One year ago, I sent out an email to my un-newsletter subscribers with the subject line,
“Why goals and I broke up and are no longer talking”
In that email, I wrote about how I’m ghosting goals such as, “I want to make $xyz in the next year.” The reason was I used set goals like this for years — and I never achieved them, or even came close.
Instead, last year I decided to move on to something James Altucher calls “having a theme.” It’s a direction you want your life to move in.
So at the end of 2019, I set three themes for my 2020. They were:
1) more money
2) a project
3) some fun
I feel I’ve been successful in moving in each of those directions. I made more money in 2020 than I had in the previous four years combined… I searched for a side-project until hitting upon the Masks on a Plane newsletter idea about a month ago… and as for fun, well, we can talk about that in private.
Maybe you say, it’s all a coincidence. And maybe you’re right.
So I am running a new experiment for 2021, with a new set of themes, building and tweaking the ones I had in 2020. If you like, I’ll let you know in another 365 days whether themes turn out to be 2/2 in helping me move forward in life. You can subscribe to my un-newsletter here to make sure you get that update.
And if you too have tried setting goals only to realize 1) you haven’t achieved them and 2) you don’t even care, then give themes a try for 2021. They might help you achieve the breakthrough you’ve been waiting for.