RL 35: You Can Make New Years Resolutions Stick
RL 35: You Can Make New Years Resolutions Stick
Wanna crush 2023? Set fewer goals and be ruthless in your follow through.
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Every year, millions of people worldwide set New Year’s Resolutions that don’t last.
By now, you may have already set goals and made resolutions for the year. It doesn’t matter if you have or if you’ve dragged your feet this year - we can take 30 minutes to get you on the right track.
The key to achieving your NY resolution is to set it as a long-term goal, make it obvious, and take little steps toward achieving it.
The hope is that you can fall in love with the process rather than the outcome.
We often think that arriving at our destination will make us happy.
This is rarely true.
If you can find a way to enjoy the hard work you’re putting into achieving your goals, you’ll improve, build lasting habits, and enjoy the journey.
Let’s get into it -
Step 1: End-of-Year Review
An EOY review helps you understand where you’ve come from.
We do it for a few reasons -
· Solidify learning
· Refill your tank for '23
· Gratitude for your journey
· Track progress toward macro goals
· Double down on things that work and stop those that don't
Here’s how to do it -
Keep it simple - pen & paper works!
· Write each month and 3 highlights/struggles from each month.
· Note big wins and losses
Break wins/losses into buckets:
· Health
· Wealth
· Career
· Relationship
You should have a list of wins and lessons by category.
Step 2: Set Long Term Goals
All of the best outcomes in life come from delayed gratification.
Easy accomplishments bring ZERO satisfaction.
You can’t build a great business, career, family, or a fit body in a week - you must master the process of delaying gratification.
OK, let’s set some long-term goals.
Pick a MAXIMUM of 2 goals per category (health, wealth, career, relationship) - a total of 8. Fewer is better.
Start with 10-year goals
Why so far in the future?
10-years is long enough to reinvent yourself entirely.
If you’re in terrible shape today, you can set a 10-year goal to run a marathon - 10 years is a lot of time.
Reinvent the you that you’d admire and respect today. It’s so far in the future that you don’t have to accept your perceived limits.
These should be big, hairy, audacious goals (BHAG). They should scare the sh*t out of you.
Step 3: Break 10-Year BHAGs into 1-Year Sprints
1-year goals should be SMART goals -
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-bound (EOY)
These 1-year goals are directly tied to the 10-yr goal.
e.g. BHAG: Marathon in 10-yrs. 1-yr goal: Run 200 miles in 2023
Break 1-year goals into quarterly, then weekly goals
Writing your goals down is CRITICAL.
Write them down. Write them down. Write them down.
Now put them somewhere you can check into them every week - on a post-it note on your desk, on the fridge, somewhere you’ll SEE them all the time.
Step 4: Take Action
Get yourself a Panda Planner and use it to time-block your days.
I F’ing love these planners - they give you space to write down your priorities for the day. These should tie directly to the limited number of goals you’ve written.
Assign times to work on each goal every day - physically writing it makes compliance much more effortless.
That’s it!
Simple but effective - written down, in your face, and with time assigned to work on your goals.
You can’t lose.
Step 5: Break Glass in Case of Emergency
Ok, you’ve fallen off the grind.
That’s alright - I trip up all the time. Here are a few non-obvious ways to get your ass back on the horse -
Don’t let 2 days pass without practicing your habits. One day is fine; 2 is not acceptable.
Do less. If you planned a 5-mile run today but don’t have it in you, put on your running shoes, get out the door and promise yourself, you’ll only do a mile. I’d bet once you hit a mile, you’ll do 2 or 3.
Email me. I’ll get your ass back on the horse - sometimes, we need an accountability buddy. I’m happy to help.
What are your 2023 goals?
What 1-2 things need to happen this year to become a better version of yourself?
How much time each day will you dedicate toward these long-term goals? 30 minutes a day is 900 minutes a month. It’s hard to be bad at something you practice for 900 minutes.
Let’s crush 2023.
Best,
Brendan