Key Messages
Unlock Your Full Potential By Adopting A 12-Week Cycle Instead Of An Annual One
Do you want to radically improve your productivity? If so, The 12 Week Year Book is for you.
In this book, you’ll learn how to abandon the annual cycle and instead adopt a 12-week cycle.
This will help you perform better and get more done – all in less time!
The book will show you how to develop an effective vision and plan that keeps you on track with practical systems and measurements.
You’ll understand why yearly planning can lead to complacency, what we can learn from boxer Mike Tyson about goal setting, and why planning is the key to success.
You’ll also realize how far our potential truly stretches if we set clear goals for ourselves.
We might even astound ourselves with our achievements!
So start taking action today by following the tips from The 12 Week Year Book – and become incomparably productive.
The Power Of Ideas: From Diet Advice To Business Strategies, Execution Matters
It’s often said that “knowledge is power”.
But, this isn’t always the case.
The power comes when you actually use the knowledge you have.
Take for example the fact that roughly 65 percent of Americans are either overweight or obese.
There are thousands of diet books available and a large industry centered around helping people make healthier choices…
yet most aren’t taking advantage of these resources because they don’t act on what they know!
The same can be said for business and professional success—you need a great idea, but more importantly, great execution to actually achieve it.
Think of Apple: it wasn’t just their creative ideas that led to their success; it was their ability to take those ideas and execute them with outstanding effectiveness.
Just as we discussed before, achieving your true potential isn’t done by dreaming big — but by executing bigger.
That’s why Ann Laufman decided to start using The 12 Week Year approach.
Here, she focused on taking the best practices and simply applied them more efficiently instead of trying something completely new.
Needless to say, focusing on execution really worked in her favor: not only did she increase her output by 400%, she even became the first woman in her firm’s history to be awarded “associate of the year”!
At the end of the day, achieving our potential isn’t held back from a lack of ideas– but from a lack consistent execution.
With Laufman serving as an example, perhaps it’s time to try out The 12 Week Year approach ourselves—to focus on what matters, better manage our time and measure our results—in order to achieve greater successes faster.
How Breaking Down Your Goals Into Shorter Planning Periods Can Help You Achieve More
Many of us think on an annual basis, setting New Year’s resolutions, celebrating anniversaries, and planning our businesses around yearly targets.
But this strategy can be a huge mistake and really set us back when it comes to reaching our goals: thinking on an annual basis often leads to complacency and ultimately poor results.
The truth is that long-term plans breed complacency and don’t create the same sense of urgency that shorter terms do.
Look no further than your typical financial-services firm; December tends to be their best month because everyone is focused on meeting end-of-year targets due to the impending deadline.
The same “periodization” approach that high performing athletes use works for business as well.
By isolating one specific skill or goal in a short amount of time before moving on to the next, you are able to give everything you have during that specific period – and with only 12 weeks, there’s no time for complacency!
Therefore, by thinking on a 12-week instead of an annual basis, you will always have urgency working in your favor which helps drive focus and ultimately better results.
Achieving Our Goals Starts With Having A Clear Vision Of What We Want Out Of Life
Sal Durso, one of the authors’ clients, found himself in a crisis after several key personnel left his company; taking clients and revenue with them.
He decided to take some time for reflection and had an epiphany about rebirth and vision.
This epiphany has shown him that developing a vision is the first step toward improved productivity.
The power of having a clear, positive view of what can be achieved is massive when it comes to making progress towards reaching goals.
The key is to have an ambitious but realistic vision which takes into account both long- and short-term goals.
Long-term dreams should be written down – such as life objectives in ten years time – as well as more specific ones such as objectives in the next three years.
This gives you a map to work towards and will help you construct achievable 12 week year plans.
Doing this will help you transition from your current state to the future state set by your ambition.
Vision inspires action, progress and results – so start creating yours today!
The Power Of Planning: How A 12-Week Year Can Help You Reach Your Goals
Having a plan is essential if you want to achieve your goals.
Without one, it can be hard to stay focused and on track.
This is true for both big and small goals – whether you’re wanting to sell your business for millions or just stay healthy by eating right and exercising regularly.
The 12 Week Year plan is perfect for this.
It’s based upon the simple idea of breaking down goals into smaller, achievable tasks that can be completed over a set period of time – in this case, 12 weeks.
With a plan like this, you can take control of your time more proactively, staying focused on important action steps that will help get you closer to achieving your vision.
By creating specific goals with measurable tasks for each 12-week period, you’re much more likely to achieve them than without any planning at all.
For example, let’s say you have a vision of selling your business for millions – setting aside 12 weeks to generate $110,000 in new business would be a great place to start!
Once these measurable tasks are identified, it’s important they are managed correctly so as not to lose focus or momentum when the going gets tough.
A 12 week year plan rooted in a clear vision can greatly increase the chance of success when it comes to reaching your goals.
For anyone looking to make big changes in their lives or careers or even just keep healthier habits – the 12 Week Year method is an invaluable tool worth exploring!
