Changing my life with the 12 week year

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Happy Friday and welcome to my newest series on the blog called ‘On the shelf’. Every month I will be sharing what I’ve read. I will share my thoughts, key takeaways and what I plan to read next. I’m really trying to get back into reading outside of my studies. I am hoping that this segment on the blog will help keep me accountable, as well as my goodreads target.

Although it’s not the end of the month, I wanted to start this series with a book I have recently read. The 12 Week Year is written by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington. It’s not a long book and can definitely be read within the week or just a few days if you’re a quick reader.

Initial thoughts

This book has actually been on my reading list for a while, but I just never got round to it. I was first recommended to read it in my mastermind group. The reason why it got pushed to the top of my reading list was because I really wanted to start Q2 differently and also navigate it differently.

I was really looking forward to the new year and I was feeling quite hopeful after the rough year that was 2020. However, the first three months were not all I hoped it would be. I know that I am responsible for my life and that if I want to see a change I need to be proactive about it. I needed a better way to organise and set my goals. I decided this year to reflect monthly and set goals quarterly. This book 10xd that and provided a systematic way to navigate every quarter of the year.

When it comes to categories, I would definitely put this book into the self help/ business category. What I love about it is that it can be applied to your life as a whole. The book had really actionable tips from the beginning and minimal filler content.

In a nutshell

This book encourages you to ditch the annualised way of thinking and instead plan the year 12 weeks at time. Before you do that though it urges you to create an aspirational vision of your life. You’re not supposed to hold back in any way – this vision is what you will revisit daily. In the 12 week year methodology, a day becomes a week, a week becomes a month and 12 weeks becomes a year. Although each 12 weeks are considered separate to the other, they all feed into your aspirational vision.

One thing I really loved about the 12 Week Year is that it completely changes how you think about the time that you have and what you do with it. After reading it I really felt empowered to make a change and equipped to follow through. I’m currently trialling the 12 Week Year method over the next quarter and I’m looking forward to reporting back how it’s been.

Key Quotes

– “It’s not enough to have the intention of changing you have to act on that intention for things to get better – and not just once but consistently.”

– “Intentionality is your secret weapon in your war on mediocrity.”

– “Greatness is not achieved when the result is reached, but rather long before that, when an individual chooses to do the things that he knows he needs to do.”

– “Measurement is not accountability, it’s simply feedback.”

– “Breakthroughs require a profound change in the way that you work before it shows up in your results.”

If you want to grab your own copy of the 12 week year, you can do so here.

Let me know in the comments if you would consider changing from annualised goal setting to every 12 weeks?

Until next time,

Koko xo