By now you’ve created your mindmap or lists or whatever you wanted to do to capture 1) accomplishments of the past year and 2) the aspirations for the new year. If not, here’s a handy little Planning Booklet I used a few years ago.
Now it’s time to ANALYZE.
The notion of ‘analysis’ sometimes sets off alarm bells in the creative person. Analysis doesn’t sound creative! Ah, but it is My Friend. Evaluating and Choosing are central to the creative process.
Here’s one method to create some focus:
- Look at everything you’ve written on your Past Year map. Circle 5 that bring you the most satisfaction. You can use any criteria you like…the most difficult/breakthrough. the most fun, the ones that connect to your deepest values. Anything. Just choose FIVE.
- Then look at these five. What do you notice? How might these top five inform your choices for the coming year?
- Now look at everything on your New Year map. Choose TEN. Again, apply any criteria you like to choose your ten.
- Write each of these aspirations on a notecard or a slip of paper. Ten pieces of paper.
- Array them and take a deep breath. This is a good time to tap your intuition and follow those ideas that have the most juice for you. As you read each one, what raises your energy a little more?
- Next you’re going to pile them up. Of these ten, which is at the bottom of the list? Which is at the top? Which is second from the bottom? Second from the top? And so on.
You now have a prioritized list of your top goals for the coming year.
What Next?
Incubate on this list for a couple of nights. Reread your notecards before you go to sleep tonight and let your unconscious play with the ideas. In my next post I’ll discuss how to support the process of actually DOING something with your dreams.
Last week I posted an exercise to do a quick temperature check on the level of Enjoyment in your Life. This week is all about Diverging in order to get to the things you REALLY want to do in 2010.
Looking Back
For the past few weeks I have been making mindmaps as part of my year-end creative planning. Check out this post if you haven’t used mindmaps before.
As I think about the past year I start with some categories to help me generate the items. This year I am working with:
- Fun
- Health
- Home
- Work
- Friends and Family
- Personal Development
- Creative Projects
I simply draw the stems and note accomplishments or events that fit in the bucket.
Now, you may ask, “Why bother? The year is over. Why look back?” And here is how I would answer:
1) Take Credit. Some years, I have come to the end of the year with the feeling that I haven’t done much. When I begin listing I notice that, in fact, every year is full of something. I like to give myself credit for what I did–even when the accomplishments weren’t foreseen.
2) Notice the Buckets. Some years my buckets are really uneven. For a few years I neglected my Health. Other years the Fun bucket has been really jammed while the Work bucket was a little light. This activity helps me to recalibrate.
3) The Power of Reflection. If you are a person with a ‘bias-for-action’ it is useful to spend a little time in reflection. Does this map reflect how you want to spend your time?
4) Remember the Good Times. I just like the simple snapshot that this activity gives me.
Looking Forward
At the same time I am building my mindmap for the past year I am generating ideas for the coming year. Notice I wrote, “Ideas”. This is a Brainwriting activity…not The Plan. These are things I might do. So go for it! List anything you might choose to do. Use the same categories or build up some new ones. Maybe you want to take some risks in 2010. Create a stem for Daring Deeds. Or maybe you want to Get Organized–add that to your map. Remember it’s your map and it’s just another step along the way.
In my next post I’ll describe some ways to Converge on The Plan. Until then, have fun imagining a great 2010!
If you have not completed Creative Planning Activity #1 you might want to do that first. Once you’ve listed your twenty things download this worksheet to complete the exercise: TwentyThings part two
After you’ve answered the questions look for patterns.
- Are you indulging in your favorite activities often enough?
- Do all your favorites require enormous planning that can stall you?
- Do you need others to have fun?
The first time I did this exercise I was quite smug. I had a nice variety in all the columns and I was enjoying myself regularly. Then I got to the last column–all my favorites were OLD standbys. I hadn’t picked up a new activity in years. Which kind of surprised me. It gave me some insight to patterns that were keeping me in a rut, creatively speaking.
From this activity you might come to a few new goals to add to the fodder of your Creative Planning for 2010.
“An inordinate passion for pleasure is the secret of remaining young” -Oscar Wilde
Here is a simple exercise to get you started on your 2010 creative planning process.
TwentyThings part one
In the next post I’ll tell you what to do with it….
