Have you noticed a lot of fad things are 12 weeks? The 12-week guide to achieving the life of your dreams. The 12-week guide to achieving the body you’ve always desired. And I’m not going to lie. It gets me every time.
I’ve just started a new course, after watching an amazing seminar, called The 90 Day Year. It’s all about setting goals in a 90 day (12 weeks) time frame.
(By the way, I would like to add I’m not an affiliate for this program! I just loved the webinar and decided to join. Even if you’re a resource junkie like me and you can’t afford another course, I highly recommend you watch this series. There’s enough there to work with!)
When I watched the seminar and implemented just what I’d learned there, it was enough to make me believe this whole 12-week thing is solid gold. I also started to reflect on the goals I’d set in the past. I’d read about setting 3 months, 6 months and 12-month goals so that’s what I was doing. And when I thought about it, I found my 3-month goals were the ones I usually reached (weird when that happens).
Todd talks about why this is in his 90 Day Year series. Mainly because it’s a shorter time frame so we have less time and therefore more motivation. So I’ve decided to look into it. And see what it is behind the 3-month goals that keep us going.
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Stops us from falling into the “plenty of time” story[ref]Moran, B. (2016). 12 Week Goals. Canadian Manager, 41(1), 19-20.[/ref]
New Years Resolutions. Need I say more? I can’t even remember mine (if I even set any) to be honest. I probably thought what for?
But that’s exactly the point isn’t it. We know that when we set those goals, we have a whole 12 months in between.
And that’s a lot of time.
Jan & Feb passes and we still have 10 months – what’s the rush?
Then we hit the middle of the year, and if we still remember our goals, we’re not worried. 6 months down but another 6 months still left.
Until we get to Oct, Nov, Dec and we’re swept up in changing seasons, holidays. Until we hit New Year again and think whoops.
We lack the urgency to get moving. We don’t worry about the passing days, weeks and sometimes months because our time frame is so big and our goal is still so far away.[ref]Moran, B. (2016). 12 Week Goals. Canadian Manager, 41(1), 19-20.[/ref]
Relevant content on goals and productivity:
- 2 Goal Setting Worksheets To Break Down Your Goals
- 3 Goal Setting Ideas To Change Your Life In 2020
- A List Of 20 Goal Ideas For 2020 (Updated)
Every day, week and month become more important[ref]Moran, B. (2016). 12 Week Goals. Canadian Manager, 41(1), 19-20.[/ref]
When I set my 3-month goals, my end game was no longer too far off. I now have a 90 day year. I have until the end of August together. So, yes I’m feeling the pressure (in a good way)!
By focusing on 3-month goals instead, the days and weeks become important. Every day and week counts.[ref]Moran, B. (2016). 12 Week Goals. Canadian Manager, 41(1), 19-20.[/ref]
We no longer have the 12-month luxury we gave ourselves before. [ref]Moran, B. (2016). 12 Week Goals. Canadian Manager, 41(1), 19-20.[/ref]
We are forced to look at our results and reflect earlier [ref]Moran, B. P., & Lennington, M. (2014). The real reason resolutions fizzle: there’s always next year–if your year is 12 weeks long. USA Today (Magazine), (2824). 62.[/ref]
When we’re only looking at whether we’ve reached our goals once a year, we feel painless (if at all). So less pain, less action. And so begins the yearly ritual.
It’s not hard to waste time and procrastinate when we’re not reflecting. Or we’re reflecting once a year.[ref]Moran, B. P., & Lennington, M. (2014). The real reason resolutions fizzle: there’s always next year–if your year is 12 weeks long. USA Today (Magazine), (2824). 62.[/ref]
But I know when I reach August, I have to see whether I reached my goal. Why I did/didn’t. And what I could have done differently. And that encourages me to keep going and stay focused. Especially when I go to pick up my beloved phone and see what Instagram has to offer.
When our time frame changes, so do our expectations and our motivations. We’re more likely to get moving a lot quicker because we’ll be faced with the results of our actions a lot sooner than usual.[ref]Moran, B. P., & Lennington, M. (2014). The real reason resolutions fizzle: there’s always next year–if your year is 12 weeks long. USA Today (Magazine), (2824). 62.[/ref]
This has benefits in itself. When we look and our results and reflect a lot more, we can adjust. Or stop and try a different strategy. We’re not afraid to start again because we know in 90 days we’re going to stop and redo the process[ref]Why 90-Day-Goals Are Better Than Year-Long Ones, L. Vanderkam. https://www.fastcompany.com/3040289/why-90-day-goals-are-better-than-year-long-ones[/ref].
So there’s quite a bit to this whole 90 day year, 12-week goals stuff. And I know because I’m doing it right now. I’m more motivated than I’ve ever been. But the best part that comes out of the 12-week goal is clarity.
I get up and I’m not bogged down by the heaviness of the yearly goals. Or freaked about by the question of how I can get there. Instead, I have these 3 months and that’s all I worry about. I’m more present because my time frame is shorter.
So try it. Watch the webinar and see yourself nodding your head and going “aha, that’s me” and change. Because you can! And because your 12-week goals say so!
