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5 Tips for Strategic Annual Planning - thriveaz.com

Professional Development

5 Tips for Strategic Annual Planning 

With the start of 2023 upon us, it’s important to take time for reflection. Think about where you were at the beginning of last year, and how far you’ve come. When you sit down to look at it, you’ll be surprised! 

With all of the success you’ve had last year, it’s time to start planning for this one. As you reflect, start thinking of a strategy for where you want to take your professional life in this new year. We’ve put together some tips to help you get started. 

1: Summarize the previous year

To start, take some time to summarize your previous year. Since you’re already reflecting, writing it down can help you start planning for what comes next. Write down everything you can remember. What worked, what didn’t work, and where you ended up. Having a summary of the year will be helpful when you do this again next year to continue working on your plan! 

2: Identify unnecessary areas

After you’ve written everything down, identify areas that you focused on that may have been hindering your success. For example, if you’re running a business you probably think you need to help with everything. As your business grows, you are hiring people to do tasks so you don’t have to. 

It’s totally normal to want to help with anything you can, but as you plan for the future pinpoint the areas that you spent time that you didn’t need to. You can start utilizing that extra time to focus on other areas, and yourself! 

3: Choose goals to focus on

Just like you’re going to find areas to take a step back from, find goals you want to focus on. Perhaps there were items on your list for 2022 that you didn’t get to. Move them to the top, and make them your main priority. This will give you a good trajectory for 2023.

We suggest making a list of your top 10 goals. Take those goals, and prioritize the most important to a list of 5. Start the year off with them in mind to work on to set yourself up for success. 

4: Create/improve your budget 

If you’re in business, you likely have a budget in place already. Take some time to look it over, and find areas where you can trim some fat or need improvements. It never hurts to analyze your finances to see where you’re at to set yourself up for the new year!

Sometimes budgeting for a business takes trial and error. If your business saw a lot of growth in the last year, it’s probably time to reevaluate anyway. 

5: Celebrate!

As you reflect on the last year, don’t be too hard on yourself! You made it through another year successfully, and have plenty to celebrate! Make time to relax and enjoy yourself around the holidays before giving in head first for another great year. 

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