absolutely choose to hit the snooze button on your life and repeat old habits. But today I challenge you to wake up, hit reset and make this your best year yet. [Tweet this] | [Share on Facebook]
Today is your day. Live Inspired.
What goals have you set for 2017? Do you have tips in addition to “looking back” that help you set goals? Please share in the comments below!
6 replies on “Plan On It”
Thanks so much for this post! John, I heard you speak at the Northwestern College Leadership Summit last year and enjoy your emails. This one was so timely, it was scary! I had recently been challenged by my boss to take a day of professional development to do career planning and had no idea where to start. After this post, I ordered “Your Best Year Yet”, set my career planning day, and tomorrow I will be taking a day to do reflecting, goal-setting, and planning out my best year yet! Thanks for not only inspiring the “why” but the “how”.
AWESOME, Courtney. Thanks of sharing! Enjoy your day tomorrow… what a blessing (maybe originally in disguise!). Enjoy it and if you want to walk through the 10 questions in the book with us: Tune into Live Inspired Podcast Ep. #12 here: http://johnolearyinspires.com/2017/01/live-inspired-podcast-s2ep12-jinny-ditzler/
Thank you John. It means that I would like to travel there, because I live in middle east Europe and this is a very big journey for me. The first think is a distance, and another the language. My English a little bit poor, so I am learning with a Teacher two times a week. I have never traveled by plane and never spoken anybody who has the same scars like me. I”m a survivor and I’m feeling alone myself in my country. I would like to meet other survivors, so this travel is very important for me. I’m 38 now and I was one and half year old when injured my face and hands. My life is not bad, I’m married and I have work. I’m just alone with my scars and my feelings.
Robert, your English (as demonstrated above) is much better than you think! Sounds like your teacher and you are doing great work together 😉 Send me an email at info [at] johnolearyinspires.com so we can see how we can be support you in getting to the Phoenix Society World Burn Conference this year. J
My Biggest goal in 2017, what is maybe the biggest goal in my life: I would like to be there on the World Burn Congress.
Robert — what do you mean by “be there”. Hoping with a little clarity maybe I can help. J