[INTERNAL MEMO]
Team,
We’re just over halfway through January, and I want to share how my thinking on goals has evolved, largely because of what I’ve learned building companies over the last decade.
Some people use this month to reset; others don’t. Different seasons require different tools. What matters isn’t the ritual, it’s the result you get. I don’t fall into the camp of making or not making resolutions. I am in the ‘do whatever works’ camp.
Earlier in my life, a single resolution changed my trajectory. I needed the pause to reflect and think because I didn’t do that often enough. However, over time, especially through company planning, I’ve learned something: I don’t need to wait for a traditional prompt to change the plan, and I don’t need to assume meaningful change should take a year.
At our scale, the biggest risk isn’t a lack of effort. It's a lack of focus. When focus is diluted, good decisions turn into year-long initiatives that should have taken weeks. Speed doesn’t come from calendars or rituals; it comes from clarity.
Clarity = Speed = Momentum = Success
What business has taught me is this: Change takes far less time than we think if we focus. Most hard goals aren’t actually hard. They’re crowded.
Once you eliminate competing priorities, the same outcome often collapses from a year into a month of concentrated effort.
That’s why I’ve become increasingly ruthless about elimination. I don’t want us, as a team or as individuals, spending twelve months on something that could be achieved in a fraction of the time.
Elimination creates clarity. Clarity compresses time, leading to speed. Speed creates momentum.
As you reflect, don’t feel pressured to plan a certain way or follow a specific ritual. Instead, reflect on how you create change most effectively, and whether your current goals reflect focus or an accumulation of competing priorities.
These are the questions I’m asking myself, and they’re the same ones I encourage you to answer:
If I could only focus on one thing for the next 30 to 60 days that would meaningfully move the business, my role, or my life forward, what would it be?
What am I currently doing out of habit or obligation that, if eliminated or paused, would dramatically increase my focus and speed?
What goal am I stretching into a year-long effort that could be achieved much faster with intense, concentrated focus?
There’s no single right time to plan, but there is a right standard. We don’t confuse time with difficulty. We don’t let tradition dictate when we improve. And we don’t allow lack of focus to slow down good decisions!
Use the remaining weeks of this month to focus and eliminate ruthlessly. Don’t wait for permission from a calendar or a ritual to change the plan when you see a better on.
Let’s get it! 🙂
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