This year will be the 10th year I’ve done my own yearly planning. For me it involves looking back on the past year and envisioning what I want the next year to be, then setting some intentions or goals that move me towards that vision. Most of us are accustomed to doing project retrospectives and yearly and quarterly business planning at work, but don’t necessarily do the same for our lives.

Here are 3 tools that I’ve used to set my intentions for the new year.

Year Compass

Krisztina Kun introduced this planning booklet to me and I love it. This is the booklet I’ve used the most. It starts with the invitation to:

Arrive.
Put on some relaxing music.
Pour yourself a hot beverage.

Let go of all your expectations.

Available in more than 40 languages, you first look back at the past year in 10 areas: personal life and family, work/studies/profession, belongings (home/objects), relaxation/hobbies/creativity, friends/community, health/fitness, intellectual, emotional/spiritual, finances, and bucket list. I’m used to setting professional and athletic goals but the first time I did this I realized I’d been neglecting my creativity. For a long time setting financial goals was too scary, so I didn’t. A couple of years ago I bravely filled this section out for the first time. The first time I read the section on forgiveness and letting go I had a big cry.

Unravel your year 2022

A couple of friends recommended this workbook to me. There’s a lot that looks similar to Your Compass in that you look back and then look forward with some structured prompts, some of which feel a bit whimsical to me (this is a good thing). I love that there’s an illustration to colour in while pondering your word for 2022.

I love that this booklet also uses earth, air, water and fire as categories for sets of questions for the next year.

Reboot Your Year

I learned about this is a free, 5 day email course from software business leader Sean Rich. Each day you receive a koan, which is a paradox to meditate on, and an audio track to lead you through a brief journaling exercise.