It's the season for jotting down plans and dreams and all types of schemes. With a new year looming just days away many of us have already cemented our 2015 "resolutions", of course there are some of us that are just beginning to think about what we'll do with a new blank canvas.  So this week I'd like to introduce a few ways you can get your goals off the ground and going for the new year. 

One critical mistake many of us make when devising new goals is that we don't plan out its execution. I know that sounds technical and kinda medieval, but it simply means that we don't create SMART goals. Most of us have encountered that acronym before and this week I'll show you how you can use it to develop your very own strategic plan.   Strategic plans are usually associated with businesses and if you have a business you may already have a strategic plan in place. Simply put, a strategic plan is a tool used to objectify your goals and dreams.  It's all about creating a vision, mission, objectives, strategies, and action plans to detail how your goal is going to be attained (Look Ma', I'm putting my degree to use :-).  Today we'll focus on the basics of a strategic plan and throughout this week we'll develop the other segments.

First thing first (Iggy voice), what are your goals? I mean, what is it you want to be happy about come this time next year. Don't think small. Go big while keeping an eye on the BIG picture. Instead of writing lose 50lbs, make your goal healthy eating and getting the right amount of physical activity (~150 mins/week). Your 2015 goals should be feeding into the larger vision you have for your life, not just your vision for 2015. I highly recommend not having more that 5 goals.  Of course there will be other things you want to get done, but you can make those small projects along the way. Just make sure that your focus remains on your big picture.

Don't know what the big picture is for you? Well, make it one of your goals to find out. One way is to schedule regular reflection time either daily or weekly.

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Now that you've got your 5 (or less) major goals for 2015 your next step is to create your vision and mission for the upcoming year. That's what tomorrow's post will guide you through. Once you've got your vision and mission written down it'll be easy to make your goals SMART, that's Wednesday's post. 

Until tomorrow. Stay simply chic. 

-Marie