Are you ready for the New Year?

I have always liked to take some time during the holidays to contemplate the coming year. Work is usually a little quieter, I'm not in the middle of some big project or anything so it makes it a good time to "sharpen the saw" as Stephen Covey would say. So hear are a couple of tools you might consider for the coming year:

• Mission Statement - With all the books out there, my favorite is still “The 7 Habits of Highly Effevtive People” by Stephen Covey. His second habit is to “Begin with the end in mind.” In this chapter he talks about creating your personal mission statement. Things happen twice, first in our mind then in the physical world. Don’t we plan a project before we start execution? We need to do the same with our personal growth. Go here to start working on your mission statement.
• Vision Board – This is a good tool to help visualize where you want to go. More on vision boards here.
• Goal Post - This is an application in Facebook that will help you reach your goals by sharing them with your friends. (note - Goal Post no longer exists, but try this)
• Journaling – I was introduced to journaling during a leadership program over 5 years ago. My journal has my personal and professional thoughts. It helps me reflect and think about what's going on in my life. You can find resources in journaling here.

I hope you like these. May the new year bring you everything you want.