This is a print screen of my 2013 plan. I was officially finished on December 27, 2012, 5 minutes before 5 PM.

Others woke up last December 26 to brace another day at work after Christmas. Me? I did my 30-minute ran, cleaned the house, took a bath, then closed my door’s room.

I was so excited for my two-day ME Planning. I waited for this day to happen. This was my second time to do this after learning how important it is to plan our life for a year from one of my mentors, Jomar Hilario. My 2012 came into light through my attendance of Sir Jomar’s Plan for Your Best Year Ever last January.

My room was not the ideal venue for ME Planning; Sir Jomar advises anyone who would like to do this to get out of the city (or your house) and go somewhere else where quiet and nature is closer. Alas, the hotel rates during December have sky-rocketed, so I settled for my room this year. Well, I made sure that my ME Planning next year will be in another place!

As I reviewed my 2012, I again remembered how blessed I was. I went through a lot this year, like getting rejections for online jobs almost every day, then getting a job then losing it for a week. The sacrifices paid off – I got a part-time job after months of trying. Not only that, I got to share my experience through one of Sir Jomar’s webinars and his last How to Become a Virtual Assistant seminar of 2012.

The 2013 plan was completed thanks to MindMaps app. This was my second time to plot my year through MindMaps, so the preparations were a breeze. What gave me a bit of headache was the plotting of schedules – I had to make sure that I my plans for the year were there, without sacrificing all the targets in all areas of my life. To release myself of confusion, I did the following: got out of the room to eat spaghetti (my all-time comfort food), read books, and watched movies (I finished Ratatouille and 3 Idiots for my two-day planning).

Now, my 2013 is now printed, like a spider ready to create more and bigger webs. I was even happier to have our parish priest blessed my plan.

Even though my 2013 is already printed, I still remembered some plans that should have been there. I am about to open my file again to add some details.

Planning my year is one of the best things that I have learned ever since I decided to take responsibility for my destiny. But I’m not resting everything on what I have put on paper. I believe that in every year, the best is yet to come. Planning my year does not mean I hold every little detail in my hands. I still open myself to whatever the Divine Providence will give. I just made sure that the new 365 days that He’s going to give me is well-planned; that I’m prepared.

And I’ll keep doing it even until I meet my dreams.

Happy new year, everyone! Cheers to new 365 days!