If you know me, you know I’m a ‘planner’ – it was literally my first job title, and the activity continues to animate my personal and professional. life. To me, planning just means deciding what you want and designing a map to get it.
This practice has served me extremely well in this lifetime – I truly love the life I lead. Sure, we all get curveballs, but doing ‘the footwork’ of really going for what we want can create astonishing outcomes.
So – how do we do it? Here’s my 2025 Review + 2026 Dreams Plan.
If you can, complete this in a beautiful location, take breaks to be in nature, and do it with paper and pen before digitizing it.
2025 Review: Looking back to savor and learn
- Favorite Frames: Start by digesting the goodness of 2025 as a way to relish in it. Think of it like taking a mental snapshot. For example, I frame how present I felt standing at the altar on my wedding day, I frame the twirl my husband gave me as we walked into dinner, and all the times he’s twirled me in our living room since. I frame face-timing with my mom at 6am, coffee in hand.
- To do this, look back through your calendar, as that tends to jog your memory. Then, ask yourself these questions: What lit me up? What did I just love so much? Where did life feel most meaningful?
- The ‘Meh’s’: Now, look through the year once more, but this time, pull out the aspects of life that drained you. They might have looked good on paper, but in reality – meh. Getting clear on what you can edit out of your life is freeing.
- Brags: Do this one with a partner for fun. Write down 25 brags for 2025. Brags can be big or small — ‘I brag I married the most outstanding human of all time ever, ever’ or ‘I brag I committed to wearing slippers each morning and felt really nourished by that small act of care.’ Bragging is similar to a gratitude practice, but the focus is all on you. It helps to counter the tendency to be self-critical.
- Your baggage: With ample self-compassion and objectivity, how did you get in your way this year? Bring awareness to what you need to let go of. It could be procrastination, self-doubt, prioritizing others over yourself, over-committing, or the habit of blaming and complaining.
2026 !!!!!!: Becoming the creator and artist of your life.
- Desires. Over the course of a few days, make a desire list. Try hanging up a piece of paper in your house and adding ideas as they come. You can grab magazines to inspire your thinking here, or keep a list on your phone to jot down ideas while out and about.
- Why desires? Because a life filled with only goals can be dry. Looking at what we desire directs our minds towards the yumminess of life vs a long life of self-improvement projects. (meh) Example desires: more Time Away retreats for myself, more hiking, more time journaling and reading poetry by a roaring fire, more long walks with my husband.
- 3 Priorities: Some desires graduate to the priority level. These are the biggies you want to go for next year. It could be changing careers, starting a business, stepping up as a caregiver, or doubling down on your health.
- After you’ve chosen your three, map when you’ll focus on them. So, health could be Q1, building systems for caregiving could be Q2, and looking at a career change could be Q3/Q4. Ideally, you’ll focus on one priority at a time and give it a few months to get off the ground.
- Identity: What type of person do you need to be for your priorities to be successful? How does that version of you think, act, and carry themselves in the world? In this step, you’re calling in the next version of yourself. It’s easier to act differently if we’ve identified ourselves in a new way.
- Habits: What are 2 habits you could focus on building next year that would profoundly change the direction of your life, and help you realize your priorities?
Alright! That’s the gist of it. Take what you like and leave the rest, and add on whatever inspires you or lights you up! There’s no right or wrong way to do this.
As a next step, I recommend capturing it all in a vision statement you review regularly, and then setting a few SMART goals to ground your dreams in reality. Then get moving!
Lots of love,
Kit
