Translated with the help of AI. We apologize for any errors and would appreciate your help in correcting them.
So, at the moment, I have lost 43 kilograms, and everything is going great. What helps me stay motivated? How to achieve what you really want, and most importantly — to understand what exactly you want?
It is important for me to feel my desires and realize them, rather than follow what society imposes. I think I've found the right approach. I like to set goals: I participated in the "Game" from Business Youth. He used the technique of "eating a frog" from the book by Brian Tracy. He took the first steps in visualizing the future. At that time, the film "The Secret" became popular, and many said that it was enough just to mentally send a request, and, humorously speaking, the desired minibus will appear at the right moment. Of course, this is an exaggeration, but the idea was precisely in the power of positive thinking.
However, then things did not go so smoothly: the goals were not fulfilled, the tasks were postponed, and something "did not grow together". The problem was that we often set goals for the year, overestimate our strength and underestimate the need for long-term planning. We forget that we need a clear vision. This continued until I implemented the technique from the book “12 weeks a year”. It helps plan actions more effectively by compressing annual goals into 12-week cycles. The 12 Weeks a Year guidelines help you effectively organize work, manage goals, and achieve high results in short periods of time. Let's take a closer look at each one.
1. Focus on short-term goals
Instead of setting goals for the year, as is traditionally done, the technique suggests focusing on 12-week periods.
This helps to maintain motivation and clear focus as the planning horizon becomes closer and more tangible. Reducing deadlines for tasks also reduces procrastination: realizing that time is short, you get down to business faster. This creates a sense of urgency and helps avoid the long-term planning trap where tasks “dissipate” in time and start to be delayed.
2. Clear action plan
Each goal should be broken down into specific tasks that need to be completed within 12 weeks. This makes the whole process more manageable: big goals are divided into concrete, doable steps. This approach helps to track progress and avoid feeling overwhelmed — instead of thinking about the final goal, you focus on the current tasks that lead to its achievement.
It is important that each task has clear performance criteria, deadlines and is as clear as possible.
3. Weekly reports
One of the key elements of the methodology is a regular analysis of one's progress. Weekly reports help to maintain mindfulness in completing tasks: what has already been done, what needs to be improved, what actions have been successful, and where adjustments can be made. Such reports serve as a feedback tool and allow you to quickly adjust the plan if something goes wrong. They help to respond to changes in time and stay within the 12-week cycle without losing momentum.
4. Strict deadlines
12 weeks is a relatively short period that creates a sense of time constraints. Unlike an annual plan, which is often perceived as “endless,” such a compressed cycle gives a clearer idea of how much time is left. This helps to increase discipline, helps to avoid postponing tasks for later and strengthens internal responsibility. Strict deadlines create pressure to complete tasks on time.
5. Assessment and ajusting
At the end of each 12-week cycle, it is important to summarize: what turned out, what failed, what can be improved next time. This process allows you to adapt the strategy and approaches based on the results obtained. Regular assessment of their achievements helps not only to track progress, but also to learn from mistakes, adjust the action plan and set new goals based on the experience of the previous cycle. This improves your performance and helps you develop over the long term. By applying these principles, you can not only organize your work more efficiently, but also achieve results faster than with a standard approach with annual plans. The "12 weeks a year" methodology makes the goal management process more flexible and dynamic, helps to focus on important tasks and make adjustments in time.
1. How to draw up an action plan based on these principles
- Identify one or two key objectives for the next 12 weeks;
- Break down the goals into specific steps, distribute them by week;
- Include tasks on your calendar with specific due dates;
- Evaluate progress weekly, make adjustments;
- Finish the cycle, summarize and start a new one, taking into account the experience gained.
However, the topic of correct problem setting is poorly covered in the book. Another book helped me here — "Jedi Techniques" by Maxim Dorofeev. It is important that the tasks are formulated in simple language that our intuition will easily understand.
- The example of the “monkey” helps to better understand why it is important to formulate tasks in simple and understandable language.
Imagine that there is a kind of “monkey” in our brain — this is a metaphor for that part of our consciousness that is easily distracted, prefers simple solutions and does not like complex, abstract tasks. If the task is too complex or unclear, our inner "monkey" loses interest in it and begins to do something else that is easier or seems more attractive in the moment. As a result, we postpone the case for later or avoid it altogether. Therefore, in order to effectively set tasks, you need to turn to this "monkey" — formulate goals so that they are as clear and specific as possible, so that our brain easily perceives them as doable. The simpler the task, the less likely we are to delay it. This is important for maintaining motivation and productivity.
2. Setting tasks for "Jedi techniques"
Maxim Dorofeev in his book "Jedi Techniques" just raises the question of how to set tasks correctly. His approach is to ensure that the tasks are extremely specific, leaving no room for ambiguity and vague wording.
The basic principles of setting tasks according to Dorofeev:
- Clear and simple wording. The task should be formulated in such a way that there are no questions about what exactly needs to be done. For example, instead of "do a project", it is better to write "add 3 slides to the presentation".
- Checking for clarity for intuition. If, when reading a task, the brain does not understand the first time how to perform it, it is most likely that the task is formulated incorrectly. The goal is to make the task easily "fall" into the consciousness, and you immediately have an action plan.
- Scale of the task: It is important to break down large goals into small steps. A large task may seem too complex and cause a desire to postpone it. But a small and specific task looks more manageable and doable.
- Feeling complete. Each step should have a clear result so that it is clear that the task is completed. This helps the "monkey" feel the pleasure of completing the case, which stimulates her to new actions.
3. Conclusion
Proper problem setting helps to avoid congestion and procrastination.
The simpler and clearer the task, the easier it is to start performing it, which means that it is more likely to achieve its goals. If it is difficult to determine your desires, you can use the practice of "100 goals", where all the desired results are written out. To track the fulfillment of my goals, I created a reporting system. To do this, I use my YouTube channel. There are already two videos in which I talk about the poker challenge — how to go to the tournament in Kaliningrad from 2000 rubles. I share my methods for achieving goals and practical advice. You can view the video using the click-click link. Let's achieve our goals together!
