I shared this exercise with my mastermind groups and I wanted to share it with you, too. Try it for yourself, then use it with your mastermind group members and private clients. (You’re colleagues might appreciate it, too!)

The end of the year is sneaking up quickly, and this is often the time we begin planning for the next year.

But wait!

Planning for the coming year can seem daunting, and the To Do list just bloats in size. Before you make big strategic plans for the coming year, consider this simple, eye-opening exercise to put things in perspective:

1. Write down everything you’ve accomplished in the past year for your business.
2. I do mean EVERYTHING! All the big projects, all the milestones, all the To Do items that yielded a positive result.

Simple exercise, huh?

Allow yourself a few days to do this exercise, keeping a blank notepad or computer document open so you can add to it as you remember items. Also, check your appointment calendar and old emails to remind yourself of projects, tasks and meetings that had a positive impact on your business and professional life.

I did this exercise for the first time last year and I could not believe the results. It completely informed my strategic plans for the following year.

• First, I had a belief in my head that I hadn’t accomplished much in the previous year, so when I was planning for the next year, my vision was limited. By doing this exercise, I realized that I had accomplished a ton of important things, which changed my beliefs about myself and my vision for the business.
• Second, by seeing what I did work on, I could see where my actions were directed by a clearer vision of what was important. (As my grandmother used to say, actions speak louder than words!) It helped me to shift my goals for the coming year.
• Finally, because I saw that my annual goals weren’t always followed by consistent actions, I discovered where I was avoiding doing a difficult project, and where I jumped in with complete enthusiasm. This showed me some of the inner workings of my own brain (and my team’s brains).

When I looked at my next year’s goals, I could now see more clearly what should shift (either the goal or my internal workings), and what really was most important to me in my business.

Try it! I can’t wait to hear how it goes for you.

And share this exercise with your clients, mastermind group members, students, and colleagues so they can see eye-opening results, too.

Want to learn how to start a mastermind group? Click here to get my free video tutorial on how to create a mastermind group of your own.