You checked out your crop from last year and harvested it by doing your inventory. You tilled the soil and plucked out the weeds by clearing temporal, physical, emotional, and spiritual space. Now it’s time to plant your seeds for the next year by setting your goals.

Before setting goals like “I want to lose x lbs” or “I want to earn x dollars,” take a week to dilegently check into your Spirit. During this week, take 30 minutes everyday to journal your thoughts. On your computer or in your spiral notebook, write the question at the top of each day, “What do I want to achieve next year?” At first, you might come up with the typical laundry list. However, keep asking the question as if you are in dialog with Consciousness. Ask your Self, “What am I to achieve this year?” Around day 3, you will find that your answers stop coming from your head and start coming from your soul.

The list of goals may be the same, but you have just shifted the fuel to fulfill those goals. Rather than forcing them to happen for the next year, you just accessed a renewable source of inspiration. Once the answers begin to come from your soul, begin to picture yourself in your goal. For example, if your goal is to lose 120lbs, picture yourself 120 lbs lighter. Feel the extra energy that you will have. See yourself in the activities that you are enjoying 120lbs smaller. See yourself in the clothes that you’ll buy.

Once you have your goals written, do a treasure map. A treasure map, sometimes called a vision board, is a poster board of pictures that illustrate your goals. Gather pictures from your favorite magazines or pictures of you doing something you want to do on a regular basis and stick them to a poster board. You can doodle on it, add words, stickers, or drawings. The idea is to create a vivid picture of your goals. When you look at the board you should be able to see yourself in all the pictures and be energized by looking at it. Place your treasure map in a prominent place. You can put it in the bathroom, on the wall facing your bed, in front of your monitor or television, on your refrigerator, even on your dashboard - anywhere you know you will see it everyday. Your board is not there to jeer you, but to inspire you.

I have set goals from my head and from my heart. I had positive results using both methods. My heart goals unfold without much involvement from me and when I do need to get involved it’s a nudge (or push ) from within. They are also usually much more lofty than my head goals. I’ve come to blend the two methods. I set heart goals and allow myself to stretch my imagination and my believability. Then, I take those lofty heart goals and I break them down until they are completely measurable and I feel like I can achieve them. You can read more about this in the article Achieve Big Audacious Goals the SMART Way.

How do you set your goals for the New Year?

Prepare for the New Year with part 1, part 2, part 4 of this series.

Some people do spring cleaning in, well, spring. I prefer to do it before I start a new endeavor. In preparation for the New Year, you will need to make room for your new adventures and opportunities in your life.

Clean Up Your Schedule

Start with freeing up your time. Do you find yourself on the computer for 15 minutes only to look up and see that 2 hours have passed? Or do you sit in front of the television for one show then get sucked in by the previews of “coming up next”? Pretty soon 3 shows aka 3 hours have passed by and you don’t know where your time went.

Time is a unique gift in that it passes whether you are using it consciously or not, and you can’t get it back. If you want to know if you have any extra hours in the day, record how you spend your time for the next 14 days. Do so diligently in 15 minute increments.

When I did this exercise, I realized that it takes me 30 minutes in the morning to begin doing anything. I dilly dally (the technical term:-) getting out of bed, then I spend 20 minutes sitting on the toilet wishing I could go back to sleep. When I figured this out, I tried to squeeze my morning time in order to exercise, meditate, and get dressed for the day before I head out to work. However, I started to get antsy. So what did I do? I set the alarm for a half hour earlier.

For the New Year you might want to develop new habits like exercising, but you’re be thinking to yourself, “I don’t have the time.” Find out where you are spending your time, and take steps to cut the fat from your schedule.

Clean Up Your Living Space

Another area of clearing is making physical space in your life. Throughout the year, you may have accumulated knick-knacks and trinkets that are now just laying around. You may not have filed your bills and have them accumulating in a pile on your desk. You might also have purchased new clothes, but left the unworn clothes in the closet. Take this opportunity to go through your things, get organized, and create some physical space in your world.

It may seem irrelevant to do this in order to achieve your goals for the coming year. However, having space in your physical surroundings translates into calm, openness, and peace of mind. You will not be agitated by your surroundings. It will become a place where you sprout fresh ideas.

Prune Your Circle

Ask yourself the question that Dick Richards of On Genius recently posed, “Who supports my genius and purpose, and who must be left behind?”

Sometimes old friends fall away without deliberate action when they become out of step with you. On the other hand, sometimes we cling to relationships that drain our energy rather than infuse us with zeal. Rather than do anything drastic like never calling back or confronting a friend, try just shifting your social time and energy to people who are fueling you. Be present with everyone when you are with them. When you do this your circle of friends will morph into one that supports your goals.

Do you have any ways in which you make room for the New Year?

Prepare for the New Year with part 1, part 3, part 4 of this series.