The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months by Brian P. Moran is the 25th book I read in the Read 30 Books in 30 Days Reading Challenge. What I’ve discovered over the years is that you never know where ideas come from. Some of the books I read had just one core idea and didn’t have enough information to merit a review. While other books had so many that I had to decide what to use in a review.
If you’re not a joiner, buy my e-book, Read 30 Books in 30 Days Like Francis Bacon instead? It’s a 30 Day Reading Makeover Challenge.
The 12 Week YearRead 30 Books in 30 Days Like Francis BaconThe Compound Effect
Book Bite: Achievement is the result of actions. Actions are the manifestations of your thinking. Your thinking drives your results and your thinking creates your experiences. Actions realign with new thought patterns. Increase your focus on the few activities that drive success and fulfillment.
This time around, participating in the read 30 books in 30 day reading challenge was good for me. The books were more diverse. This reading challenge though, is about tackling your pile of to-be-read nonfiction books. It’s also about stretching yourself and getting out of the same-old, same-old rut.
What’s the point of reading the same books that others are reading? Or doing what you’ve always done!
Now that I’ve decided to read 100 books in 100 days, I have to make sure that I’m reading books across multiple disciplines. I’m giving myself permission to break loose with the books I’m reading. It’s time to explore to see what’s waiting for me in my Kindle app.
What is The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months by Brian P. Moran About?
Some people may get the wrong impression from the title of the book. It’s not about cramming all your goals into three months to achieve them and being done with them. It’s a more measured approach. What often happens is that people spend time creating their goals for the year, but they procrastinate, and don’t get started because after all they have the entire year. The next thing that happens is that they run out of time and don’t achieve their goals.
A better approach is to focus on only three months at a time. Instead of thinking that a year is 12 months, think of it as three months and start working on your goals immediately. When the three months are up, think of the next three months as a year. Do you see how this approach to goal achievement is game changing?
When you approach your goals this way it’s possible to at least quadruple your results. A 12 week year has an end point to assess your success or what you’ve achieved so far. This helps to narrow your focus. You experience a new year every three months. Isn’t that great?
The number one factor that holds people back from getting the results they want in life is lack of information, knowledge and intellect. People often say that knowledge is power, but I say it’s how you use that knowledge is powerful. Use knowledge to get better results in your life. For instance, you may read great books and acquire knowledge that others don’t have, yet you do nothing. You never take the time to apply the ideas.
The best companies execute better than the competition. Start to apply what you already know. Take action on the things that will shape your success. Brian Moran wrote The 12 Week Year to close the execution gap. It’s written so you can understand the fundamentals of execution.
Moran says there’s a trap to annual plans because it inspires annualized thinking. People lack a sense of urgency and believe they have enough time to get the results they crave. The better way is to create energy, focus, and commitment every week throughout the year. Focus, concentrate, and overload on a specific goal. After four to six weeks move on to the next. This works for learning a skill or discipline. My Performance Acceleration Plan is perfect for this. You learn one skill at a time.
It’s important to have different perspectives on books. If you’re not a reader, you can find a synopsis of many books from Readitforme that you can listen to. Click the link to join. This is a great way to learn the latest thinking on many topics.
The 12 Week Year recommends that you focus on critical factors that drive income and life balance. It defines what’s important for you to do today so you attain your long-term objectives. It requires that you change the way you think and act. Achievement is the result of actions.
Your Vision of the Future
To successfully achieve your goals, you need a compelling vision of the future you want.
- Legacy you want to create.
- What you want for your family.
- Spiritual needs.
- Security you seek.
- Level of income you want.
- Interests to pursue.
- What you do in/with the time you have.
Feel the Fear and Do It AnywayThe 3 Gaps: Are You Making a Difference?
Your vision is the starting point of all high performance. It engages your thinking of what’s possible. What does your business need to look like to enable your personal vision. To get to the next level, move through fear, uncertainty, and discomfort. Create a personal vision that clearly captures and articulates what you want in life. Your business vision is more powerful when developed in light of your personal vision.
Planning Has 3 Benefits
- Reduces mistakes
- Saves time
- Provides focus
Planning enables you to think through a process and the best way to achieve your goals. Twelve week planning is more predictable than an annual plan.
Critical Few Actions to Achieve a Goal
- List overall goals for 12 weeks. Your goal defines success for 12 weeks. It represents intentional progress toward your longer-term vision.
- Break goals into individual parts.
- If you complete your tactics you achieve your goals.
- Align your 12 week plan to your longer term vision.
- Daily activities must align with your long-term vision, strategies, and tactics.
Your weekly plan translates your 12 week plan into daily and weekly actions. Your weekly plan focuses your week. The 12 week plan you create has all the tactics you need to achieve your goals. Each tactic has a week for you to complete.
To use the weekly plan, spend 15 to 20 minutes each week to review your progress from the past week and plan the upcoming week.
Your Weekly Plan
- Weekly plan encompasses your strategies and priorities, long and short term tasks and time commitment.
- Focus on the elements of the plan that must happen each week.
- Start each day with your weekly plan.
Measure the results. Measurement drives the execution process. How well did you execute your tactics? Strive for excellence not perfection. Spend time with your intention. Have a 3-hour block of uninterrupted time scheduled each week to work the plan. During this time, concentrate on intellect and creativity to produce breakthrough results.
Also schedule a buffer block, which is time to deal with unplanned and low-value activities. Additionally you also need breakout blocks. One of the key factors contributing to performance plateaus is the absence of free time. You need to have fun. There has to be more to your life than work.
Final Thoughts: The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months by Brian P. Moran
The 12 Week Year by Brian Moran is a must read because it’s loaded with a lot of tools and resources you can immediately use. I like the author’s emphasis on measurement and execution. Without those it’s difficult to become successful. I took tons of notes while reading this book and I’m pairing it with Future Mapping because both books together pack a more powerful punch than each by itself.
You’ll get weekly scorecards, learn the eight elements of the 12 week plan, five disciplines and three principles that will lead you to successfully achieving your goals.
Have you read?
Confident Career Woman Book 1: Read 30 Books in 30 Days Reading Challenge
Why Not You Book 2: Read 30 Books in 30 Days Reading Challenge
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Act Now: Do You Act Quickly on Opportunities Or Take Your Time
Is It Really a Good Time to Be a Girl, Ladies Please Chime In!
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Book Review – Patterns in Nature: Why the Natural World Looks the Way It Does
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Book Review – The Outsiders by William Thorndike
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The Acorn Method: How Companies Get Growing Again by Henrik Werdelin, Book Review
How Avil Can Help You!
I invite you to Join the Performance Accelerator Plan that walks you through the process of learning key skills and more. You’ll be reading books to build skills and develop intercultural awareness. Get more reading and learning tips here.
In December 2020, I published two books on Amazon. I would greatly appreciate your support if you bought my two short e-books Read 30 Books in 30 Days Like Francis Bacon and Performance Accelerator Plan: Guide to Learning and Mastering Key Skills for the Future.
Read 30 Books in 30 Days Like Francis Bacon is not about speed reading. It’s about approaching every book differently and reading only the sections that align with your purpose.
The Performance Accelerator Plan book is a stripped-down version of the paid reading challenge of the same name. Obviously, you won’t get all the resources that come with the program that I sell on my website. But if you are a self-directed learner, it will help you tremendously.
If someone clicks on a link and buys something from Amazon, the company will pay me a very small commission.
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