The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months

by Brian P. Moran

As you create your ideal week, it helps to schedule routine tasks at the same time, on the same day each week, if possible. Consider when you tend to be at your best. Are you a morning person or are you better in the afternoon or evening? Schedule your most important activities during your prime time.

For many of our clients, performance time has had an immediate impact on results. Just gaining control over a few hours each week often has a dramatic effect. Learn to use your time with greater intention and you will not only be more effective, but you will also feel a greater sense of control, less stress, and increased confidence.

“Our last free act—after which no further free acts are possible—is to deny that we are free.” —Peter Koestenbaum

Accountability is the realization that you always have choice; that, in fact, there are no have-to’s in life. Have-to’s are those things we hate to do but do anyway because we have to. The fact is that there are no have-to’s. Everything we do in life is a choice. Even in an environment where there are requirements of you, you still have choice, but there is a big difference when you approach something as a choose-to versus a have-to. When something is a have-to it’s a burden, it’s cumbersome, and, at best, you meet the minimum standards; however, the realization that you ultimately have choice creates a very different scenario. When you choose to do something, you are able to tap your resources and give your best. It is a much more empowering stance. Ultimately, you choose your actions, your results, your consequences.

“Accountability is not consequences; it’s ownership.”

The only things you control are your thinking and your actions. But those are enough if (and it’s a big if) you are willing to own them.

At the end of the day, the only accountability that truly exists is self-accountability. The only person who can hold you accountable for anything is you, and to be successful you must develop the mental honesty and courage to own your thinking, actions, and results.

To be truly great at what we do, we have to become better at keeping our promises.

“Commitment is an act, not a word.” —Jean-Paul Sartre

A commitment is a personal promise. Keeping your promises to others builds trust and strong relationships, and keeping promises to yourself builds character, esteem, and success.

“Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans.” —Peter Drucker

It is important to understand that there is a difference between interest and commitment: When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstances permit, but when you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.

Here are the four keys to successful commitments: 1. Strong desire: In order to fully commit to something, you need a clear and personally compelling reason. Without a strong desire you will struggle when the implementation gets difficult, but with a compelling desire, seemingly insurmountable obstacles are seen as challenges to be met. The desired end result needs to be meaningful enough to get you through the hard times and keep you on track. 2. Keystone actions: Once you have an intense desire to accomplish something, you then need to identify the core actions that will produce the result you’re after. In today’s world, many of us have become spectators rather than participants. We must remember that it’s what we do that counts. In most endeavors there are often many activities that help you accomplish your goal. However there are usually a few core activities that account for the majority of the results, and in some cases there are only one or two keystone actions that ultimately produce the result. It is critical that you identify these keystones and focus on them. 3. Count the costs: Commitments require sacrifice. In any effort there are benefits and costs. Too often we claim to commit to something without considering the costs, the hardships that will have to be overcome to accomplish your desire. Costs can include time, money, risk, uncertainty, loss of comfort, and so on. Identifying the costs before you commit allows you to consciously choose whether you are will...

At the end of the 12 weeks, you reassess your commitments and begin again.

when we strive to do so much, we actually apply very little of ourselves to any individual activity.

When you’re present in the moment, your thinking is clear and focused, decisions come easily, and you move through tasks almost effortlessly. When you are in the moment, you live with grace and ease. When you are totally present in the moment, when you connect with the now, life is more enjoyable.

“The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.” —Abraham Lincoln

You can’t change the past or act in the future. The current moment—the eternal right now—is all you have. Right now, you can affect what happens to you for the rest of your life. The future is created now, our dreams are achieved in the moment.

Let’s stick with the Olympic athlete as an example. The athlete becomes great not when she breaks a world record and wins a medal. That’s when the world recognizes her, but in reality the event is just the evidence of her greatness. The athlete achieved greatness months, perhaps years, earlier when she decided to run the extra mile, swim the extra laps, or to perform just one jump more.

I would argue that Michael Phelps didn’t achieve greatness when he won his eighteenth gold medal or when he won his first. He became great when he decided to do the things that would allow him to win.

Results are not the attainment of greatness, but simply confirmation of it. You become great long before the results show it. It happens in an instant, the moment you choose to do the things you need to do to be great.

“Let him who would enjoy a good future waste none of his present.” —Roger Ward Babson

the difference between greatness and mediocrity on a daily and weekly basis is slim, yet the difference in results down the road is tremendous.

The encouraging news is that, regardless of how you’ve performed in the past or how you are performing currently, you can be great, beginning today, simply by choosing to do the things you know you need to do. It really is no more complicated than that. In the end, you are either great in the moment or not at all.

In the first chapter I wrote about the two lives most of us have: the one we live and the one we are capable of living. Don’t settle for anything less than the life you are capable of. Make a commitment to be great each day and watch what can happen in just 12 short weeks.

life balance is more about intentional imbalance.

