Designing 2019 Life
On Building A New Year’s Resolution
Reza Arkan Partadiredja
Dave Evans
Co-author of Designing Your Life
Gretchen Rubin
Author of The Happiness Project
Tobias van Schneider
So what do I know?
So what do I know?
“But I do have a one-year experience of implementing a New Year’s Resolution”
Personal Experience
Looking back on a year since I’ve made the resolution...
• No, I didn’t accomplish all of my goals. I accomplished some of my goals.
• No, everything didn’t go according to plan. But there were also some pleasant surprises.
• No, there wasn’t a significant change in my life. But it gave my life a better sense of direction.
Personal Experience
Looking back on a year since I’ve made the resolution...
• No, I didn’t accomplish all of my goals. I accomplished some of my goals.
• No, everything didn’t go according to plan. But there were also some pleasant surprises.
• No, there wasn’t a significant change in my life. But it gave my life a better sense of direction.
Personal Experience
Looking back on a year since I’ve made the resolution...
• No, I didn’t accomplish all of my goals. I accomplished some of my goals.
• No, everything didn’t go according to plan. But there were also some pleasant surprises.
• No, there wasn’t a significant change in my life. But it gave my life a better sense of direction.
“So, this is what I did…”
Building a New Year’s Resolution
Reflection + Synthesize = Understanding last year
Last year understanding + What I want = Next year direction (Theme)
Theme -> Setting Goals & Milestones + Action Plan
1
Reflection + Synthesize = Understanding last year
Last year understanding + What I want = Next year direction (Theme)
Theme -> Setting Goals & Milestones + Action Plan
“New years resolution don’t work, because we set goals that are too far from our reality”
The most common reason for participants failing their New Years' Resolutions was setting themselves unrealistic goals (35%)
https://www.finder.com.au/press-release-new-year-resolutions-2014.
Reflection
Understanding reality—how did last year go?
• Break down last year into a timeline of 12 month
• Recall what happened last year, preferably using stimuli
• Write down the highlights of each month
• Build a deeper understanding of the year by asking and answering questions (Starbursting method)
Consider digital footprints—notes, photos, emails, social media—to help recall the memories
Reflection
Build a deeper understanding. Explore the 5W + 1H
💎 Gathering questions and answering them thoroughly forced me to understand myself better.
“What do I wish to have done differently?”
“Where was I most comfortable / uncomfortable throughout the year?”
“Who am I grateful for?”
“Why did I do this ______ ?”
2018
What
Who
Where
When
Why
How
Excavating the past is difficult (and maybe painful), so add some colors and make the process fun!
Reflection + Synthesize
What is the main Theme of last year?
• Find common themes of the things that happened in the previous year and synthesize using the statement framework below:
💎 Limiting myself to a maximum of 3 adjectives helped me summarize my year.
2018 was a year of ______ , ______ , and ______ .
2018 was a year of ____
Theme
2
Reflection + Synthesize = Understanding last year
Last year understanding + What I want = Next year direction (Theme)
Theme -> Setting Goals & Milestones + Action Plan
2018 was a year of ____
Theme
2019 will be a year of ____
“How might we…”
Exploring options on what life might look like going forward
• “Knowing what happened in your previous year, what do you want to do about it?”
• Ideate on personal wants, needs, and aspirations
Exploring options
Build a deeper understanding. Explore the 5W + 1H
💎 Gathering questions and answering them thoroughly forced me to understand myself better.
“What will I do differently?”
“What are the challenges I look forward to facing?”
“Who will I become by the end of the year?”
“Where do I want to go?”
Envisioning the upcoming year
This will be the Theme for the upcoming year
• Find common themes from the ideation and synthesize using the statement framework below:
💎 Once again, a maximum of 3 adjectives helps me limit the scope of my Theme.
2019 will be a year of ______ , ______ , and ______ .
2018 was a year of ____
Theme
2019 will be a year of ____
3
Reflection + Synthesize = Understanding last year
Last year understanding + What I want = Next year direction (Theme)
Theme -> Setting Goals & Milestones + Action Plan
2018 was a year of ____
Theme
2019 will be a year of ____
2019 will be a year of ____
Theme
2019 will be a year of ____
Self
Finance
....
