Why January is the wrong time for personal planning

Executive overview

Setting New Year resolutions in January works against the natural energy of winter. The spring equinox (March 21) is a more effective starting point — when light overtakes darkness and growth energy returns.

Use the One Page Personal Plan to organise the year around five priorities: faith, family, friends, fitness, and finance.

The case for delaying personal planning

• January sits at peak winter: longest nights, shortest days, lowest natural energy
• Trees in winter don't grow upward — they deepen their roots; use the season the same way
• Joseph Campbell's principle: follow nature rather than fight it
• Waiting until the spring equinox has made planning feel easier and stick better

The one page personal plan

• Mirrors the Scaling Up business framework across four domains: people/relationships, strategy/achievements, execution/rituals, cash/wealth
• Organised around the five F's: faith, family, friends, fitness, finance
• Covers three time horizons: long-term vision, the current year, and quarterly actions

Two highest-leverage boxes

• Annual rituals: book them first — boys-only trip, annual outing with a daughter, couples retreat; if not calendared, they vanish
• 90-day relationship focus: pick one relationship to build, support, or let go; compounded over years, this reshapes your network
• Consistency through good times and bad matters more than the specific activity chosen

What to include in the plan

• Rituals: stopping a bad habit is often more valuable than starting a good one
• Achievements: personal and professional, not just financial targets
• Wealth: decide where to invest — into relationships, achievements, and rituals — not just how much to accumulate