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.
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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).
Prompts I Used
“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].”
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 I Used
“In [next year], I’d like to… Help me refine my initial thoughts into a concise, inspiring statement.”
From my vision, I distilled four key focus areas to guide my efforts for the year.
Prompt I Used
“Based on my vision statement, identify key focus areas, goals, actionable steps, and measurable milestones.”
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 I Used
“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.”