I’m a total New Year’s junkie! I love the fresh start, the new beginning, and the opportunity to get back on track. It’s a time to renew your vision and energy, and to push the “reset” button. We’re still a couple months away, but I’ve learned through years of trial and error that the key to creating your best year ever is taking some time to set yourself up for success in the last couple months of the current year.

Isn’t that powerful? So many of us see December as a kind of cheating month, where we’re too busy with family, holidays, and amazing meals to focus on getting set up for success. Inevitably, we end up stumbling through January. This isn’t because of lack of commitment, but instead because we haven’t sufficiently planned for success.

Imagine how much smoother it would be if you started early, took more time to get it right, proactively tackled the things that can get you off-track, and established habits that could keep you going strong. Imagine what it would be like if you took away the excuses. You could feel fulfilled instead of frazzled, filling your days with purpose and intention instead of chaos.

Today, I’ll go over the five steps you can take right now to set yourself up for success today so that you’re fully prepared to tackle your biggest goals next year. This information comes from my Best Year Ever mini-course, a free five-day challenge. I’ll go over all of this in more detail in the episode too, but here are the five steps in short:

1. Become a better goal-setter.
2. Tell your money where to go.
3. Make meal planning simple.
4. Take back your time.
5. Pull it all together.

Tune in to learn all about how you can make next year your best year yet, all through the power of preparation!

Highlights

[02:15] – Today, Ruth will talk about one of her favorite topics in the world: not just setting goals, but creating a straightforward plan to achieve those goals.
[05:07] – Ruth talks about how much she hates running (and all exercise), and shares words of wisdom that she learned during the process.
[08:10] – We don’t usually focus on setting ourselves up for success each December, Ruth points out.
[09:12] – What if it could be different? What if we started early and gave ourselves time to prepare for success?
[11:17] – Ruth dives into step one: become a better goal-setter!
[15:30] – A year can feel like a daunting amount of time when it comes to making our big goals and dreams a reality. Ruth explains what to do about this.
[16:35] – We learn about step two of Ruth’s five-step process.
[18:59] – Ruth talks about what she and her husband did when they were setting up their budget for the first time.
[20:53] – The third step is to make meal planning simple, Ruth explains.
[24:15] – Ruth and her husband struggled for years with meals, but finally solved their issues by coming up with a list of basic items that they always keep on hand.
[26:49] – We hear the fourth step in Ruth’s process: take back your time!
[31:52] – The fifth and final step is to pull it all together in a cohesive system.
[33:27] – Most of us are often our own worst enemies when it comes to following through with our goals, Ruth points out.
[34:55] – If you have any questions or have been using her system and want to share your success story, please feel free to reach out to Ruth by email at doitscared.com!