Does your creative mind come up with too many ideas?
Do you find yourself bouncing from project to project? Running out of steam before you finish what you started? Do you jump to a new idea because it is more exciting to start something new then finish an existing project? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you have a creative mind that would benefit from a little focused goal setting.
Early November is the perfect time of year to take time and do some planning.
The year is approaching an end and the holidays are right around the corner. Before you get swept away in the excitement of the holiday season, take a little time to focus your creative mind.
The next 30 days are excellent for some yearly reflection and personal assessment. Which will lead you to making a vision board and creating new yearly goals. If you follow along with me this month, I will provide daily prompts on Instagram (@joymacdonell) with a word or exercise that you can use daily to gently ease you into planning for the New Year.
Each day of November find 10 or 15 minutes and begin to work on your plan.
You do not need to dedicate an entire journal to the process. Just a few pages of your existing journal, diary, or notebook will do just fine. Make sure you have a pen and your journal with you for those moments when big ideas happen:
- in the shower
- as you fall asleep or wake up
- blow drying your hair
- when you pull up to your home after your commute
- waiting in the parent pick-up line
- during a commercial of your favorite TV show.
The trick is to capture your thoughts when they first pop into your head. Remember, you are creative, these ideas are constant but can be fleeting – you just need to catch them and keep track of them. Collecting your thoughts, organizing them, and putting them to action is the key to making a plan that can be executed.
November has 5 weeks – plenty for planning!
The first week of November is a short week. It starts on a Wednesday and only has 5 days, which is the perfect amount of time for a little reflection on the year. When you are looking back, you always want to start with the positive!
- What was your biggest win? How did it make you feel?
- What were some of the highlights for the year?
- Did you have some lows or missed opportunities?
- You must have had some significant firsts and maybe a few lasts?
- What contributed to building your confidence?
- Did anything happen that might have made you loose a little confidence?
The results of the yearly reflection will guide you to identify areas of opportunity and growth for the new year so really dig deep and think about the year so that you can develop goals that will be exciting and motivating for the new year.
The 2nd week will focus on a self assessment which will guide you to the 3rd and 4th weeks where we will create a vision statement and then a vision board – yay! Cutting, pasting and dreaming about the future!
The last week of November we will focus on creating 3-5 goals that are:
- specific
- measurable
- achievable
- relevant
- time-bound (meaning they have a deadline).
Win a giveaway!
At Thanksgiving, you will not be scrambling for something for which to be thankful, you will truly know what you are grateful for and why you are grateful. Planning in November will help you take all of those creative ideas you come up with and focus them into a plan that will help you stay on task for your new projects and complete them in a timely manner.
Are you excited to join me for a month of planning? If so, make sure you are following me on Instagram (@joymacdonell) so that you get the daily prompts and use the #craftingwithjoy to share your progress with everyone! The new year will be the #Year of Joy where you are in control of your creativity and you crush your goals! And the best part? I have giveaways for the folks who join me! I will be picking weekly winners for some crafty goodies … so make sure you are following me and use the hashtag so that I can pick you as a winner!
