2024 Approaches — It's Never Too Soon to Start Planning and Goal Setting!

This morning, I flipped the page on my calendar and now it's November!

Sometimes it seems like time moves so quickly I almost feel like I got "left behind" somewhere and I still have lots of things to do, but I have "run out of year" to actually do those things.

In actuality, I was also looking at my private journal and reading an entry from early January, in which I was outlining things I was hoping to accomplish during 2023.

Doesn't look to pretty!

That said, perhaps it's an object lesson in not trying to bite off more than you can chew... and in the realm of goal setting, that means not setting goals that are too ambitious.

Too Many Things to Focus On!

I realize that one of my frequent downfalls is that my actual goals seem fairly reasonable and realistic, but I tend to have so many interests that I set goals for that I can't get to everything.

That is, each goal is perfectly OK, if that were the only thing I was working towards. But when I task myself with a whole bunch of different things, I just don't have it in me, and I soon enough end up slacking off because I start feelning overwhelmed and like I'm falling hopelessly behind.

Regardless of whether I call it "being unfocused" or just "having diverse interests," that particular attribute often serves to get in my way.

Setting Goals Early: Benefits

The upside of looking ahead and setting goals early is that you're still in the middle of "doing" the current year, so you're more keenly aware of where your shortcomings are. I find that helpful, because I can "program" that knowledge into next year's goals.

Working on goal setting this early also means I can circumvent the whole "Making New Year's Resolutions" circus, which is typically something I try to completely avoid.

I also know that when the holidays draw close, I'll have very little time... and there'll be a nagging little voice in the back of my mind whispering "planning!" when I'd much rather be enjoying Christmas cookies and a hot toddy!

Meanwhile, I nervously watch the crypto markets, as well. 2023 — so far — turned into a year where I "couldn't rely on crypto" for anything, and I'm evaluating whether to leave it completely out of my 2024 plans. If we have a late upswing and it somewhat holds, maybe we can move back out of the realm of "worthless."

That would be a super nice thing, but I am loath to count on it.

Of course, future plans don't have to be finalized today! But it's certainly a good time to get started, and do believe it's never "too early" to get your plans in order!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great rest of your week!

How about you? Are you a planner and goal setter? When do you normally set your annual goals? Do you make New Year's Resolutions? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

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Created at 2023.11.01 23:58 PDT
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