New Year New You, In April?

Hello to Spring and to the start of a new year :D (fiscally and academically)

New years are always an interesting phenomenon, because it’s a concept in time that we come up with to try categorize or compartmentalize a certain period with chapters. What I mean is, a month is always a month, and a day is always a day, but they feel a little too short to be impactful when someone starts to think bigger picture and so we put a lot of emphasis on the new year.

Personal Backstory

When the new year is might change depending on your culture, for example when growing up in Hong Kong, we would celebrate Japanese new year with the family and then one month later celebrate Chinese New Year with friend in the city. Growing up very closely with two new years was an experience that shaped how I viewed things like new year resolutions. What is the meaning of a new year resolution when there is another “new year” 1 month away, am I targeting this calendar year specifically? That being said, we don’t often have an emotional connection to a calendar year the same way that we might when we turn 1 year older. I am turning 28 next week, and with a family to care for and a new house on the way, it makes you reflect a little bit on how to start a new chapter.

Okay, that is a lot of backstory but the main point that I wanted to get to is, generally when there is a desire to set a new year’s resolution, there is a certain goal that you’re striving towards. It could be to run 5km, to learn to cook a mean grilled chicken, to up your investments or make two new friends this year. Whatever the goal is, by having one you are inherently agreeing “I am inflicting discomfort on myself in some way in desiring something that I do not currently have. In doing so, I want to take the step necessary to achieve the goal that I have in mind.”

If I ask you one goal on one thing that you want to work on, I am sure that something will come to mind, and I would like to offer my two cents on how to get there. Focus on Leading and not lagging indicators.

Leading vs Lagging Indicators

What does that mean?

Lagging indicators are usually the things that we aspire to when we set a goal For example

• I want to lose 5 kg (gotta get rid of that dad bod)

• I want to get a raise

• I want to make a new friend

• I want to meet someone special and start dating

• I want to go on vacation

The struggle with lagging indicators is that the goal is lofty while not translating in to 1% actions you can do in your daily life. If we turn the above into leading indicators (things that you can track that contribute to achieving the lagging indicators) it would look like this.

• I will keep my caloric intake to 1800 every meal (D:)

• I will set up a regular meeting with my manager to understand expectations and deliver above them

• I will join 3 meetup events a month

• I will hop onto bumble (how I met my wife) and try meeting someone in person this month

• I will set aside 5% of my post-tax income so that I can save for a vacation.

Do you see the difference? This really hit me as I have been recently reading 12 week year by Brian P. Moran and I realize I waste a lot of time not executing on important things. With my family around me, I am eager to grow and be a better me and so I have started to implement leading indicators in my week to track my progress. Then I can confidently say “I have kept my caloric intake to less than 1800 per day” in the week. Whether I lose 5 kg or not in the week is irrelevant because I am taking the steps necessary to eventually get there.

Reward yourself in the short term to achieve your long term goals.

That being said, April is seen to be the start of a “new year” for many, with sakura around the corner and so I ask you (if you want to share just hit reply to this email)

What is something that you want to work towards, and what small action can you do today to make that happen?

See you next week,

Jason