Embracing Support: How To Stay On Course And Reach Goals Despite Difficulties
When life throws you a curveball, it can be easy to let important tasks fall by the wayside and become distracted.
Even Olympic champion swimmers like Michael Phelps have days where they don’t feel like training, but they push themselves to do so with clear goals and schedules.
If you want to keep yourself on track when times get tough, you need to set up something which will help you control your progress.
Creating a weekly plan which lists all the tasks from your 12 week plan that are due each week is one way you can stay focused and adjust if needed.
Keep measuring your progress against this list and if tasks are not done, address why this has happened.
The other great way of staying on course is through involving other people who understand what you’re going through and can provide support when necessary.
Find 1-2 individuals who are committed enough to have regular “Weekly Accountability Meetings” with you so that every week you can measure your success and make any observations of what works and does not work for specific tasks.
Knowing that peers are counting on you for feedback which could affect them too will often be motivation enough to keep pushing through those tough times.
The Value Of Tracking Lead And Lag Indicators For Long-Term Success
When it comes to achieving your 12-week goals, one key element can make all the difference: rigorous measurement.
Without accurately tracking what you have achieved or failed to achieve, it is impossible to know whether you are on track for success.
The 12 Week Year book recommends incorporating both lead and lag indicators into a measuring system.
Lead indicators are the actions that are necessary in order to achieve the expected end result; lag indicators measure those outcomes.
An example of this could be a goal to lose 10 pounds over the course of 12 weeks – lead indicators would include calories consumed and minutes spent exercising, while lag indicators would be weekly weight loss.
By accurately tracking these two types of measurements, it has been demonstrated that if you execute 85 percent or more of the actions listed in your weekly plan then you are highly likely to achieve your 12-week goal.
Measurement also forces a shift in thinking; instead of making excuses and hiding behind personal circumstances like having your son get sick or an extra project from your boss, the numbers don’t lie – making it easy for you to stay accountable for each week’s achievements or failures.
And even still if some weeks aren’t perfect and only 45 percent of tasks were completed, there’s no need to give up just yet – simply doubling this number up by working on improving its execution is already a great achievement!
Ultimately, rigorous measurement is essential as its only way for anyone to determine whether they’re truly on track for success with their 12 week year goals!
Take Control Of Your Time: The Difference Between Average Results And Brilliance Is Effective Time Management
We all know how valuable our time is.
If we want to succeed, then it’s essential that we use our time strategically to achieve the results we’re after.
But with so many distractions, it’s easy for us to get side-tracked and not make full use of every minute.
The key to succeeding in a 12-week year is to manage your time efficiently and effectively.
This means setting aside “protected time” that won’t be eaten up by interruptions or unimportant tasks.
Make sure you include strategic blocks (at least three hours at a time) where you focus solely on completing your most important tasks like sales calls, writing proposals or closing deals.
And also devote some buffer blocks every day where you can answer emails, take phone calls and have quick conversations with colleagues.
Finally, remember to schedule in breakout blocks too!
Taking regular breaks is critical for staying productive over the long run, so find three hours during the week (outside your working hours if possible) that you can dedicate to taking some well-deserved downtime away from work.
Managing your time in this way will give you an edge when it comes to achieving maximum performance during those crucial 12 weeks – when every moment counts!
Take Ownership Of Your Actions And Unlock The Key To Success
When it comes to success, it’s important to embrace positive accountability and take ownership of your own successes.
This was evident in the story of Dustin Carter, who despite facing an incredibly difficult and challenging circumstance managed to not give in to self-pity and actually pursue his dream of becoming a wrestler.
Through hard work, he eventually achieved his goals and inspired many people.
No matter what our goals may be, we will all face challenges that could potentially make it harder for us to reach them, whether due to academic stress or personal issues.
However, taking accountability instead of giving up sets us on the path towards improvement.
Real accountability isn’t about assigning blame; rather, it is about accepting responsibility for your own actions and their resulting outcomes.
By embracing this concept, you’re more likely to stay focused on succeeding with your endeavors.
It’s easy for us to assign failure as someone else’s fault or something beyond our control rather than our own failures – but this shift in mentality can offer invaluable insights into how we can change our behaviors and achieve better results.
As Lou Cassara said so perfectly: “If you want something you don’t currently have, you need to do something you’re not currently doing.” Ultimately, understanding your role in failing allows your focus shift towards improving those results through positive action!
Wrap Up
The 12 Week Year system is all about getting things done.
It encourages you to execute your goals rapidly by helping you focus on the most important tasks.
By cutting out slack in your annual plan and finding ways to measure and face reality, this system can help you achieve results that may have seemed unattainable before.
To make it work for you, commit yourself to it fully and draft a clear vision along with associated goals and actions.
Don’t be overwhelmed by big tasks either; just break them down into more manageable chunks that are easier to tackle.
As you check off executed tasks and experience visible progress, you will have a greater chance of achieving success in the end.
All in all, if followed correctly The 12 Week Year system can definitely increase your chances of reaching your desired destination.
