PLANNING FOR 2024: HOW TO BE EFFECTIVE WITHOUT BURNING OUT?

We – Truly Inspired – often receive “heartfelt” messages via email or our Fanpage, where people share their feelings of exhaustion and overwhelm, as despite their earnest efforts, each day passes with a mounting pile of unfinished tasks, with no end in sight. Some have expressed how, for months on end, they have not had the chance to witness the clear blue sky or experience the shift in the air with each changing season. For them, any spare moment is an opportunity to snatch some sleep or indulge in a deep rest

I recall once when I posted an article titled “How to: keep life chill even with mountains of deadlines,” I also received similar feedback from a reader.

Today, we have already advanced several days into the year 2024. A few weeks ago was the busiest time for many, as we all wrapped up the old year and started planning for a brighter new one. However, I know there are still many who are struggling to create a feasible plan, one that is more effective than last year’s without leading to burnout. My team and I have decided to share some of the strategies we have employed, hoping to help you devise a more optimised plan for 2024. Let us explore together!

Step One – Setting Goals
I understand that with each passing year, we all accumulate a multitude of tasks and objectives that need accomplishing, ranging from work to finances and even family happiness. However, most people merely “think” about these, or at best, list them on a piece of paper, but without organising them into more specific categories.

I have noticed this particularly among many young people who, when setting goals, usually fall into one of two categories: either having too many desires, or not knowing what they truly want.

To address this, I suggest you try my method of goal setting:

Start by finding a quiet place to sit with a piece of paper and a pen. Perhaps add a touch of your favourite gentle music, a cup of coffee, or anything that makes you feel most settled and private.

Then, divide your paper into three main sections for major categories: Health – Work – Relationships. Under each main category, break it down into two or three subcategories. For example:

• In the Health section, divide it into three parts: Mental Health – Intellectual Health – Physical Health.
• In the Work section, divide it into three parts: Finances – Personal Development – Long-term Direction.
• In the Relationships section, break it down into three branches: Family – Networking/Friends – Personal Relationships.

Do you know why, in the Health category, I included Intellectual Health? Because what you desire is not just achievable through a healthy body and a clear mind, but also requires sharp intellect. When intellect is empowered, you develop a fuller stature and a better ability to assess personal issues. A teacher of mine once said that Mentality, Intellect, and Body are like an unyielding three-legged stool, possessing which can enhance your ability to achieve goals, or even better, enable you to live a stable and balanced life regardless of the circumstances.

And that is Step One – Setting Goals. This step is a must! Without categorising your plans, it will be challenging to achieve success, or even simply to complete your intended plans or goals.

After setting your goals, do not rush into considering any specific numbers or more detailed objectives. Just outline the categories as I have shared, review them, and stop there to move on to Step Two:

Step Two – Consider Three Key Factors
The achievement of a person’s goals depends on numerous factors, such as steadfastness, patience, disciplined effort, etc. However, without addressing the following three core elements, the aspects of perseverance and discipline can hardly be implemented.

The three crucial factors are:

– Identifying clearly your own desires – note down: why do you need to accomplish this goal?
– Assessing resources (internal and external) – are they sufficient to meet your goal?
– Your focus: conduct a rating for the three goals mentioned above on a scale from 1 to 10 or in a priority order of 1-2-3. After evaluating, you will see which category requires more of your prioritised time for completion.

Typically, those who do not know what they want or which goals to set are often individuals with many interests; however, they struggle to discern what is important or what they truly desire, for they have not identified the reasons for their choices.

For instance, I know some people who lead normal lives like many others. They earn money, shop, eat, socialise, and live with an attitude of “anything goes.” When making choices, they lack personal conviction and tend to follow others. However, when certain outcomes do not align with their desires, they realise a tendency to want the opposite of what they chose initially, yet since they never really made decisions or delved deeply into why they should or should not choose something, they end up leading lives that they “do not really like anything at all,” or more precisely, lives of indifference.

Therefore, the first thing I want you to do after setting these goals is to sit down and thoroughly review them, examining your objectives clearly. Do you know why you want them? And why do they need to happen in 2024?

