Next year will soon be this year, and this is a good time to do some planning.

New goals, new projects, updates, changes.

Do yourself a favor. Make it a short list.

Conventional wisdom tells us to shoot for the moon. Big goals, lots of projects, run hard and do as much as you can do. Cut your plans only if you run out of time or energy, because if you start small, you won’t accomplish as much.

For me, it’s the other way around.

If I start big, I find it easy to get overwhelmed. I prefer to start out with too little rather than too much. A few key ideas, projects, and goals.

When I look at my list, I want to feel good about what I see. I want to be inspired, excited, ready for the adventure ahead.

Some people like a schedule that’s filled to the brim. They want to always be busy. I prefer a schedule that’s relatively open, and fill in the blanks with whatever I’m drawn to.

I like to have a general idea of where I want to go, not a detailed itinerary with every moment thought out in advance. I like to add things as I think of them rather than subtract and postpone things because I didn’t have enough time.

Adding is fun. Subtracting isn’t.

I know that when I have too many projects and tasks, I’m busy working but not necessarily doing the things that matter most. When I have too many plates to keep spinning, eventually, I don’t want to look at my plates any more.

I like to get a couple of plates spinning, see how it’s going and how I feel about adding more.

Because you can always add more plates.