## Highlights
Periodization Periodization began as an athletic training technique designed to dramatically improve performance. Its principles are focus, concentration, (Location 348)
concentration, and overload on a specific skill or discipline. Periodization in sports is a focused training regimen that concentrates on one skill at a time for a limited period, usually four to six weeks. After each four- to six-week period, the athlete then moves to the next skill in sequence. In this way, capacity in each skill is maximized. (Location 349)
Vision is the starting point of all high performance. You create things twice; first mentally, then physically. (Location 425)
You will never outpace your mental models. Vision is the first place where you engage your thinking about what is possible for you. (Location 426)
The farther you plan into the future, the less predictability you have. (Location 504)
you want to know what your future holds, look to your actions; they are the best predictor of your future. (Location 558)
The weekly plan then is simply a derivative of the 12 week plan—in essence a one-twelfth slice of the 12 week plan. (Location 571)
To use your weekly plan effectively, you will need to spend the first 15 or 20 minutes at the beginning of each week to review your progress from the past week and plan the upcoming one. (Location 573)
Lag indicators—things like income, sales, commission dollars, pounds lost, body fat percentage, overall cholesterol levels—represent the end results that you are striving to achieve. Lead indicators are the activities that produce the end results—for (Location 613)
Having a way to measure your execution is critical because it allows you to pinpoint breakdowns and respond quickly. (Location 625)
an execution measure provides more immediate feedback, which allows you to make game-time adjustments much faster. (Location 626)
A breakdown in plan content occurs when strategies and tactics are not effective, while a breakdown in execution occurs when you fail to fully implement the plan tactics. (Location 629)
Weekly Scorecard The best way to measure your execution is to work from a weekly plan (based upon your 12 Week Plan) and evaluate the percentage of tactics completed. (Location 644)
We have found that if you successfully complete 85 percent of the activities in your weekly plan, then you will most likely achieve your objectives. (Location 650)
Even with a weekly score of 65 to 70 percent you will do well if you stay in the game. You won’t accomplish what you are capable of, but you will do well. (Location 666)
When you spend your time with intention, you know when to say yes and when to say no. (Location 688)
There are three primary components of performance time: strategic blocks, buffer blocks, and breakout blocks. (Location 703)
Strategic Blocks: A strategic block is a three-hour block of uninterrupted time that is scheduled into each week. During this block you accept no phone calls, no faxes, no emails, no visitors, no anything. Instead, you focus all of your energy on preplanned tasks—your strategic and money-making activities. (Location 705)
one strategic block per week is sufficient. (Location 709)
Buffer Blocks: Buffer blocks are designed to deal with all of the unplanned and low-value activities—like most email and voicemail—that arise throughout a typical day. Almost nothing is more unproductive and frustrating than dealing with constant interruptions, yet we’ve all had days when unplanned items dominated our time. (Location 710)
For some, one 30-minute buffer block a day is sufficient, while for others, two separate one-hour blocks may be (Location 712)
Breakout Blocks: One of the key factors contributing to performance plateaus is the absence of free time. (Location 715)
An effective breakout block is at least three-hours long and spent on things other than work. (Location 719)
Accountability is the realization that you always have choice; that, in fact, there are no have-to’s in life. (Location 758)
Here are the four keys to successful commitments: (Location 815)
In order to fully commit to something, you need a clear and personally compelling reason. (Location 816)
identify the core actions that will produce the result you’re after. (Location 819)
some cases there are only one or two keystone actions that ultimately produce the result. It is critical that you identify these keystones and focus on them. (Location 822)
3. Count the costs: Commitments require sacrifice. In any effort there are benefits and costs. Too often we claim to commit to something without considering the costs, the hardships that will have to be overcome to accomplish your desire. (Location 824)
you will need to learn to act on your commitments instead of your feelings. (Location 830)
Learning to do the things you need to do, regardless of how you feel, is a core discipline for success. (Location 832)
greatness is not achieved when the result is reached, but rather long before that, when an individual chooses to do the things that he knows he needs to do. (Location 870)
What I find profound is that the difference between greatness and mediocrity on a daily and weekly basis is slim, yet the difference in results down the road is tremendous. (Location 883)
Don’t settle for anything less than the life you are capable of. Make a commitment to be great each day and watch what can happen in just 12 short weeks. Chapter (Location 894)