After clarifying your objectives in your mind, you proceed to assess the resources you currently possess to achieve your goals. These resources include both internal and external types. Internal resources are those related to your intellect, willpower, emotions, and energy. External resources pertain to guidance from others, support systems, or practical means such as finances, useful tools, etc.

Evaluate what resources you possess that can support the achievement of your 2024 goals. When you identify the resources you have, it motivates you to turn your goals into reality. Conversely, if you find your resources limited, you might want to adjust your goals or choose new ones that are more aligned with your capabilities and resource availability.

Step Three: Screening & Implementing Priority Goals
After listing and reviewing all criteria and personal resources, the next step is to ask yourself:

– If you had to choose only one of the goals you have listed, which would it be? In other words, what is most important to you in 2024?

Now, in each category of Health – Work – Relationships, select the three most important goals and note them down.

For example: 

• In the Health category for 2024, you feel that focusing on “Intellectual Health” is the most important. Mark it with a red star and move it out of the initial goal chart.

• In the Work category, if you feel the need to double your income compared to last year, continue to mark it with a red star and place it alongside the “extracted” Health goal.

• In the Relationships category, if you feel the need in 2024 to devote more time to developing and expanding quality connections for your career, mark it as a key goal. Continue to move it out alongside the other two goals.

Now, set aside your original goal sheet!
Look at the sheet of important goals you have just filtered out and follow these next steps in detail, and you will easily create a more feasible plan than the initial set of broad goals:

Reorganise the priority order of Health – Work – Relationships
In the Focus section above, you already assigned scores of importance to each goal. Now, re-examine and determine which goal in this new list is the top priority in the order of 1-2-3! This is highly crucial, as identifying the top priority will save you time in deciding what to do first and next. Also, do not forget to combine the resources you have analysed for smoother execution!

Upon completing this step, you will realise:
Is 2024 a year where you will dedicate all your mind, health, skills, and resources to career growth, aiming for a significant income increase? Or is it a year where you feel the need to slow down a bit, pay more attention to your intellectual health, and learn new skills? Or is it truly a year where you decide to be more proactive, connecting more with others around you to expand quality relationships?

Your plans will then need to be allocated according to this priority “axis.” Your daily activities will also revolve around this priority “axis” you have outlined in this Step.

Numeralising goals and Developing detailed plans
Reaching this stage means you have already navigated a pretty tough journey – good job on that! That is exactly why I initially encouraged you to find a private and quiet place.

Now, you simply continue to numeralise your items like this:
For example:

• For the Intellectual Health goal, in 2024 you set a target to read 20 books and join three skill classes that you believe will be beneficial and improve your skills at work.
• So, to finish these 20 books, how many should you read each month? Or, how long will it take to complete these three skill courses?
• Do not forget to note: The estimated amount of money you will need to achieve all these goals. This is equally important!

By breaking down and numeralising your goals into monthly and weekly units like this, you will find everything seems more achievable. With goals set for each week, you can plan your days without waking up with a blank mind, wondering what to do next! Every new day, you know you have at least these three main tasks to complete, adjusting the rest according to the day’s flow. Just like that, another day goes by. Then the next day brings three different primary tasks, and so on. By following this approach, you are guaranteed at least about 250 days of productive and quality work!

Phew!
To avoid burnout while working towards your 2024 goals, it seems worthwhile to choose a full day today for dedicated goal setting and planning, my dear friend!

What I have shared with you is a method to make your desires more concrete and manageable, allowing for a clearer path to your objectives than if you were just holding onto a huge goal and not knowing where to start. However, keep in mind:

Having a board of goals and a plan is not about achieving them all at once. It is about knowing how to divide tasks for yourself in the most reasonable way possible, preparing mentally for the unexpected, being ready to modify your plans, and continually reinforcing your belief in your choices!

Remember that at any given time, you will only be excelling in just a few tasks. Of course, you can multitask and achieve a lot; that is excellent if possible! However, mental pressures can easily lead to exhaustion if not properly managed. Therefore, my advice is to really understand yourself: what are your top desires and priorities? From there, develop a detailed, clear plan and start “running” with it!

Focus and Filtering are two keywords I believe you should consider in your goal-setting process for 2024! I hope these insights can be beneficial for you. And whatever your goals, I wish you wisdom, alertness, and peace on your journey to achieving them, my dear friend!

Much love,
Truly Inspired®