What I learned about planning is that one does not start with goals but rather values or purpose. We have to know our core first, lest we chase goals and targets without knowing why. Start with your core, with your purpose.
Here’s what I do, in 3 simple steps.
1. I choose the values I would like to embrace this year.
2. I set my intentions for each value.
3. I add goals and targets.
This year, I am choosing SIMPLICITY and GROWTH!
What are you choosing?
What are your intentions and goals in relation to those values?
Here’s a template to help you capture those ideas. Enjoy reflecting! 
Today’s journal is on seeing events in retrospect and checking if something meaningful and different emerges.
To use this template,
1. Think of a difficult or challenging life event that has happened a few months back.
2. In the black lens, write the things that “closed” for you because of that event. Did you lose anything? Did you fail in something? Did it make you feel bad?
3. In the clear lens, write the things that “opened” for you because of that event. Did you gain something? Did you learn anything? Did you discover something new?
I believe that there are always two sides in everything. Situations and events offer both darkness and light. Oftentimes though, it’s hard to see the light when the darkness overpowers it. It takes a bit of stepping out and waiting to see things better and clearer.
May the light emerge for you in retrospect.
