notes / career /the-12-week-year

· Brittany Ellich · notes  · 5 min read

The 12-week Year

Summary: The 12 Week Year

  • Instead of creating an annual goal, create shorter time-based 12-week goals
    • Having a shorter timeline keeps the deadline closer, adding more time pressure to your goals
  • The three steps:
    • Create a 3-year vision, including “the improvements you want to make in your spiritual, personal, professional, financial, and relational arenas of life. Dream big about the life you want to truly trigger your brain to react.”
      • Do your best to become emotionally invested in this vision
    • Determine which objectives you need to achieve over the next 3 years to make that vision a reality, and what is the process to achieve them? Break them down into smaller goals and objectives.
    • Pick one or two of those objectives to work on over the course of 12 weeks. Only focus on one or two at a time.
  • Write your 12-week goal and plan of achievement on paper so you can ground it in reality and refer to it when needed. Use the following criteria:
    1. Make your tasks specific and measurable. Your actions need to be quantified and qualified so they can be analyzed to track your progress over the 12 weeks.
    2. Keep your tasks positive. Write the goals in a way that promotes wins rather than losses. Rather than state, “Reduce errors by 25%,” write, “Increase success rate by 75%.”
    3. Set tasks that stretch your abilities. Challenge yourself enough to stay motivated and execute at a high level but manageable enough to not frustrate your efforts.
    4. Promote accountability. Take ownership of your process to ensure you follow through on the plan you’ve created.
    5. Create deadlines. Set clear deadlines for when each task needs to be completed. Deadlines motivate you to work harder and keep you accountable.
  • Form a peer support group to keep yourself accountable. Meet weekly to chat about your progress on your goals in the last week and where you could improve. Share your vision and the steps to achieve it. Get ideas from your peers on how to achieve those goals and what objectives may be important to reach them. Chat about your goals and what they mean to you, and get ideas from your peers on how you could improve.
  • Add the following to your calendar (note: this feels… semi useful. Limiting distractions and adding dedicated time to the week for the 12-week plan makes sense. But it’s mostly common sense):
    • Strategic block: a 3-hour chunk of time weekly dedicated to your 12-week goal. Reflect on your vision and then complete the tasks associated with your goal.
    • Buffer block: Try to fit all interruptions and distractions into this block each day (checking email, slack notifications, etc.). Most people spend way too long on distractions and those are likely keeping you from achieving your goals.
    • Breakout block: Rest is essential. Block 3 hours out monthly within your calendar to do something that you enjoy. Go for a walk, watch TV, etc. Whatever you need to do to recharge.

Goal Planning Template

A markdown template for goal planning:


## Vision
<!---
Create a **3-year vision**, including "the improvements you want to make in your spiritual, personal, professional, financial, and relational arenas of life. Dream big about the life you want to truly trigger your brain to react."
-->

**Three-year vision end date:** January 2028
**Vision:**

Tracking

| Tracking | Q1 25 | Q2 25 | Q3 25 | Q4 25 | Q1 26 | Q2 26 | Q3 26 | Q4 26 | Q1 27 | Q2 27 | Q3 27 | Q4 27 |
| -------- | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- |
|          |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
|          |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |

## High-level objectives to reach vision:
<!---
Determine which objectives you need to achieve over the next 3 years to make that vision a reality, and what is the process to achieve them? Break them down into smaller goals and objectives.
-->

### 
## 12-week plan (January 6-March 29)

<!---
Pick one or two of those objectives to work on over the course of 12 weeks. Only focus on one or two at a time.


*Write your 12-week goal and plan of achievement on paper so you can ground it in reality and refer to it when needed. Use the following criteria:** 

1. **Make your tasks specific and measurable. Your actions need to be quantified and qualified so they can be analyzed to track your progress over the 12 weeks.** 
2. **Keep your tasks positive. Write the goals in a way that promotes wins rather than losses. Rather than state, "Reduce errors by 25%," write, "Increase success rate by 75%."** 
3. **Set tasks that stretch your abilities. Challenge yourself enough to stay motivated and execute at a high level but manageable enough to not frustrate your efforts.** 
4. **Promote accountability. Take ownership of your process to ensure you follow through on the plan you've created.** 
5. **Create deadlines. Set clear deadlines for when each task needs to be completed. Deadlines motivate you to work harder and keep you accountable.**
-->

**Goal One:**  I will __ every __ days, which will help me __

**Plan Two:** I will __ every __ days, which will help me __

### Tracking

| Tracking | Jan 6 | Jan 13 | Jan 20 | Jan 27 | Feb 3 | Feb 10 | Feb 17 | Feb 24 | Mar 3 | Mar 10 | Mar 17 | Mar 29 |
| -------- | ----- | ------ | ------ | ------ | ----- | ------ | ------ | ------ | ----- | ------ | ------ | ------ |
|          |       |        |        |        |       |        |        |        |       |        |        |        |
|          |       |        |        |        |       |        |        |        |       |        |        |        |
Share:
Back to Notes