I’m a planner. I enjoy planning and mapping out systems to get things done. I recognize that plans change quickly when met with reality, but planning gives me a sense of calm. I attribute this mostly to the fact that I’m a mess in my head. I can’t remember things. I don’t know where anything is. I don’t know what the next step might be. So, I plan. And it gives me at least an idea of where I’m going and in what direction. As another year comes to a close, this is the time when I really get to bring it all together and build a map for what I want in the coming year.
This year, I used an AI-powered chat tool to help guide my reflection and planning. I thought other planners might like to peek behind the curtain and see how I do things. Maybe you’ll even find something you’d like to reuse with your favorite AI chat tool (GPT, Co-Pilot, Gemini, Claude, etc). So here it is—a step-by-step guide to my process, complete with prompts and insights to help you do the same.
Step 1: Reflect on the Past Year
Reflection is a powerful tool for growth. In fact, I’ve read that reflection is the primary way that adults learn. By looking back at the past year, I identified my biggest wins, challenges, and lessons learned, as well as habits and routines that worked (or didn’t).
Prompt:
“I’d like to start by reflecting on [the year]. Below are some notes from the year. Help me identify the biggest wins and successes this year. What challenges or setbacks did I face, and how did I handle them? Which goals did I achieve, and which are still in progress? What habits, systems, or routines worked well for me, and what didn’t? Review Major Areas of Life: personal growth and health, relationships and family, career and professional development, creativity and hobbies, finances. Also, help me identify key lessons learned that can guide my decisions for [next year].”
Step 2: Define Your Vision for the New Year
Once I reflected on the past year, I focused on creating a clear, inspiring vision for the year ahead. This vision served as my compass for setting goals and aligning my daily efforts.
Prompt:
“In [next year], I’d like to… Help me refine my initial thoughts into a concise, inspiring statement.”
Step 3: Identify Focus Areas Based on Your Vision
From my vision, I distilled four key focus areas to guide my efforts for the year.
Prompt:
“Based on my vision statement, identify key focus areas, goals, actionable steps, and measurable milestones.”
Step 4: Envision a Future Day and Build a Routine
To make my vision more tangible, I imagined a perfect day in my future life and used that as a foundation to build a daily schedule. This routine aligns with my goals and helps me prioritize what matters most.
Prompt:
“Help me imagine a perfect day in the life of my future self based on my goals. Then, use that vision to create a daily schedule or routine I can follow to make it a reality.”
Step 5: Assess Energy and Priorities
In the blog post, “So You Wanna De-Bog Yourself,” Adam Mastroianni said,
“…there is no Strategic Effort Reserve. All of my effort is currently accounted for somewhere. If I want to spend more of it on something, I have to spend less of it on something else…”
I realized that I need to be intentional about what I prioritize. Based on the prompt below, ChatGPT helped me audit where my time and energy are currently going. By identifying time leaks and misaligned priorities, I figured out where I needed to shift effort to make room for my goals.
Prompt:
“I’ve got some big things I want to do this year but why haven’t I done them before? What will make 2025 different? I will have to spend less effort somewhere to make room for effort on these goals. Help me analyze how I will shift things to find the energy.”
Step 6: Create Systems to Track Progress
Accountability is key to staying on track. I designed a tracking system in Notion to monitor my progress on health, career, finances, and personal growth with minimal overhead.
Prompt:
“Help me design a system to track my goals, habits, and progress with minimal overhead. What tools, apps, or templates can I use?”
Bonus Step: Map Big Events for the Year
To ensure balance, I mapped out major events, including holidays, vacations, and milestones. Then, I drafted some of the key dates into my calendar app to ensure alignment with my goals and family priorities.
How It All Comes Together
By the end of this process, I had:
- A clear vision of my priorities and desired outcomes for the new year.
- A deeper understanding of my current energy use and how to shift it.
- Systems to track progress and stay accountable.
- A drafted calendar for big events and milestones.
This process has given me clarity and a renewed sense of energy for the year ahead. While I know plans can evolve—and likely will—I’m ready to adapt and stay aligned with my goals. Regular check-ins, like monthly reflections and weekly planning sessions, will keep me on track and grounded. Who knows? I might even share more about that process in a future post.
How About You? Are you a planner? What kind of process do you use? Let me know how you plan for the new year—what works for you, and what challenges do you face? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
