Small Talk: The Twelve Week Year
Notes and Summary of The 12 Week Year
Well girls (gender neutral), we find ourselves entering the final phase of the year.
The end of the year can feel like a dreaded deadline for some, where we are forced to confront any discrepancies between what we hoped to be able to accomplish and what actually got done.
If you’re pleased with your year thus far, just a few more weeks of intentional action and attention can be the perfect way to finish strong.
If you’re a bit disappointed about what still has yet to be done or accomplished- you have permission to skip over negative and unhelpful feelings of regret, guilt, or self-flagellation and gently guide yourself into forgiveness with small actions and reflections that guide you toward important goals.
With just about 16 weeks left in the year, now is a perfect time to look at the wisdom of a book like The 12 Week Year by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington. Below is my short summary of the key takeaways from this very helpful book
“If we did the things we are capable of doing, we would astound ourselves”- Thomas Edison
In The Twelve Week Year, Moran and Lennington show us how grounding ourselves in a 12-week cycle of time measurement in place of the traditional annual, 12-month cycle, can transform our ability to hit goals and targets. In this book, the authors tell us how to develop a vision, make a plan, and put systems in place to stay on track.
Small Talk 1
We’re Held Back By A Lack of Consistent Execution, Not By A Lack of Ability and Great Ideas
“Knowledge is power” is a familiar aphorism, but it’s a bit misleading- knowledge by itself isn’t power, what one does with knowledge acquired is power.
Ideas not acted upon contain no power. Power exists only in the application and execution of knowledge and ideas. Achieving your potential is just as much about executing as it is about dreaming big.
As you round off your year and attempt to achieve goals, consider the fact that you probably don’t need a new strategy or more information or a new big idea- you just need to execute on the knowledge, ideas, and information you already have.
Small Talk 2
Thinking on An Annual Basis Tends to Result in Failure Because it Doesn’t Inspire Immediacy About Anything
Annual planning tends to be ineffective because large chunks of time are hard to predict and they also inspire complacency and sluggishness.
Consider how you feel in the first week of January- the annual “deadline” of December 31st of that year seems a long way off and the unpredictability of life can get in the way of staying focused on targets several months away.
Never underestimate the impact a sense of urgency plays in getting something done.
A far-off, annual deadline doesn’t inspire a sense of urgency and focus but an interval of 12 short weeks is often the perfect amount of time to give yourself some breathing room while also keeping a sense of urgency about hitting targets.
Small Talk 3
Develop a Vision
Vision inspires action, progress, and results. A clear, positive view of what can be achieved is often what’s necessary to get you started and guide your action.
Before diving in, take time to dream about the general state you want to be in all areas of life-personal, professional, financial, health, and spiritual.
Then get specific- what goals would bring these visions to fruition? Write down in detail what your ideal life looks like 3 years from now.
You might think you already know what you want and don’t need a plan, but having a plan is crucial to helping you focus and get your daily actions in alignment with your overall vision.
It’s hard to plan day-to-day for 12 months, but planning every day for 12 weeks is simple and effective.
Small Talk 4
Develop your Plan
Choose one of your 3-year goals then break it down into bite-sized chunks or milestones that would slowly but steadily put you on the path to that vision.
Write specific, measurable tasks associated with the goal that can be acted upon daily or weekly. If your goal is to generate $100,000 worth of business- a task associated with that goal could be to call 10 prospective clients a week.
Focus on a small number of high-return activities- you don’t need to overwhelm yourself with tasks.
Small Talk 5
Keep Yourself On Track
Staying the course when the going gets tough is crucial to success. Willpower and determination count for some of our ability to stick it out but willpower is a limited psychological resource. That’s why it’s important to have controls like a weekly plan and weekly accountability meetings that help keep you on track.
Your weekly plan should transfer your 12-week targets into day-to-day actions.
Having an accountability partner that you have to report to on what you accomplished for the week can increase your chance of success by 70%.
Small Talk 6
Track Your Progress
If you don’t have a partner, you can still hold yourself accountable by writing down and evaluating where you failed and succeeded at the end of every week.
Effective measurement systems have something called lead and lag indicators.
A lag indicator is an end result. If your goal is to write a book, the lag indicator would be completing a chapter. Lead indicators refer to the actions that make lead indicators happen. So actions such as the number of words written per day or minutes spent writing would be considered lead indicators.
Moran and Lennington believe that executing 85% of lead indicators per week makes someone highly likely to achieve their 12-week goal.
Lead indicators help keep you on track because they are usually cold hard numbers that help you face the reality of the path you are on. It can be hard to face the numbers at the end of the week if you fall severely short of your targets, but if you keep up the practice of tracking progress in this way- it makes it very effective in improving performances over time. Doing 20% of what you intend to do can be brought up to 40% the following week and 60% the week after.
Small Talk 7
Prioritize what’s important
Sometimes the biggest thing holding you back from executing is constantly deferring high-return, lead tasks in favor of handling small, less important but urgent tasks.
Have blocks of time daily (the authors recommend 3-hour periods) where all distractions are ignored and your attention is dedicated towards strategic work that brings lead gains on the goals you defined for your 12-week year.
Also, schedule time when you will handle small but urgent tasks (such as replying to messages and emails) and time when you allow yourself to be free to reflect, have fun, and relax.
Scheduling these blocks of time in your weekly plan can help you stay on top of your leads and strategic actions, ensure you stay abreast of small tasks and obligations, and also ensure that you prioritize your mental health and sanity. Keep free spaces of time in between these blocks for other less important tasks and unpredictable events and setbacks that life throws at you- that way, no matter what is happening you still stay abreast of what’s important.
Small Talk 8
Take ownership of your success with personal accountability
Throw out the victim mindset and take ownership of your actions and choices.
There will always be circumstances out of your control but you get to decide how you respond and adapt to them.
By taking responsibility for the results you produce you empower yourself to improve. But when you blame circumstances and make excuses for poor performance, you lock yourself in being at the mercy of outside forces.
The concept of accountability has been totally distorted by common use to mean blame and punishment put on you by external forces, but in fact, accountability is a personal self-regulation tool. Nobody can hold you accountable in the true sense of the word except yourself. Being accountable to yourself means holding yourself up to your own standards and personal ideals.
There’s still time left in 2023, pick 3 key goals and write out a 12-week plan to accomplish them starting today. Track your lead and lag indicators, schedule blocks of time daily or weekly to get it done, and hold yourself accountable and you’ll be on your way to finishing the year strong <3
Bye for now!
I loved every single moment of this. Thank You -Kwame-