What Do You Want to Accomplish in 2024?

The end of the year is a good time for reviewing your progress toward your goals and planning for what you want to accomplish next year. Reviewing the year involves revising what you did last year for your different projects. More importantly, it involves reflecting on what worked and what didn't work, and what you would do differently.

Using a framework helps a lot. I've published a short book about this process and how to follow up during the year, available in both English (Effective Goal Setting) and Spanish (Alacanza tus Metas). There are also other excellent frameworks available, for example, Taylor Pearson's Antifragile Planning or Farnam Street's Shane Parrish Annual Reflection Framework.

Some insights that might be helpful:

• It's difficult to say no to what's not essential if you don't know what the essential is.

• If you want to improve at something, you must develop the day-to-day habits to support this improvement. You need systems for reaching your goals.

• Like a sailboat on the sea, you'll frequently need to make small adjustments to ensure you stay on course if you want to arrive at your destination. If you haven't been dutiful with those small adjustments, perhaps a bigger correction is necessary. That's what reviews are for. Daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly… pick your frequency.

• Finally, keep in mind this formula[^1]:

Results = (Clarity + Focus) x Time.

[^1]: I think the original comes from Shawn Blanc's Focus Course