The 12 Week Year Planning Method

The 12 Week Year Planning Method

Hello Goal Getters!

Roseanna here, a recovering goal setter who knows the struggle of setting goals and never quite getting there. Over the past 4 years, I’ve embarked on a mission to find a planning method that works for my multi-passionate, overwhelmed-to-doing-nothing brain.

If you resonate at all, this ones for you. Let’s dive in.

The 12 Week Year Overview

Tired of the yearly goal-setting loop with minimal results? Time for a change! The 12 Week Year method squeezes your goals into, you guessed it, 12 weeks. Why wait a year when you can make significant strides every 3 months?!

This approach, popularized by Brian P. Morgan and Michael Lennington, has been my go-to.

This is my version of the 12 Week Year.

The person I think will benefit most by it.

If you’re multi-passionate, searching for your passion, or drowning in a sea of overwhelming ideas, this method is your lifeboat. It helps you focus on the next 12 weeks, narrowing down actions that move the needle now.

Step 1: Set Your Life Vision

Jot down your dreams, those big, life-altering dreams. For instance, mine is to own full-time, life-first creative businesses. These dreams become your north star, guiding your goals and actions.

Step 2: Brainstorm All Goals

List all the goals that inch you closer to your dream life. Assess their alignment with your why. If it aligns, keep it; if not, archive it.

Step 3: Prioritise The Next 12 Weeks

Now you have all of your goals written down it’s time to think about the next 12 weeks only. Now if your anything like me, this won’t be an easy step, but trust me it’s worth it. Your not forgetting about your big life goals, your creating actionable goals you can work on that will get you closer to your big life goal.

Choose 3 maximum goals you want to focus on for the next 12 weeks.

Step 4: Break It Down Like A Pro

Time to get into each goal and make a 12-week plan, for each goal, break it down into projects you will need to complete. Then break those projects down into actionable tasks you can complete. Then assign the projects a week to work on it and the task a specific date you will complete it.

It won’t take as long as you think to do this step, honestly it’s so much easier to work on your goals when you wake up and you have actionable steps in your planner waiting for you to just action without having to decide what to do that day. It’s already on paper.

Step 5: The Power of Reviews 

Regular check-ins are key. Schedule yourself weekly reviews to celebrate your wins, reflect on your lessons learned and ensure your goals still align with your dream life. Adjust your strategy based on your progress. Don’t wait till the end of the 12 weeks, and then think oh no.. I didn’t get everything done, or this doesn’t align with my dream life anymore.

So my fellow creative multipassionate planners, let’s make this next 12 weeks our best yet! Achieve more in the next 12 weeks than you have in the last year.

Your dreams await. Happy Planning ❤

Back to blog