To decide what to focus on, start with your vision, then rate yourself in the seven areas of life balance (i.e., spiritual, spouse/partner, family, community, physical, personal, and business). I like to use a scale from 1 to 10 to rate my level of satisfaction. A score of 10 is the best that I can be in an area—in other words 10 is “great,” by my definition; conversely a score of 1 would be “terrible,” by my definition. (Location 934)
we believe are fundamental to high performance in any endeavor. Those eight elements are: Vision Planning Process Control Measurement Time Use Accountability Commitment Greatness in the Moment (Location 957)
Three Principles The 12 Week Year builds on a foundation of three principles that in the end determine an individual’s effectiveness and success. These principles are: 1. Accountability 2. Commitment 3. Greatness in the Moment Let’s take a closer look at each one. (Location 966)
The ultimate aim of accountability is to continually ask one’s self, “What more can I do to get the result?” (Location 973)
commitment is accountability projected into the future. (Location 977)
happens in an instant, the moment you choose to do the things you need to do to be great, and each moment that you continue to choose to do those things. (Location 982)
We have found that top performers—whether athletes or business professionals—are great, not because their ideas are better, but because their execution disciplines are better. These five disciplines are: 1. Vision 2. Planning 3. Process Control 4. Measurement 5. Time Use (Location 987)
Vision: A compelling vision creates a clear picture of the future. It is critical that your business vision aligns with and enables your personal vision. This alignment ensures a powerful emotional connection that promotes a sustained commitment, and continual action. Planning: An effective plan clarifies and focuses on the top-priority initiatives and actions needed to achieve the vision. A good plan is constructed in a manner that facilitates effective implementation. Process Control: Process control consists of a set of tools and events that align your daily actions with the critical actions in your plan. These tools and events ensure that more of your time is spent on strategic and money making activities. Measurement: Measurement drives the process. It is the anchor of reality. Effective measurement combines both lead and lag indicators that provide comprehensive feedback necessary for informed decision making. Time Use: Everything happens in the context of time. If you are not in control of your time, then you are not in control of your results. Using your time with clear intention is a must. (Location 993)
There are five stages that people move through emotionally when changing their behavior: I. Uninformed Optimism II. Informed Pessimism III. Valley of Despair IV. Informed Optimism V. Success and Fulfillment (Location 1021)
The first stage of change is most often exciting, as we imagine all of the benefits and have not yet experienced any of the costs. (Location 1025)
The second stage of change, informed pessimism, is characterized by a shift to a negative emotional state. At this point, the benefits don’t seem as real, important, or immediate, and the costs of the change are apparent. (Location 1030)
call the third stage the valley of despair. This is when most people give up. All of the pain of change is felt and the benefits seem far away or less important—and there is a fast, easy way to end the discomfort: Going back to the way you used to do things. After all, you rationalize that it wasn’t so bad before. (Location 1033)
It is precisely at this stage—the valley of despair—that having a compelling vision is critical. (Location 1038)
The fourth stage is informed optimism. At this stage, your likelihood of success is much higher. You are back in the positive emotional area of the cycle. The benefits of your actions are starting to bear fruit and the costs of change are lessened because your new thoughts and actions are becoming more routine. (Location 1043)
Success and fulfillment is the final stage of the ECOC. At this final stage of change, the benefits of your new behaviors are fully experienced and the costs of change are virtually gone. (Location 1046)
The 12 Week Year is not bolted on top of everything else you have to do. In order for it to work in the long term, it must become the system you use to get everything else done. It must become your execution system. (Location 1072)
The best visions are big ones. In our experience, nothing great is ever accomplished without first being preceded by a big vision. (Location 1120)
You do this not by asking How? but by asking What if ? What would be different for you, your family, your friends, your team, your clients, and your community? By asking What if ?, you give yourself permission to entertain the possibility and begin to connect with the benefits. As you do this, the desire intensifies and the door on your future cracks open just a fraction, but enough so you automatically begin to shift from impossible to possible thinking. (Location 1134)
How might I? How is not a bad question; in fact, it is a perfectly good question, but the timing is critical. Ask it too early, and it shuts down the whole process, but once you see your vision as possible, the question of how is an essential one. If the question of what if ? is the visioning question, then the question of how is the planning question. (Location 1139)
