The first days of the New Year have always been a time for looking back to the past, and more importantly, forward to the coming year. It’s a time to reflect on the changes we want (or need) to make and resolve to follow through on those changes. 

There are countless different ways to make resolutions and change.

I would strongly recommend you take time to write a letter to your future self.

Doing this exercise is a very insightful experience. Just imagine writing a letter to yourself based on 1 year from now, then opening it at that exact moment 1 year from now to see how much of it you achieved. Writing your Dear Me letter helps crystallize exactly how you anticipate yourself to become over the next 12 month period. 

At the very moment you are writing your letter, your conscious is captured and stored within the words. Upon opening your letter you get to compare your writings with reality. What was really important to you will have been remembered and achieved. The letter lets you see in totality how much things have changed over the past 12 months – in itself this is an intriguing experience. It’s interesting to just see how much you have grown/changed since you wrote the letter.

No longer will a Year just drift and unaccountable.

You begin by writing Dear Carey (in my case) and summarising the year that has just past. An honest assessment of how you saw the year through your eyes.

Then select your headings – mine are:

            Family            Health            Work            Financial  

The writings should be totally written to yourself describing what you want to achieve in your selected headings.

The writing should not be over 2 pages.

Once you have completed your writing sit quietly and read over them a minimum of 5 times.

Then it is time to seal up your letter and either place in a secure area or give your letter to a trusted friend to be handed or posted back at year end.

I know many people who now write a personal letter to themselves every year. It has made a consistent change process for me with a path to follow.

I am more than happy to provide help with your personal letter or to hold any letters in safe keeping. 

For more information of goal setting please visit Dwayne Alexander web site at

http://www.livemygoals.com/

My best wishes to you for a successful 2011 and beyond.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 1st, 2011 at 12:17 pm and is filed under carey smith, Deliver - By Carey Smith, leadership, management, people management, Real Time. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.