The 12 Week Year Field Guide

CHAPTER 2 Establishing Your Goals and Building Your Plan

In order to set up your 12 Week Year, you will need to establish specific 12 week goals and then build a 12 week tactical plan to achieve them.

Using your vision as your guide, set a specific and measurable goal (or goals), for the upcoming 12 Week Year. These goals should represent realistic progress toward your three-year personal and business visions, and your 12 month vision if you have one, and it should create a sense of excitement all on its own.

If you find that you need more than one goal, keep in mind that “less is more.” It is important that you focus. With the 12 Week Year, our philosophy is this: Let’s be great at a few things, versus mediocre at many. Too often people end up diffused, taking on more than they can effectively execute.

Once your 12 week goals are clear and focused, we move on to the second step, in which you will develop a tactical plan to achieve them. At this stage, keeping it simple is the best approach. For each goal, determine the “critical few” actions (tactics) that you will take to achieve your goal. Write these tactics in a way that clearly describes the actions you will need to take.

STARTING WITH THE END IN MIND

Figure 2.1 is a sample 12 Week Plan. Refer to it as needed to help guide you as you write your 12 week plan. In this lesson, you will work to create a similar plan. There is no such thing as a perfect plan. Capture your best thinking—you can edit it later if needed as ...