“How, specifically, do you want your life to be better at this time next year?” – James Clear, author of Atomic Habits.
I recently read author James Clear’s bestseller “Atomic Habits”. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to level up their game and their life. I also subscribe to his “3-2-1 Thursday” weekly newsletter. It’s a must read for me each week. This past week, he offered up this question. Since then, I’ve shared it with every group I meet with and even some individuals. Unanimously, everyone has responded positively about the power of this one simple question.
First, it’s important to understand that answering this question likely will require some pondering. Just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it’s easy. In fact, I’m still working through my own answer a week later. Write it down yourself, share it with the people you love and care about, and give yourself some time to think it through. It’s one of the best exercises for creating focus that I’ve ever experienced.
Another observation I offer about this question is that it forces us to think towards the future. Too often we allow ourselves to be shackled to our past. This question doesn’t care about your past, only asking of you to think of your future.
This question directs you to only consider what you want that represents better. The question is not whether you think your life will be or can be better a year from now. The positive assumption gives you permission to think only about better. It’s amazing what happens when we start with that assumption.
This question asks for specificity. This brings in visualization and imagination as you consider what better looks like a year from now. No generalities here, specificity is required. This is where most of us will struggle. This is where we also have the most to gain. It requires us to decide. It’s important that you commit to write it down. Writing crystallizes thought and thought motivates action (I learned that from Paul J Meyer). Putting it on paper requires you to be specific. No wandering generalities allowed!
Finally, it gives us a year. The possibilities expand when we think longer term. Too often we let the pace and short-term view that we have become accustomed to in our culture force us into short-term thinking and planning. This month, this week, and likely today become the planning time blocks of our life. Given a year, hope can flourish. We become less confined by our current results and current beliefs.
Let me share a few ideas that might help you should you choose to take the challenge of this question to heart. It always helps me to create categories to stimulate my thinking when it comes to setting and planning goals for the future. Here are some categories you might want to consider for yourself.
- Career – ask how you want your career to be better at this time next year. This could include a promotion, a new position, more responsibility, better schedule, or maybe the achievement of a particular milestone.
- Financial – what would make your life better in this area? Consider areas such as debt reduction, saving, investing, and earning.
- Lifestyle – a different car, a better apartment or home, etc.
- Relationships – the repair of a relationship or the development of a new one.
- Health – fitness, healthy eating, or maybe improvement of a physical condition.
- Hobbies/Leisure Time/Travel – what would make your life better in these areas?
- Spiritual – is there something missing here that could make your life better?
Now that you have identified the specific item or items to focus on, it’s time to develop a follow-through plan to keep you on track. Find an app or use the task/calendar tools on your phone or PC to create a weekly reminder of your answer to these questions. Using the technology at your fingertips to create regular alerts keeps you focused.
You have a choice to make. You’ve invested the 3 minutes required to read through this post. Are you going to commit to answering this question over the next few days or will you just admire it as a good idea, but never take the time to follow-through? We all know which way leads to a better life next year.
If you’re reading this and you have a career role leading people, this is a great question to use with your team to help them realize more of their full potential. If you would like to discuss how to do that, be sure to reach out to me at jkenney@safestreets.com.