As we approach the end of the year, it’s naturally when most people start thinking, What’s next?

Have you? I sure have.

I have a powerful 3-part process that I use to wrap up the current year AND plan for the coming year in a way that sets me up for even greater success. I use this for myself, my team, my one-on-one clients, and my mastermind participants.

Today, I’m sharing this process with you because I want you, too, to have an incredible year in 2022. And while it’s a total cliche to say that you can have your “best year ever,” I will say that going through these three steps will set you up for a truly breakthrough year.

Grab some paper, set some quiet time aside, and get ready to get excited about all that lies ahead of you!

3 Steps to Your Breakthrough Year: Reflection, Celebration, & Now What

This three part process is a gamechanger in terms of both wrapping up your current year in a meaningful way, and setting yourself up for massive growth in the year ahead. You may be tempted to skip a step, but each one has been included intentionally. Take your time and the results will speak for themselves!

Step 1: Reflection

First, we pause and reflect on the year we’re getting ready to close the door on.

I want you to really think back on the last 12 months and ask yourself, Who was I a year ago? Am I still that same person today? How have I changed? What am I doing differently?

Next, reflect on what's happened over the last 12 months of your life. What's transpired in my life and business this past year? What did I achieve? What lessons did I learn during this time? What do I want to bring with me into the new year (lessons, routines, habits, etc.)?

Lastly, I want you to reflect on yourself, personally. Ask yourself, Who did I become over this last year? What do I want to let go of that’s no longer serving me? (This could be anything from unread emails/texts to limiting beliefs or stored trauma.)

When you sit, reflect, and really uncover what's been going on in your life over the past year, it allows you to see clearly and make space to create a vision for who you’d like to be in the new year.

Step 2: Celebration

This next step is something so many people have a tendency to skip over, but I’m telling you - Do Not Skip This Step! It’s critical not only to your success, but to your accelerated success.

You see, the thing about celebration is that when we celebrate, it activates something in our brains. I won’t get us lost in all the science of it, but basically dopamine gets released and our brain recognizes the win. Then, it gets hooked, almost addicted, on wanting to create more wins to attain that high feeling once again. When you celebrate your wins, your brain becomes hooked on winning and thus helps you create a domino effect - one celebrated win leads to more wins.

So once you finish your reflecting step, I want you to allow yourself to truly recognize your wins this past year and celebrate them. What happened that I’m excited about? In this past year, what did I accomplish that I’m proud of? What’s going on in my business that I’d like to see more of? What habits did I put in place that are serving me well that I’d like to recommit to?

This celebratory step can be something you even include into your daily habits in the new year. Train yourself to search for things in your life and business to celebrate - no matter how small. Don’t wait until you achieve some major milestone in the future. Recognize all the small wins along the way. Allow your wins to create more wins for you and reap the benefits of this domino effect, which will naturally speed up your success and growth.

Step 3: Now What?

This last part is more future-focused on the new year ahead. Allow yourself to ponder what you’d like this new year to look like. Think about what you’d like to remain the same, what you’d like to build on from the previous year, and what you’d like to change.

Ask yourself, What do I want this new year to look like? What will my work-life balance be? How many days a week do I want to work? How many hours a day do I want to work? Do I want to work less? Do I want to make more?

What things am I intentionally putting into my business so that I can create the business I’ve been dreaming of? How will I set my business up to support the life I want to lead this year, not the other way around?

This is your time to dream big, as we discussed in my previous post. Now is when you get to decide who you want to be a year from now. When you look back at the end of 2022, what wins do you want to be reflecting on and celebrating? This goes for both your personal and professional life.

The most important thing about this step is to identify who the person is who achieves these outcomes, so you can start living into that life and way of being. You can start being that person even before you've achieved everything you’ve mapped out. This is because the being always comes before the doing. Mindset is everything and the root of all your future successes. Work backwards and begin with the end in mind.

Some people will call this, “faking it until you make it” but it’s so much more than that. It’s not about faking it. It's about truly becoming that person because once you can become that person, you will gain the knowledge that you're looking for. Identify what it is that you want, identify the outcomes and goals you desire, then determine who you need to be to achieve and/or create those outcomes.

If you need support in this process...

Now, I do realize this isn’t always as easy as I’m making it sound. Determining who you want to become and how to go about achieving your big goals can take some deeper digging. This is why so many entrepreneurs seek out the support of a coach, mastermind, or other container to help them get clear and thrive. These types of support also serve as a safety net you can reliably fall back on. If you don’t already have something like this in place and expert support is something you’re looking for in 2022, send me a message and let’s chat. I only have four more spots left for my mastermind group, and we can see if you’d be a good fit with me as a coach and with the existing group members.

Now is the time for you to invest in yourself and make your breakthrough year happen. Start planning with the three steps above and reach out if you need support. I’m so excited to be a part of your growth and wins in 2022!