How I planned for a productive 2022
We’re days away from 2022. Have you thought about what you want to achieve in the new year? Have you made a plan for making progress on your goals?
I recently updated my list of goals and I identified action steps for moving my goals forward Q1 of 2022. I’ll share some of my goals and action steps with you for inspiration.
First, I reviewed my mission statement, list of top values, and the vision I have for my life in the coming years. These don’t change as often as my goals, but it’s good to take a look periodically.
For example, my list of top values is:
- Personal development (constant learning)
- Productivity (creating in addition to consuming)
- Authenticity
- Autonomy
- Playfulness
- Competence
- Taking care of animals and the planet
- Teaching what I know
When you’re considering taking on a new responsibility, it’s handy to have such a list of values. Is the new responsibility (or project) in line with your values? If not, it’s an easy “no”.
Second, I updated my list of goals. My goals are divided into the following categories:
- Social Life
- Intimate Relationships
- Purpose & Impact
- Money
- Health
- Fun & Adventure
- Learning
- Home
- Business
For each category, I wrote down my goals are precisely as I could. Here are some example goals:
- Furnish our home with all the amenities a guest might need
- Go on a live-aboard scuba diving trip to Raja Ampat
- Refresh my rescue diver and first aid skills
- Produce one or two YouTube videos a week that I’m proud of
- Experiment with different types of YouTube videos to get a feel for what I like to make, what people like to watch, and where the intersection lies
- Have an office where I can work with focus that doubles as a kick-ass recording studio.
- Attend a Grand Prix
(I also articulated why each goal matters to me. This is a surprisingly useful exercise. Sometimes we think we have a certain goal, but when we dig deeper, we realize we don’t actually care about it anymore… and that can free up a lot of mental space.)
Next, I thought of specific action steps for each goal. After all, it’s great to know what you want, but if you don’t know how you’ll get it, you probably won’t get it!
Then, I chose some action steps to work on in Q1 of 2022. (That means I also, implicitly, gave myself permission to not work towards my other goals in Q1, without feeling guilty.)
Here are some action steps I identified for Q1 of 2022:
- Make a list of all the amenities we need for guests to be comfortable in our house. Identify which ones we don’t have yet and order them
- Design my ideal office/studio in Sketchup (watch YouTube studio tours for inspiration)
- Create standard operating procedures for working with a video editor
- Experiment with only using a paper planner for one month (and make a YouTube video about what happened)
- Estimate what a liveaboard diving trip to Raja Ampat would cost
- Research which Grand Prix would be the most fun to attend and figure out how to order tickets
This is just a partial list, but you get the idea. By getting super clear now on how I can make progress on my goals, I can just execute later, without second-guessing whether I’m working on the right things.
Now it’s your turn. What’s on your list of action steps?
If this approach of clarifying goals and identifying action steps resonates with you, why not enroll in my course Big-Picture Productivity? I’ll walk you through the entire process, step by step.
You can enroll right now and get started immediately.
P.S. Whatever you do, do not hold 2022’s beer! 😉