I forget where I first saw this so I’m unable to give credit where credit is due.
Three years ago on my birthday, I started a document where I outlined 3 things that I wanted to accomplish by my next birthday. This is not to be confused with a yearly goal document.
The document is titled “What do I want X years to be all about?”.
I write out the 3 biggest things that are important to me and that I’m working to achieve. I extrapolate on what a full year of work would look like and where I should be my next birthday.
It’s been a lot of fun to see where my focus shifts and how much more I can accomplish than I thought.
The most enjoyable part is opening the document a year later to see what I wrote. I never open the document after creating it so I rarely recall what I had in mind for myself.
How You Can Do It
It’s easy and only requires a couple of tools.
- Document
- Automated follow-up tool (I use Follow Up Then – it’s free)
I use Google Documents because who uses Word :). I title the document “What do I want X years to be all about?” and write out the 3 biggest things (it can be more). I outline exactly what I mean and how I’m working to get there.
I grab the shareable link from the document and paste it into a new email. I title the email the name of the document. This is where Follow Up Then comes into play. I use Follow Up Then’s to schedule the email to be sent back to myself on my birthday (see their recipes here).
On My Birthday
I receive an email on the morning of my birthday with the Google Document link. I’ve forgotten about the document each of the past 3 years as I never open the document after I create it.
I jot down notes in a different color on the document where I switched focus, missed my mark, or destroyed by expectations (in a good way).
After reflecting on the previous year for 10-15 minutes, I start a new document and write down what I want my next year to be about.
The entire process takes maybe 30 minutes. I’ve found it to be enjoyable and a great way to reflect on my thought process and forecasting ability.
I hope you find this useful and give it a try. Don’t wait until your next birthday to try it. Start now – create a document and schedule a follow-up email for your birthday.