Ditch New Year resolutions: Follow these 5 steps to have the most successful year of your life

My business hit $40 million in sales this year.

Thanks to this simple 5-step goal-setting system, I’ve set some huge goals – but more importantly, actually *achieved* them.

Below you’ll learn the same process I’ve used to grow my company and make even the biggest goals totally realistic.

Stop making New Year's resolutions

They don’t work.

How often do your friends (and let’s be honest, you too) drop their resolutions after less than a month? Probably around 80%. That’s not a great success rate.

Most Resolutions don’t follow any sort of measurement. And with no tracking mechanism, your goals are doomed from the get-go.

“What gets measured gets managed.”
— Peter Drucker

So this year, let’s resolve not to resolve. 😉

5 steps to have your best year yet

You’ve heard of shareholder meetings, where corporations inform their owners of the company’s performance. Why not think about yourself as a mini-company?

You’re the sole owner of your little one-man company, and your job is to guide yourself to your goals.

If you don’t meet those goals, you’re fired. Not sure what that would mean in this analogy, but anyway…

Follow this 5-step system to have your most successful year next year:

1. Reflect on your previous year

A few days before you ditch the current year’s calendar and flip to the next, ask yourself these questions:

• The big picture — Did you accomplish your bigger goals? Are you where you thought you’d be?
• The highs — What activities gave you the most energy? What events were most satisfying?
• The lows — What habits drained you of your energy? What don’t you want to go through again?
• Relationships — How are your relationships with your partner, friends, and family? Be honest.
• Work & career — Did you meet your salary goal? Have you been rewarded for your hard work?
• Experiences — What were your favorite times of the year? Who were you with? What could you go without next year?
• Favorite things — This is a catch-all for your favorite new tools, books, movies, music, podcasts, resources, events, people, moments, etc.

The cool thing is – You can use all these answers to guide your goals and review next year.

“You can’t connect dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backward.”
— Steve Jobs

2. Imagine what’s possible next year

Get as detailed as possible here.

You’re at Point A. What’s Point B? It’s impossible to get where you want to go without clear goals. You wouldn’t start a road trip without a destination in mind, right?

What does your life look like on the last day of the year?

• Who are you with?
• What do you look like?
• How much money is in the bank?
• What goals have you accomplished?
• How are you feeling about your career and life?

Once you’re clear on what you want, it’s so much easier to map out milestones along the way and actually get sh*t done. Most of our fulfillment comes from simply progressing toward our goals.

3. Set your goals but be careful ⚠️

This is where most people screw up. Set just one big goal in each category:

• Life
• Work
• Health

Not two or three, because you’ll lose focus of the big picture. If you haven’t read it, Gary Keller’s The One Thing taught me to focus on what matters most.

So dream big. Make lofty goals. Don’t hold back. In the next step, we’ll make even the biggest goals feel achievable.

4. Break big goals down into smaller, more achievable goals

This year, you’ll meet all your goals – even the aspirational ones that don’t seem possible.

Take the big goals that you just set in each category (life, work, and health) and break them down into realistic quarterly and monthly mini-goals. Then you’ll set daily and weekly habits to achieve your goals over time.

For example, a few years ago, I set a goal to bike 1200 miles. Each quarter, I had to bike 300 miles. Each month, 100 miles. 3.5 miles every day.

Which goal sounds more achievable – 3.5 miles every day or 1200 miles in a year?

By breaking big goals down into daily and weekly habits, you’ll quickly realize the power of compounding. James Clear says 1% better each day. This is how.

“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world.
He who understands it, earns it. He who doesn’t, pays it.”
— Albert Einstein

5. Track your progress throughout the year

When you physically write your goals each day, you’re 42% more likely to achieve them. Pretty cool.

So I use Best Self’s habit roadmap to check in with my progress every single day. And this poster hangs right above my desk so I’m constantly reminded of the small actions I need to take to reach my big goals.

You’re on the path to your best, most successful year yet. What are your big goals? Let me know and I can help keep you accountable.