I'm a bit ritualistic with New Years. I tend to crave for a new calendar or journal every start of the year to plan plan plan. I am like the Monica Geller of planning - which can be a good or bad thing. Good because I tend to never procrastinate. Bad, because I sometimes spend so much time planning, and less time actually executing. That 80/20 Pareto's law really does hold true in this case.

This is a great time to assess what worked this past year, what didn't and how to redirect your energies. What is that 20% of your work that produces 80% of the results in your life or business?

Here's a radical approach to planning that I want to share as you evaluate:

I recently ran across an old post from lifehacker that talked about Jerry Seinfeld's method for using his calendar to keep him faithful to his writing regimen. His method?:

He told me to get a big wall calendar that has a whole year on one page and hang it on a prominent wall. The next step was to get a big red magic marker.

He said for each day that I do my task of writing, I get to put a big red X over that day. "After a few days you'll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You'll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job next is to not break the chain."

"Don't break the chain," he said again for emphasis.

For plan-o-holics like me, failure is painful and constant. Painful because we plan too many steps or projects, and constant becuase...well..we plan too many steps or projects. Is planning just a form of procrastination? Rooted in the fear of failure or imperfection? If planners are so afraid of failure, maybe the "Don't break the chain," method is just what we need, or revise that...all that we need. If I see a red chain in my living room that's threatened to break because of my inconsistency - I would DO something.

What is it about your year you don't want to break? What's a practice, or skill' or material you don't want to lose? What habit do you want to form?

Much of PR is skills oriented - not much need for technical know how really - it's a people business. You are what you produce, network, and finesse. Here are some PR related habits I myself would like to cultivate, but I think the key is simplicity so I will probably start with just one of these, but feel free to hi jack any of these for your own practice.

- Read and comment on a blog related to PR Social Media everyday
- Touch one different person a day in my social and professional network
- Blog or Status Update at least once a day
- Read trade news in a new target industry

With that, do what Seinfeld says - Don't double dip, and don't break the chain. 
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