16 Before 2016: A Goal-Setting Challenge

Was it only one year ago that we were doing 15 before 2015? Well, it still holds true that the end of a calendar year EXCITES me! I’m a hard-core self-reflectionist, and for me, there’s just no better fun than an end-year review. I absolutely love goal-setting.

That’s why I can’t stop smiling when it’s Your Best Year season! My annual book, Your Best Year 2016: Productivity Workbook and Creative Business Planner is selling like hot cakes and earning 5-star reviews! Thank you all so much!

If you’re just now hearing about it, you can find Your Best Year 2016 on Amazon, Etsy, and learn more right here on the blog.

Today I’m listing 16 goals I want to complete before 2016, and I’m challenging YOU to play along. You have until the end of 2015 to complete all 16 goals on your list!

A Few Prompts to Get You Started

• Consider what you need to clear out of the way before you can really get to work on next year’s big goals.
• What unfinished business needs attended to so you can end this year with a clean slate?
• Which projects need more research, or simply let go of, so you can make room for more of what you want to enter your life?
• What or whom do you need to say “no” to right now?
• Which people, activities and events do you want to be present for with the rest of 2015?
• What would have to happen in this last quarter to make 2015 feel like an absolute success?

Here are My …

#1 Clean up unfinished business. August through October was a complete blur! In those 3 short months, I created and taught a CreativeLive class (Copywriting for Crafters), wrote and released Your Best Year 2016,  sold and shipped hundreds of pre-order copies of the book, pitched and outlined my next CreativeLive class, rearranged my children’s bedrooms, decorated and painted all four rooms, organized a neighborhood block party, organized a neighborhood Halloween party, and maintained my blog and membership program!

I’ve had a most productive three months, but the big projects have left piles of small, unfinished business around. Thankfully, I left plenty of white space in my calendar for admin days, but there’s still a list of small to-do’s and spots of clutter I’d like to clean up before the year’s end.

#2 Deliver a hot lunch to each of my children at school. When I was in elementary school, there were twin boys in my class that would occasionally get their mom to deliver a McDonald’s lunch to them – hot and fresh from the drive-through. I couldn’t believe what a fabulous treat it was!

I begged for a McDonald’s lunch delivered for me, and I’ll never forget the day my Mom came through. I told my children about the fond memory, and I’ve promised to take their orders and deliver the same treat to them this year.

#3 Wrap Illuminate: The Creative Business Course. I have two modules left to create and film for members of The Luminaries Club.

#4 Do a 3-week cleanse. I’m eager to start this Clean Gut program.

#5 Try not to finish the entire Outlander series before the new year. I’m obsessed! I literally have to shake myself out of this story. There’s a reason every single book in the series has thousands of five-star reviews. I can’t put the books down, and it takes every ounce of willpower to  stop reading and get some work done!

#6 Get back in shape. I’ve been jogging all summer long, aiming for at least three miles/run and 10,000 steps per day. My pace is incredibly slow, and I’ve been kidding myself that it’s a workout. One week back to Xbox Fitness workouts, and I realized how unused my muscles have been. The jogging’s been keeping me active, yes. Keeping me in shape, no.

#7 Schedule monthly dates with my husband. We have so much fun trying new foods and enjoying a relaxing evening together. We went out in October, and I want to create a habit of having a dinner date every month.

#8 Post a want ad for my first hire. For about a year now, I’ve been acutely aware that I am bottlenecking my business by being the person who does all the writing, designing, production, marketing and customer support. I plan to post the opening on December 7, 2015.

#9 Create a memory book for the year. My family loves picture books, and with digital storage and Facebook, I haven’t created a physical memory book in years. I’m going to surprise them on Christmas Eve with a photo album looking back on the year.

#10 Schedule and perform an end-year review. Of course I’ll be using my copy of Your Best Year 2016 for this! I’m also going to write the annual 7-days of review and reflection for the blog, and carve out some time to journal and look back on the year.

#11 Build and offer a course based on Your Best Year 2016. In December, I’m launching a complimentary course that will compliment the system inside Your Best Year 2016. It’s going to be designed to add accountability, time management, productivity and follow-through to your business plans.

#12 Sell 5,000 copies of Your Best Year 2016. This is the third edition of my annual workbook and planner, and I am aiming to sell 10,000 copies in total, but at least 5,000 by the end of the year.

I have modified and improved on this planner every year, but this year’s edition is leaps and bounds beyond any goal-setting resource ever created for creative businesses. I share the goal-setting system I developed + used to host a successful offline event, get the gig on CreativeLive, and more than double my income this year.

I’m telling you with absolute confidence, creatives need this book and I intend to get it into at least 10,000 pairs of hands by the end of its season.

#13 Learn to sew with a sewing machine. My daughters and I are going to tackle this in November because there are several things we’d like to create. A new Singer is sitting in our study!

Image credit: Love the sewing projects offered by Little Pincushion Studio

#14 Learn to ski with my family. I started the year with this goal, and I was hesitant to put it on this list because we don’t typically get a lot of snow in my area until after Christmas. But I must admit, I’d love to get in a day of learning on the slopes before 2016.

#15 Enjoy my annual wrapping day! This is my favorite to share because, each year, more and more readers adopt this tradition. It’s so fun! I block my schedule for a day in December when the children are in school. I play Christmas movies and music all day, drink wine and eat delicious breads and cheeses for lunch, pull all of the presents out of hiding and just wrap! It’s one of my favorite days of the whole year.

Image credit: Chalkboard packaging tutorial by Going Home to Roost

#16 End strong. In the #1 goal, I shared how much I’ve accomplished recently. Truth be told, I’m struggling to keep up the pace. I’d like to do a whole lot of nothing right now, but my life feels busier than ever before. I feel as though I’m being challenged to grow, and I would like to accept that challenge and handle it gracefully.

Having more things to do in a day doesn’t have to equal stress or frenzy. It just means an hour of overtime versus punching out early. It’s the extra mile, and it’s calling my name. I want to finish strong to truly set the stage for my best year yet.

How about you?

That’s what I’m going to do before the year’s end. How about you? If you create your own 16 before 2016 and blog about it, please link up in the comments below! Until next time and all the best,