Life Categories
Theme
2019 will be a year of ____
Self
Finance
....
Life Categories
Goals
Goals
Goals
Theme
Tangible Plans
2019 will be a year of ____
Self
Finance
....
Life Categories
Goals
Milestones
Goals
Milestones
Goals
Milestones
Theme
Tangible Plans
2019 will be a year of ____
Self
Finance
....
Life Categories
Goals
Milestones
Action Plans
Goals
Milestones
Action Plans
Goals
Milestones
Action Plans
Theme
Tangible Plans
Life Categories
“How do I see the multiple aspects of my life?”
• Define the multiple aspects of life into categories.
• Don’t spend too much time on this. Starting out with predefined categories and expanding them later on is fine.
Common Life Categories to get started with:
🍃 Self Development, 💰 Finance
🍎 Health & Fitness, 📚 Education
🙏 Spiritual, 💼 Career, 🏀 Hobby
🐵 Relationship
Setting Goals and Milestones
To support the Theme of the upcoming year
• Set Goals and Milestones for Life Categories that you see necessary
• Goals are aspirational e.g. “I want to become fit”
• Milestones are measurable e.g. “Attain 17% body fat percentage”
• A Goal can have multiple Milestones
💎 I spread my Milestones across the year, because not everything has to start in January!
Take it from the fitness gurus!
Men achieved their goal 22% more often when they engaged in goal setting, (a system where small measurable goals are being set; such as, a pound a week, instead of saying "lose weight")
Blame It On The Brain, Wall Street Journal, https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703478704574612052322122442
Take action and make Action Plans!
A means for living your daily life throughout the upcoming year
• Explore on how to accomplish every Milestone
• Breakdown the plan into To-do / Monthly / Weekly / Daily lists
• Map out Action Plan into a more accessible medium suitable for daily use e.g. task manager app, bullet journals, etc.
💎 Action Plans are just… Plans! And I’ve found that it’s often necessary for plans to change.
4
Reflection + Synthesize = Understanding last year
Last year understanding + What I want = Next year direction (Theme)
Theme -> Setting Goals & Milestones + Action Plan
“What was my resolution again?”
Of those failing New Years Resolution, 33% didn't keep track of their progress and a further 23% forgot about it.
https://www.finder.com.au/press-release-new-year-resolutions-2014.
“What if things don’t go according to plan?”
“What if things don’t go according to plan?”
“They almost never do.”
It’s A-okay!
Accept that things will almost never go according to plan.
• Identify what we can and cannot control
• Accept and embrace changes that we cannot control
• It’s a process—accept failure, reflect, adapt and pivot when necessary
It’s A-okay!
Accept that things will almost never go according to plan.
• Identify what we can and cannot control
• Accept and embrace changes that we cannot control
• It’s a process—accept failure, reflect, adapt and pivot when necessary
• Look out for exciting surprises along the way
Our life and destiny is not set in stone, let alone in a Google Spreadsheet.
To the best of my knowledge,
Our life and destiny is not set in stone, let alone in a Google Spreadsheet.
Building a New Year’s Resolution
Reflection + Synthesize = Understanding last year
Last year understanding + What I want = Next year direction (Theme)
Theme -> Setting Goals & Milestones + Action Plan
Personal Experience
Looking back on a year since I’ve made the resolution...
• No, I didn’t accomplish all of my goals. I accomplished some of my goals.
• No, everything didn’t go according to plan. But there were also some pleasant surprises.
• No, there wasn’t a significant change in my life. But it gave my life a better sense of direction.
Personal Experience
Looking back on a year since I’ve made the resolution...
• No, I didn’t accomplish all of my goals. I accomplished some of my goals.
• No, everything didn’t go according to plan. But there were also some pleasant surprises.
• No, there wasn’t a significant change in my life. But it gave my life a better sense of direction.
What about you guys?
We are designers, and everyday we design products and services
But, have we tried to really
design our life?