The most successful entrepreneur’s I know have some sort of end-of-the-year ritual where they reflect and plan ahead. These people all have their own personal twist on the process but there are certain things they all do.

Read below and let me know if they’re things you already do—or if you think I missed a principle that’s important.

[–The Magic Behind Architecting a Great Year and Attracting Your Deepest Desires–]

“The difference between good and bad architecture is the time you spend on it.” — David Chipperfield, born December 18, 1953.

That’s not David Copperfield, the magician. It’s David Chipperfield, the award-winning architect. But there is some magic to what he’s saying, and it’s relevant to us as we wrap up 2022 and prepare for 2023.

David’s talking about the effort we invest into our craft. The planning and the doing.

To do good throughout the year, it’s common practice for a business owner to set aside time during the holiday season to prepare for the upcoming new year.

Many journal, others create spreadsheets and documents, and some even go out into the mountains to be all alone.

Everyone has their own unique ritual that works for them, which is always found through experimentation, but the best ones share three crucial principles.

👉 Principle 1: Thoughtful Reflection

Many people assume that the coming of the new year should only be about looking optimistically ahead.

Do that and you rob yourself of one of the greatest opportunities.

If you’re anything like me and others on this path, you’re ruthless with yourself.

Your expectations for yourself are higher than anyone else could imagine.

Even when you do amazingly well, you’re still thinking about how you could be doing better, because there’s a part of you that can be incredibly hard on yourself.

The internal dialogue you and I experience on a bad day would have the average 9-to-5er curl up into a ball and hide under a desk.

That’s why thoughtful reflection is so important. When we don’t do it, we miss our chance to acknowledge our accomplishments, our progress, and our growth.

The consequence?

Being consumed by thoughts that we didn’t do enough and weren’t fast enough. Over time? A pervading sense of hopelessness. “Is this thing really for me?”

Entrepreneurs DO tend to minimize their past wins, so it’s important to reflect and give yourself credit on all the good stuff.

That way, you can find the strength to reflect, examine, and learn from the bad.

👉 Principle 2: Implementation Plans

If there’s anything that separates the amateur entrepreneur from the professional one is that the amateur sets goals for the new year ahead while the professional is crafting strategies for implementation.

The difference is the amateur has an idea, whereas the professional has a plan.

The amateur designs a vision board. The professional creates a how-to guide.

That’s why professionals create while amateurs dream.

They have a direction they want to go, and an A-to-Z plan on how to get there.

👉 Principle 3: Ecology

Ecology is the relationship of one thing to another.

When it comes to year-end planning, it’s the harmony and alignment of your yearly goals with your other big-picture, longer-term goals.

If your goals lack a sense of ecology, you’ll soon have the bitter experience of finding out the ladder you’ve worked so hard to climb all year has been leaning up against the wrong tree.

You’ll learn what it means when they say, “Nothing fails like success”, and you’ll wish you hadn’t because it’s a failure so terrible you could never even imagine it, let alone prepare yourself for it.

So, take it from someone who’s been through that and save yourself the trouble.

Make your goals align with the vision you have for your life because when you do, you sync your conscious mind’s desires with your unconscious values.

The result?

Constant clarity and lasting motivation.