This is the time of year that I begin to plan for the New Year. I take the week off of my regular schedule, rest at the beginning of the week to clear my mind and then take from the middle of the week through the weekend to write and plan. Instead of New Years Resolutions, I set milestones that I would like to reach. A resolution is something that seems so elusive, but a milestone feels like something that you can make small steps towards to reach. I begin by looking at the milestones I have reached this year, and the ones that I haven’t reached, and then think through whether the ones that I wasn’t able to reach are worth investing additional resources and time in the New Year. Sometimes I need a guide to help make those decisions. This year I am working on a five year plan and I found the perfect guide to help jump start my planning process.

“5,” is a great book that incorporates quotes, and questions that are created so spark your imagination as to what you would like to do and accomplish over the next five years. We all tend to find ourselves trying to juggle many things which in turn leads us to reacting to what happens to us instead of making a plan or living life with a purpose. There are spaces to look at what you value and write down your top five, and a space for you to create your mission statement. I believe that everyone needs a mission statement to guide them just as a business would. Another thing that I will be working on this week, is getting organized. It is something that I tackle each year, but if I get organized but don’t stay organized throughout the year it seems like a waste of time. I know that my friends that go to the gym every day say that if I exercised for 30 days it would become a habit. That works for organizational habits as well.

These cards are a great way to pick up an organizational tip a day, for 30 days, helping you form the organizational habit in January to ensure you are on track throughout the year. A task a day is as easy as organize your birthday and anniversary lists, and set reminders on your calendar.

So, now that I have a tool to help me plan for the next five years, and something to help me form the habit of putting things in their place, what about stylish tools that keep things organized that I need to access frequently throughout the year. From keeping things like medical information in a book that I can grab and go to my doctor with, where I can track my family’s medical care as well, to keeping those take out menus handy.

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Enter Life Organizers. This is a series of organizers, and although they are sold separately, they look stylish on a shelf together, and are small enough to take with you on the road if you need to. The series extends from Home Maintenance Organizer, Greeting Card Organizers, Medical Organizers, to Take Out Organizers. They are also great to have on hand for references for babysitters, or caretakers, as a quick reference guide in case of an emergency.

I also take time during this week to send out cards to my friends and family. Instead of Christmas cards I send cards sharing wishes that I have for them in the New Year. It not only inspires them, but I begin the year reaching out in a positive way. The best part is that you can send these after the New Years holiday, as long as they are received by the middle of the month. I rarely send out photo cards, but this year a friend snapped a photo of my boyfriend and me at our holiday party:

We included the photo on the front of this card:

With these cards we were able to wish our close friends and family joy, and then on the inside of the card we were able to share our hopes for them in 2009. I am off to rest, plan, and spread wishes for the New Year. I hope that you had a happy holiday, and wish you happiness and peace in the New Year!

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This entry was posted on Monday, December 29th, 2008 at 5:13 pm and is filed under Friends. 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.