I do one thing every week... and it's changed my life.
When I was in my twenties, I created a super simple weekly routine with my good friend Dallas.
It’s this habit that has been the biggest driver of any success I’ve had since then.
So today, I’d like to share it with you in a few simple steps. (I’ll even be vulnerable and share some of my own goals. Tease and judge my dreams all you want, but then make sure to think about your own.)
Step 1. Get a blank piece of paper (or open up a document on your computer, or a note on your phone).
2. At the top, write down what you’d like people to say about you at your funeral. Just a couple of sentences. Here is what I wrote over a decade ago.
3. Below that, divide the page into three columns.
4. In the left column, write down what you want to have achieved ten years from now. All of these things need to take you closer to what you wrote at the top of the page. They also need to be super tangible and real. I’ve shared my goals in my thirties.
5. In the middle column, next to each goal you put in the left column, write down what you need to have achieved by the end of this year to take you closer to that end-of-decade goal. I’ve shared what one year looked like in my thirties.
6. In the right column, next to each goal in the middle column, write down what you need to have achieved by the end of this year to take you closer to that end-of-year goal. Again, I’ve shared a busy week for me in my thirties.
That’s it for the template.
Once you’ve filled yours out, it’s time to live it. Here is how you do that.
Every Monday add up your score from the week before of the number of weekly goals you achieved.
Then fill out the right column every with your new goals.
Finally, send an email to one chosen person who has committed to doing this with you, using a very simple script.
Subject: __% achieved (what percentage of your weekly goals you hit)
Body: A short update on what you learned, if you didn’t hit 100%, and anything else on your mind.
Attachment: Your new goals.
You don’t need to have a huge list every week, you just need to take a small step towards that year goal (which helps towards the decade goal, which helps towards the life goal). Try to make the goals in your control. Do it every week.
When I started this approach I wasn’t married to Kaitlin. I had no kids. I was working in a bar. I had no money. I’d never written a book, and had impacted no lives with any ideas I’d started. I hit all my ‘by 40 goals’, and now I have new ones to hit by 50.
Best of effort with yours (we make our own luck).