At the end of each year, I write a personal strategy. This article explains how I do it, and also includes the goals I set for 2024.
Process 🔗
I am a fan of Richard Rumelt’s kernel of good strategy, so I usually start by reflecting and writing down a bunch of observations about my life at the end of a year. I review the past year and think about challenges and opportunities, both internal and external to me.
This triggers insights and enables me to do some pattern matching and formulate key themes for the next year. To add a bit of structure to the pattern matching I tend to reflect along the dimensions of play, growth, health, work, relationships and wealth. Inspired by Jrny’s annual review.
The next step is to set some effective goals to strive for and track progress against. There are plenty of goal-setting resources to explore, but I think SMART is a simple and powerful framework.
Once I have figured out the goals I want to work toward, I break them down into milestones, and activities and decide on a sequencing.
Finally, to operationalize the plan, I add my goals, milestones, and activities to a Kanban board in Notion. For process goals, I add them to my habit tracker. I come back to my Kanban board a few times per month to reflect, score my progress, and adjust if needed.
This approach helps me stay deliberate about my growth, while at the same time being a way for me to practice goal-setting and crafting strategies. A skill that is useful in my work too. For those who want more structure, I can recommend doing a quarterly life review.
Goals 2024 🔗
I will not share my full diagnosis nor the milestones and activities in this article, but for accountability, I want to share my goals, and I will update the article as I revise my goals. My primary focus for this year is to establish healthy routines that can strengthen my resilience, improve my well-being and further my career. Therefore, most of the goals are process goals that I track in my habit tracker.
- [GROWTH] Publish 1 blog post per month on average.
A way to combat perfectionism and build a stronger personal brand while doing some I enjoy. If I do some technical posts it is a good way to stay hands-on as well. This is particularly effective since it can be combined with work.
- [GROWTH] Read 3 self-help books on self-esteem, social anxiety, and perfectionism.
To develop myself in areas that I perceive sometimes hold me back, I discovered 3 promising books from the Overcoming series.
- [WORK] Have one work-free day per weekend and proper lunch breaks.
To ensure a sustainable work pace, I want to introduce some structure. Daily blockers for proper lunch and less weekend work seem reasonable. I do not want to rule out weekend work completely, as I often find it rather effective and enjoyable. It also provides flexibility.
- [WORK] Explore the manager role again.
I have moved between manager and individual contributor throughout my career, and I enjoy life as an individual contributor currently. However, I also find myself spending a lot of energy and capacity on strategy, alignment, and organizational development. Moreover, I miss the privilege of directly and formally supporting other’s growth. During the year I want to find ways to explore it again, either at my current employer or by changing.
- [HEALTH] Drink a maximum of 5 drinks per week on average.
Too old for this shit. Alcohol negatively impacts my overall health and well-being. It increases my levels of anxiety, reduces my productivity, and makes me a worse partner. I love wine and have no issue with alcohol in general, however, I want to change my relationship with it. To be more mindful.
- [RELATIONSHIPS] Do a minimum of 2 out-of-routine experiences per month on average with my partner.
Out-of-routine experiences could be travel, trying a restaurant, or any cultural experience like visiting a museum, opera, cinema, or concert. This is to deepen our relationship and appreciation and ensure we do not take each other for granted, despite busy work lives.
- [PLAY] Play the trumpet for 30 minutes weekly.
Picking up the trumpet again for the fun of it will add a healthy amount of additional play and balance to my life.
- [WEALTH] Save at least 45% of my net salary per month.
I want to provide a safety net and a play budget for my family. Safety net to cover unexpected costs and a play budget that can provide experiences or things they want. I think 45% is a difficult but feasible target. In addition to the savings themselves, I see value in economic discipline, both for personal and environmental benefit.