As 2019 draws to a close and we look to 2020, many start to think of New Year’s Resolutions and their goals, hopes, dreams, and aspirations for the future. I am not a fan of New Year’s Resolutions and detail my thoughts and reasons why HERE. I believe that every day is an opportunity for a fresh start, and one need not wait for a new year to make meaningful and significant changes on the path to ever-higher levels of performance. Resist the temptation to fall into the New Year’s Resolution trap; your performance levels will certainly thank you.

I do believe in the annual yearly review, however, and find value in looking back to evaluate the previous year from a higher-level perspective. I took two hours yesterday to do just that, asking three key questions:

1. What worked well over the past year? What successes did I have? What habits should I continue? What behaviors yielded the highest ROI in all areas of life? In short...what worked?

2. What needs improvement? What habits and practices did not produce the expected results? Whether personal, professional, or otherwise, where can I be better?

3. What are the greatest ROI changes I can make in 2020? What habits, thought processes, and goals need to be re-evaluated? How will these changes affect my longer-term goals? In three years, five years, etc. ?

Better still, however, and the path towards which my goal is to nudge you today is to take the concept of New Year’s Resolutions and the yearly review and develop the habit of incorporating them into a weekly review. I believe a week is long enough to see the big picture of higher-level goals and thoughts, while still attending to the day to day tasks and habits that ultimately determine the big-picture outcomes. In short, if your life is off course, why wait a year to redirect? Why not course-correct sooner? Why not correct now?

Three Key Components of the Weekly Review

1. Evaluate the previous week’s goals, objectives, key results, etc.. Just as we look back over the last year during the yearly review to see what worked and what did not, do the same for the previous week. Be ruthless with your self-evaluation. Listen not to the naysayers who warn of being too critical. Be objective, from a third-person perspective, and evaluate your performance in the previous week. If you’re emotionally mature and can discern between your worth as an individual and your prior week’s objective performance, be ruthless, indeed. If you’re not ready for this type of candid self-improvement..start meditating or find a spiritual practice that teaches you the basics.

2. Plan the coming week. What changes should we make from the previous week? What are your goals and objectives? Check your calendar, to-do list items, etc.. What are the key initiates you want to accomplish, and what do others need from you?

3. Take a step back and think about the higher-level horizons. Marry the bigger picture of the year to the previous week. Look to the next week. How do your goals, actions, and habits align to your yearly goals? And to three-year goals? Five year?

I believe it far more powerful and productive to operate on the weekly/daily level, and I am confident you will see improvements if you adopt this habit. Steer clear of New Year’s Resolutions. You and I are after results, not come and go fads that make for small talk at the office coffee bar. Coffee is for closers only, after all. I suggest you develop the ritual of a yearly and weekly review, and that you find value in taking a step back to see the higher-level thoughts and goals as they relate to the big stuff of life.

Having said the above...it is the weekly review where the battles are won or lost, and ultimately the 52 weekly battles per year are what make or break the war. Again, if your direction needs improvement, why wait a year to refocus and change course? For the coaches out there - imagine if we only gave feedback for improvement to our athletes once a year. I don’t know any coaches who operate in such ways...certainly not any successful ones. Why then, do so many of us treat ourselves differently? Do we not deserve the day to day and week to week correction in our own lives as well? Why do we wait a year to make improvements?

In closing, be ruthless with your self-examination. Have a spine, have a bit of nerve, have the proverbial backbone if you will. Approach the business of self-improvement with an emotional maturity that knows the difference between your worth as an individual and your net worth. Build the habit of the weekly review, and marry it to the higher-level objectives of the yearly review. Down the line, connect the weekly review to your calendar, to-do list, habits, rituals, and daily goals, the day to day grind that ultimately determines what levels of performance you attain.

Forego New Year’s Resolutions, and when asked, simply state that every day is an opportunity for a “New Year’s Resolution,” then gauge the response. Those who instantly pick up what you’re putting down are ready for more. Talk about a yearly review, and how your annual review ties into your weekly discussions, and how they, in turn, influence your day to day actions. Spread the word. Enlighten the masses.

Above all, see the weekly review as that which connects your day to day movements and motions to the big picture. Develop this habit and stick to it - make it a ritual that you do not miss, then reap the rewards!

In a similar article, I share four tips to avoid burnout of the day to day grind HERE. Enjoy!