3 Powerful Tools to Design the Next Year of Your Life With
New Year Resolutions. High Expectations.
Broken Goals. Broken Promises.
Is there a better approach to improving ourselves over the next 365 days of our lives?
With the coming of every new year, millions of optimistic people worldwide set themselves up for disappointment.
Unfortunately for us, the numbers show a resolution failure rate of 80% and beyond, depending on which study you find online.
We create lofty, vague goals for ourselves—pursuits we turn around and quit within months, weeks, or even days of starting.
I’ve been there too.
We’ve all had that resolution to “improve my fitness” or to “lose weight” or “save money.” So often, the intent we set for ourselves is pure, but the paths we take to get there break down. That’s because we haven’t prepared properly for the journey we want to make. There’s no clear structure to the bridge we need to cross to reach our destination.
From Broken Goals to a Better Life
In early 2017, Burnout got the best of me, and I was struck down by all of the big goals and stress I had dumped on myself. In the years since I’ve made a concerted effort to improve my life. I’ve searched for—and experimented with—a variety of strategies to help me succeed in the pursuit of better.
I set out to find a system that worked for me immediately and longer-term.
Some ideas worked. Others fell flat.
Over time, I’ve discovered that one reason for failure is because success requires two active ingredients: a clear plan and sustained action. One without the other is like trying to bake a cake without an oven.
It’s the combination that brings success.
The 3 Tools for Designing Your Next Year
Of the techniques I’ve learned and implemented since 2015, the three that I believe have worked best in combination are:
Goals
Systems
Themes
Let’s discuss how to use each in a bit more detail.
1. Goals
The first tool we have at our disposal is a goal. A goal is where most people start. Unfortunately, it’s also where most people tend to have trouble. The reason?
It’s not just about choosing ANY goal. It’s about choosing the RIGHT goal and making the goal clear enough for ourselves to be helpful.
To do that, we have to be S.M.A.R.T. about the particular goal we pursue.
S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym developed by George T. Doran (Management Review, Issue Nov. 1981).
S.M.A.R.T. stands for:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time-Bound
Establishing goals that work within S.M.A.R.T. parameters makes them easier to achieve than standard goals. That’s because S.M.A.R.T. goals have built-in metrics that can be reviewed for success or failure.
Here’s an example of a Standard Goal:
“I want to be a better writer.’
Here’s an example of a S.M.A.R.T. Goal:
“I will write 300 words a day for a month to improve my writing style.”
Can you see the difference? The first example is an intent more than a goal. It’s a desire to improve, but it’s not something that can measure how much you’ve improved.
Now, goals are great. But goals are only outcome based. You hit a milestone and you move on. We need another tool to help us build, maintain, and keep the improvement we’re making.
2. Systems
The second tool available is a system. Another word for “system”? — “Habit.” One of my favorite books of all time (and the book I’ve gifted most to others in my life) is Atomic Habits by James Clear.
In Atomic Habits, James makes a case for creating small shifts—changing your day a little bit at a time—for results that will sustain themselves. He writes:
“A slight change in your daily habits can guide your life to a very different destination. Making a choice that is 1 percent better or 1 percent worse seems insignificant in the moment, but over the span of moments that make up a lifetime, these choices determine the difference between who you are and who you could be. Success is the product of daily habits—not once-in-a-lifetime transformations.”
In Atomic Habits, James writes about the Four Laws of Building Habits:
Make it Obvious
Make it Attractive
Make it Easy
Make it Satisfying
These laws, similar to the “S.M.A.R.T. system for goals, help to increase the probability of our success.
Now, consider the S.M.A.R.T. goal we wrote above: “I will write 300 words a day for a month to improve my writing style.”
To make it obvious, we could set up a desk in the corner of our bedroom where we can start writing from as soon as we wake up.
To make it attractive, we could pair writing (something we need to do) with a small reward (something we want to do), such as checking out Facebook. Then, after we write our words for the day, we can check our phone, but not until after.
To make it easy, we could start small. Instead of worrying about 300 words, worry about the most straightforward first step towards writing. What is that first step that will push your momentum forward? For this habit, we need to, as Minimalist and Best-Selling Author Joshua Fields Millburn says, “Sit in the chair.” That’s it. For the first day, just sit down to write. Then, if you don’t write anything, don’t worry. Come back the next day and sit in the chair again. Sit down each day until you can’t think of anything else but writing.
To make it satisfying, we could track our progress. Each day you “Sit in the Chair,” take a calendar and make a big “X” on that day. Over time, you’ll start to see a chain of “X’s.” As the chain grows, you’ll naturally build a desire to come back each day that follows. It will become easier to build the habit than “break the chain.”
3. Themes
The third and final tool is a theme.
If I’m honest with myself, it’s my favorite of the three. Why? Because it’s the tool that sets a clear intention and vibe for the year to come.
A theme is a single word or phrase that you want to remember whenever something in your life inevitably challenges you and your goals. Unfortunately, there’s no way for you to know when an opportunity or a tragedy may enter your life, begging to derail all of your effort towards the goals you have.
When I have to decide whether or not to pursue something new, I ask myself: “Does this fit with my theme?” This line of questioning improves my ability to navigate obstacles veiled as “opportunities” because it commonly provides me with an intuitive, often guttural response.
For example, my theme in 2021 was “Simplify.” My primary goal was to reduce the friction across many areas of my life and remove the systems, projects, and ideas that no longer served me.
It made it very easy to think on my theme of “Simplify” and turn down new big ideas and projects.
One piece of advice on themes—write down a series of words before setting your goals. Then write out your goals and the habit(s) you need to make them successful. Once you have a few of these worked out you can come back and re-evaluate the list of themes and add more that you may have considered since.
In the past, my themes looked like this:
2015 = Launch
2016 = Expansion
2017 = Metamorphosis
2018 = Experimentation
2019 = Consistency
2020 = Expression
2021 = Simplify
Without even knowing what my goals were those years, you can probably understand the flavor or type of year I was going for each.
Designing the Next Year of Your Life
These tools work together well because they provide different levels of impact on who you will become.
A theme will be the map of your journey. You will use it to set the intention for your year to come.
A goal will be the compass pointing you towards the destination you seek.
A system will be the vehicle to get you to that destination and beyond.
When used separately, each of these tools may bring you some success on their own. When used in combination with each other, I’ve found that themes, goals, and systems not only make self-improvement possible, but exponentially more fun.
It can be daunting to look at the next year (or any other amount of time) of your life and wonder, “What am I going to do to improve myself and how am I going to make that change last?”
These tools are powerful, but remember—they only work if you have a clear plan and sustained action.
I’m excited to see how you use these tools to transform your 2022 and beyond. DM me on Instagram and let me know what you plan to do!
Quote of the Week
“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” - Henry Ford
Recent Finds
Resources that could help you improve your life
Daily Stoic Podcast with Ryan Holiday - Cal Newport on Time Blocking and Productivity (Video) - This was a fascinating conversation between two of the best non-fiction writers working today. If you’re interested in maximizing the effectiveness of your schedule, I highly recommend this.
Ali Abdaal - I’m Leaving Medicine Forever (Video) - Within the past month or so, I’ve been binge watching the work of Ali Abdaal. He’s a popular YouTuber with over 2mil followers. After rolling through several of his videos on productivity, I can understand why. This video in particular struck me as shareworthy. Ali was trained as a Doctor, working in the field for the past few years. After his “side hustle” on YouTube took off, he’s made the decision to go full time in content creation. Worth the watch if you’re considering a career pivot.
That’s it for now. Have a great week!
Stay creative, my friends.
Mike LaValley
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