This post is for any of you that totally want to geek out on the joys of planning for the new year.

You'll also get a few of my favorite questions for reflection, envisioning, and mapping out the year ahead.

Having tested the upper limits of efficiency as a strategy many times - academically, professionally, and personally - I can promise you that productivity is not the golden ticket.

A lot of people tell me that constant fire drills are a huge problem. The reactivity, the time hijack, the stress...

If it's not fire drills ... then it's another source of drama. Our own or someone else's chaos. A relationship laden with conflict.

It’s estimated we make about 35,000 decisions a day. Laboring over these decisions is impossible so our brain creates shortcuts to help.

Among the shortcuts are a (mostly unconscious) set of priorities, aka values.

Are you craving more feedback?

We are often getting a lot of non-verbal feedback that's hard to decipher and requires us to make assumptions about what people think, feel, need, or want.

Is there anything you are thinking about saying “no” to?

What’s holding you back?

Think of something you do pretty well. Maybe even really well.

Now describe your process for doing it.

It's a little tricky, right?

Simple questions like "Am I happy here?" Or, "Could I be happy here?" are not always so simple to answer.

Our work - our relationships too! - are multi-layered and nuanced.

They aren't usually all great or all bad.

The technical term for the experience of being in a good enough job, career, or relationship is .... "Meh."

I literally cannot think of a more accurate description.

I do love grit - the idea that the learning to be resilient and persistent in the face of difficulty is an essential skill.

I can tell it's time for me to share my reading list with you again because I have a new stack of books that simultaneously thrills and delights me while occasionally overwhelming me!

What will keep you warmed up and humming through winter?

Is it time to let some leaves drop? Are there drains on your time, energy, warmth and light? Could you say, “no” to these things? Maybe you ended up over committed just recently? Or maybe things you used to love have started to feel like an obligation?