Change What You Can - Forget the Year-In-Review and Write Next Year's Plan Instead

It's funny how the Year-In-Review process can quickly lead to an excuse to kick ourselves in the rear, or kick others in their rears. You probably don't spend enough time trying to change what you can, so the Y-I-R processcan be an excuse to call all the bad plays we've done and put them on display in our personal Jumbo-Tron.

Mind you, there's a time and place where we should examine where we've been, what we've done and what we haven't... but there's no good reason on the planet why we ought to park it in morbid introspection. If hindsight is 20/20, why do we spend so little time looking forward, armed with what we have "learned" from the past, instead of barking more and wagging less? Forget the Year-in-Review spiel, which can quickly become the time to count the potholes in the road behind us. Look ahead to where you're going!

Here's a bit of a distilled plan to change what you can. Boil it down to:

1. Where have you been?
2. What would you like to change?
3. Plan it out, and don't come back this way again.

Let's take that a step at a time.

1. Where have you been?
Alright, this is the good use of the Year-In-Review. It's a good thing, as Martha Stewart would say, to review where you've been, what you've been doing, and evaluate what's working and what's not (thank you, Dr. Phil). Put these into a list of "assets" and "liabilities," or "pro's" and "con's," or whatever it is you want to call them. It's important to write this list down. Put it into a Google Documents, or whatever you use. I hear legal pads still work fine, too!

2. What would you like to change?
Narrow down your laundry list of things you would like to change. It may sound obvious, but make sure these are attributes and conditions that you actually have the power to change. Don't get stuck making a list of things like, "I'd like to fire every incumbent in every level of government..." It's also not helpful to make the goal so insurmountable that you won't get there until Haley's Comet returns. Focus on yourself, and not other people. You can't change the world, just you.

3. Plan it out, and don't come back this way again.
Make a plan. If it's to get out of debt, then this may mean you talk to a financial adviser or get plenty of resources to help you do this right. What can you do to change what you can? Start with the goals in mind, and don't try to change everything at once--prioritize! Divide and conquer.

Then commit to the premise that you won't come back this road again. If your goal is to lose weight, stop buying Ben & Jerry's... for a season... I mean, that stuff's REALLY good. Seriously, commit to the change and you won't have another Year-in-Review that sucks. Change what you can and keep improving yourself. It really can be done.

By James M Hussey