I was talking to a friend about goals for this upcoming year. As he mentioned, the new year flows by like any other year. A plan is created, and then somewhere in the middle, the goal is forgotten because life happens.
I thought about what he said and realized that I felt the same way until I started to see my year as four quarterly sprints and not just one whole long year.
Biologically, early humans never had the luxury to think long term because they were busy living to stay alive today to wake up tomorrow.
Last year, thanks to Jason Stapleton, I started to think long term by thinking short.
I take a long term goal; I’m going to do this by this time. Then, break that goal down into four manageable pieces.
example:
1 year goal = 4 quarters = 90 days each quarter.
to break it down
- This year, I’m going to accomplish this.
- To achieve this, I need to accomplish this every quarter.
- To achieve this every quarter, I am going to do this every day.
Real-life goal example:
My goal is to make $100k by 2022.
My first strategy will be to make $15k within the first 90 days or 1st quarter.
Then, the 2nd quarter will be about taking the amount I made in the first quarter; let’s say I make the $15k, and double it to $30k.
The third quarter will repeat the 2nd quarter by taking the $30k and doubling it to $60k, and then in the 4th quarter, I will double what I made in the 3rd quarter.
Thinking short term is more manageable than thinking long term. This is why most people fail to achieve their yearly goal. Implementing this breakdown will increase your chances of maintaining your early goals and delivering the benefit of creating better habits.
What do your yearly goals look like broken down?