As we head into 2016, I am taking this time to stop and reflect on what I have accomplished this year and to meditate on my top priorities for 2016.

In order to come out of the gate strong in 2016, we must set aside quiet time with our Creator God to perceive what are our top initiatives for the new year. If you will take time to do this now, you will be operating strategically, doing first things first, and this will produce greater results with less effort.

I have listed below three practical action steps that you can do now to position yourself for success in the new year:

1) Evaluate and analyze what you accomplished in 2015. Set up a strategic planning meeting with your heavenly Father and be brutally honest with yourself in assessing your progress. Give yourself a pat on the back for what you did get done. Determine in your heart if some of the goals that you did not achieve need to be removed from your schedule.

Now this is not the time to beat yourself for not hitting all your goals. The challenges in life and your “haters” will beat on you enough. You don’t need to help them by abusing yourself. Oh by the way, I learned a while back that the resistance, abuse and negativity projected towards me by others actually will work out for my good, if I reframe it the right way.

Looking back now, I can see that the hurts I experienced actually served to drive me deeper into meditation and prayer in the presence of my God, where I encountered love, acceptance and healing. I am stronger today as a result of enduring or outlasting the mistreatment, intentional or not.  I learned to forgive my enemies and to be more humble. Today I am thankful for my enemies because they helped me to grow, by positioning myself in the secret place of communion and prayer with my heavenly Father from whom all blessings flow.

Again, the first thing you should do is to set a strategic planning meeting to evaluate the current year’s accomplishments and to assess next year’s goals and initiatives. This being said, bring your journal and calendar because this is a working meeting.

2)  Ask yourself where am I? And where am I headed? Ask God for wisdom, enlightenment and direction, regarding top priorities for 2016. This is a time to recalibrate and refocus on your goals. It may be time to take some things off your plate, if they do not directly impact your purpose and destiny. Then be patient as God reveals your next steps.

For example, let’s say you’re good at dancing. It’s one of your passions in fact. However, you also enjoy speaking to motivate others. It comes easily to you. So easily, in fact, that you do not see it as your dominant gift.

When you have two strong gifts tugging at you, one will be more dominant than the other. Which is it for you? If you have difficulty determining this, ask your spouse, a close friend or a trusted mentor what they see that you do well. Here is where hiring a coach may be helpful.

Your dominant gift is the one you must focus on because you do not have time to waste. Time is something you never get back. So get moving forward to develop your strongest gift first, and use your next strongest gift to complement what you do well.

Your strategic planning meeting is an ideal time to examine your goals: 1-year, 3-year, 5-year, 10-year, 15-year, 20-year, 25-year up to your 30-year goals. This is the time to solidify your life purpose, vision, mission, strategies and tactics and to assess what you will need to fulfill your purpose. This may mean going back to college or taking enrichment or certification courses to increase your knowledge, credibility and promotion opportunities.

3) Finally, write down your SMART goals, beginning with your 2016 goals first. SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and attainable. Set a deadline for each of your goals that will spur you to focus on doing something every day to accomplish them.

Studies have shown that people that write down their goals and review them often are more likely to achieve them compared to those that do not. Which camp would you like to be in? The camp that thrives by focusing on daily actions to achieve their goals or the camp that barely survives because their focus is scattered on too many things?

In closing, by diligently exercising the three steps listed above, you will be well on your way to achieving your goals, which will propel you deeper into fulfilling your destiny. Happy 2016!

I invite your comments to my posts. Also let me know what you’d like me to write about to encourage you. Love and success!