This week I am giving you a sneak peak into some of the things I do during the off-season to keep my skills sharp and to get ready for next season. There is personal growth, professional growth, reviewing, renewing, and lots going on! This is pretty typical for me as a "what to do this year" plan. Other podcast episode you may like: EP 4: Off-Season Training: What can I do during the off-season? EP 7: Day Trip Planning: Things to Consider EP 28: How to be a prepared skipper Why do I have a yearly training plan? Every year I have several areas of my sailing growth that I look at: personal growth, professional growth and ongoing maintenance. These probably aren't the best names for these, but that's what I've come up with for now! So, what does these mean to me? For personal growth, I like to take a look at new things that I can learn as a sailor. What new skills do I want to develop? What areas have I felt have been lacking? Which areas have I not spent a lot of time focusing on? For professional growth, I take a look at new areas where I want to grow as a coach. Which courses could I take to be a better coach for my sailors? For ongoing maintenance, I like to review materials from previous courses to make sure I'm still on track. I re-read the Basic Cruising Skills textbook every season, for example. What is my training plan this year? Personal Growth Celestial Navigation, upgrade first aid certification complete an online course creation certificate Other ideas: increase physical fitness, rehab an injury, spend time reading, upgrade person sailing gear items, set small weekly goals around learning a new knot, take new people sailing more often Professional Growth organize 2 Basic Cruising Instructor Clinics complete my navigation instructor certification create 2 or 3 online coaching programs for my sailors Other ideas: don't fear failure, stop procrastinating, be diligent with time, monthly budget updates, update business paperwork Ongoing Growth review Intermediate Cruising Student Notes rewrite my Spinnaker Course lesson plans re-organize my coaching binders Other ideas: read through owners manuals, review charts of your area At the end of the day it's all about where you want to go and how you plan to get there. Have fun planning it all out and think outside the box!  Penny