It's 11:23pm and I am sitting in my pajamas staring at a blank page in my journal.
It's that time of year again. The time to reflect back on the previous and plan for the one ahead.
If this was like every other year, this is how I would have approached this:
- Reflect on what went well and not so well last year
- Acknowledge them
- Set new and better goals for the coming year
And then a thought hit me,
"What if, instead of focusing on what I can do new, better goals I can set next year. Why don't I focus on improving and preventing what I didn't do well last year?"
The Problem: Aimless Firing
For over 15 years, the US military adopted the M16 automatic assault rifle as their main choice of weapon. A lightweight marvel of modern warfare with a fire rate of around 700 to 950 rounds per minute.
But in the early 1980s, something changed. The US military made the transition to a newer model, the M16A2.
The main difference? A three-round burst instead of full automatic transmission.
Of the many reasons why this transmission was made, one of them was obvious — to improve soldiers' accuracy.
In fact, studies showed that soldiers firing in fully automatic mode often wasted ammunition and missed their intended targets.
The three-round burst mode was therefore designed to provide a more controlled and accurate method of delivering fire.
Funnily, this is exactly how I see the problem with setting and focusing on too many goals.
When we set too many goals and set out to achieve all of them, we end up firing blindly and excessively. And in the end we end up barely scratching any of our intended targets.
We tend to shift our focus from one goal to another. And before we know it, December hits and we end up achieving little to none.
So there I was, sitting with all the targets I've missed for the year.
Yes, to cut me some slack. I did of course achieve a few goals I set out this year. But let's just say my achieved-to-not-achieved-goals ratio was not so great.
So how can we do better?
The Solution: The Elimination Method
I came across the elimination method in one of Ali Abdaal's weekly newsletters.
And funnily enough, I found it surprisingly similar to shifting from an automatic firing to a three-round burst.
Let me explain.
The elimination method works by first listing out all your intended goals for the upcoming year.
The idea is to let every goal you would want to achieve this year written (or typed) out on a blank page.
At this stage, focus on quantity, not quality. So just go ham and write every possible goal you want to achieve. The quality part comes later.
For example, I ended up listing 25 goals. Here are some examples:
- Run a half-marathon
- Write more on Medium
- Go on more dates
- Wake up earlier
- Sleep earlier
- Pass all exams at uni
- Go on a camping trip during summer
Once you have done so, here comes the most important part — begin to eliminate.
How?
The best way I found to do so is to create three categories or life areas you want to improve. For me it was Health, Relationships, and Career.
Now with those categories in mind, ask yourself,
"What are the 3–5 most important goals I want to achieve this year?"
I stress again, the most important goals.
Pick out these goals from the list and store them somewhere. And from here, can you begin to focus on the quality.
The idea here is not only to identify the most important goals you want to achieve this year. But also to remove the less important ones that can act as potential distractions.
Remember, this year we are on three-round burst mode.
By actively avoiding the less important goals, you're doing yourself a favor — you prime yourself into achieving the more important ones.
Happy goal setting.