Life balance is achieved when you are purposeful about how and where you spend your time, energy, and effort. At different times in your life you will choose to focus on one area over another, and that’s perfectly fine, provided it’s intentional. Life has different seasons, each with its own set of challenges and blessings.

You can use the 12 Week Year to build better relationships or create more romance or intimacy with your mate. How might those relationships be different if you committed yourself to making real progress over the next 12 weeks? This can be as simple as making an action commitment like having one date night or family night a week and following through for the next 12 weeks. It truly is incredible what you can accomplish in just 12 weeks when you commit to a specific action.

Consider other areas like your spiritual, financial, emotional, intellectual, and community life. Maybe it’s time to get out of debt, or finish that degree you put on hold. Perhaps you’ve been thinking about writing a book, starting a foundation, or learning a new language. You might not be able to complete goals like these in 12 weeks, but you can sure make significant progress. Breaking your bigger goals into 12 week segments allows you to not only make consistent progress, but also to celebrate the milestones along the way. When you are making real progress you feel greater satisfaction, feel more fulfilled, and stay motivated to see the project through to completion.

To decide what to focus on, start with your vision, then rate yourself in the seven areas of life balance (i.e., spiritual, spouse/partner, family, community, physical, personal, and business). I like to use a scale from 1 to 10 to rate my level of satisfaction. A score of 10 is the best that I can be in an area—in other words 10 is “great,” by my definition; conversely a score of 1 would be “terrible,” by my definition. Notice that I am using my definition of success and satisfaction as the basis for my assessment. If you are single, for example, and you are happy with that, you might score yourself a 10 under the key relationship category.

when you put together day after day after day—week after week after week—the result is like compound interest, and in just 12 weeks you can be in a very different position, both personally and professionally.

there are eight elements that we believe are fundamental to high performance in any endeavor. Those eight elements are: Vision Planning Process Control Measurement Time Use Accountability Commitment Greatness in the Moment

The 12 Week Year builds on a foundation of three principles that in the end determine an individual’s effectiveness and success. These principles are: 1. Accountability 2. Commitment 3. Greatness in the Moment

The ultimate aim of accountability is to continually ask one’s self, “What more can I do to get the result?”

Commitment: Commitment is a personal promise that you make to yourself. Keeping your promises to others builds strong relationships, and keeping promises to yourself builds character, esteem, and success.

Commitment and accountability go hand-in-glove. In a sense, commitment is accountability projected into the future. It is own...

We have found that top performers—whether athletes or business professionals—are great, not because their ideas are better, but because their execution disciplines are better. These five disciplines are: 1. Vision 2. Planning 3. Process Control 4. Measurement 5. Time Use

Vision: A compelling vision creates a clear picture of the future. It is critical that your business vision aligns with and enables your personal vision. This alignment ensures a powerful emotional connection that promotes a sustained commitment, and continual action.

Planning: An effective plan clarifies and focuses on the top-priority initiatives and actions needed to achieve the vision. A good plan is constructed in a manner that facilitates effective implementation.

Process Control: Process control consists of a set of tools and events that align your daily actions with the critical actions in your plan. These tools and events ensure that more of your tim...

Measurement: Measurement drives the process. It is the anchor of reality. Effective measurement combines both lead and lag indicators that provide comprehensive fee...

Time Use: Everything happens in the context of time. If you are not in control of your time, then you are not in control of your results. Using y...

Figure 12.1 The emotional cycle of change that we use is adapted from Kelley/Connor’s model of change cycles based upon interaction with our clients implementing the 12 Week Year.

There are five stages that people move through emotionally when changing their behavior: I. Uninformed Optimism II. Informed Pessimism III. Valley of Despair IV. Informed Optimism V. Success and Fulfillment

Wanting passionately to reach your vision, combined with commitment and the tools and events of process control, is the way through the valley to the next stage of change.

Success and fulfillment is the final stage of the ECOC. At this final stage of change, the benefits of your new behaviors are fully experienced and the costs of change are virtually gone. The actions, which at the beginning were difficult and uncomfortable, have now become routine.

The ECOC is the description of the emotional impact of change. By being aware of this cycle, you are less likely to be derailed by negative emotions and are able to manage change more effectively.

People need stability; we need some things to remain the same. The 12 Week Year as an operating system stays the same. It provides a consistent platform to implement corporate initiatives and change efforts without the chaos that usually accompanies change. For an individual, it functions as the daily foundation that doesn’t change. The 12 Week Year is not one more thing you do, it is how you get things done!

The first step to creating breakthrough with the 12 Week Year is to craft a great vision for yourself. This should be a fun and inspiring exercise. Vision is critical because there will be days when you just won’t feel like taking action on your plan. To help you stay on track, you will need a powerful reason why—and that’s your vision.