The final shift needed in your thinking to create an effective vision is to move from probable to given. (Location 1143)
There are three time horizons that you’ll want to focus your vision on: 1. Long-term aspirations 2. Mid-term goals, about three years into the future 3. 12 Weeks (covered in the next chapter) (Location 1158)
Aspirational Vision (Location 1161)
Take a few minutes right now and think about all of the things that you want to have, do, and be in your life. What is most important to you physically, spiritually, mentally, relationally, financially, professionally, and personally? How much time freedom do you want? What income do you desire? Write everything you can think of on a sheet of paper; leave nothing off the page. (Location 1164)
Now, take the items from your page that you connect with emotionally and construct a vision for your life 5, 10, 15 years into the future. Be bold, be courageous; create a life vision that inspires you and fulfills your purpose. There are no right or wrong answers. This is the life you deeply desire. (Location 1167)
Now that we’ve got you thinking about the possibilities in your life, let’s get specific. Based on your long-term vision, what do you want to create over the next three years? (Location 1176)
Vision, when engaged properly, is the ignition switch and power source of high performance. It is the all-important why behind the things you do. When viewed in this light, vision has the power to enable one to confront and conquer fears, take bold consistent action, and live a life of significance. (Location 1189)
When you understand the true power of vision, you will want to spend more time connecting with your own vision to begin to free yourself from the self-imposed limitations that have held you back. (Location 1192)
The breakdown is a question of ownership. When an individual is reluctant to take the necessary actions required to accomplish a goal, it is an indication that they own their current comfort more than they own the future described in their vision. In these cases, people have a couple of choices: They can either lower their expectations in life, or find the courage and discipline to execute the plan tactics consistently. (Location 1215)
The team vision is similar to the individual vision in that it describes the destination at a fixed point in the future. As a group, you will want to put some stakes in the ground with regard to what matters most. This is best accomplished by having each team member first work through their individual visions, then come together as a group to create a common team vision. (Location 1221)
Pitfall 4: You don’t connect your vision to your daily actions. (Location 1241)
Review it each morning and update it every time that you discover ways to make it more vivid and meaningful to you. (Location 1249)
Did it move you forward, or was it filled with activity that wasn’t related to your vision? (Location 1251)
developed clearly defined goals with strategies and tactics to support them. Since (Location 1276)
finding an inspirational quote that will motivate him for that particular week. (Location 1278)
The value of each moment is brought into sharp focus when there are only 12 weeks in your entire year. (Location 1282)
There are five criteria that will help you create better 12 week plans when you are writing goals and tactics: Criteria 1: Make them specific and measurable. (Location 1349)
Criteria 2: State them positively. (Location 1354)
If you can accomplish the goal without doing anything differently, then you probably need to stretch more. (Location 1357)
Individual accountability for each goal and tactic is critical! Everyone’s challenge is no one’s challenge. (Location 1362)
(Location 1370)
Some actions may be repeating (e.g., “work out each day”), while other actions will happen only once in the 12 weeks (e.g.,“join a health club”). (Location 1401)
Goal 3:**\*\*\*\***\*\*\*\***\*\*\*\***\_\_\_**\*\*\*\***\*\*\*\***\*\*\*\***  Tactics  Week Due (Location 1430)
Before you put your plan down, ask yourself these questions: What actions will you struggle with? (Location 1442)
What will you do to overcome those struggles? (Location 1448)
It is important that each tactic be assigned to one individual even if several people will work on it. Individual accountability for tactics is critical to drive the team execution process. However, if one of the team tactics will be completed individually by multiple team members, you will be better served by assigning a subset of the team goal to each team member. (Location 1483)
Second, don’t front-load the plan; instead, if possible, balance the actions over the entire 12 weeks. (Location 1489)
Pitfall 1: Your 12 week plan does not align with your long-term vision. (Location 1492)
Pitfall 2: You aren’t staying focused Focus is critical. If you establish too many goals, you end up with too many priorities and too many tactics to effectively execute. (Location 1496)
In most cases, implementing every tactic you can think of is not necessary and, in fact, can be a hindrance. (Location 1504)
you can accomplish the goal with four tactics, then you don’t need five. Brainstorm all the tactics you can, and then select the critical few. (Location 1507)
For the purposes of The 12 Week Year, keep it simple. If you feel like it’s getting too complicated, it probably (Location 1510)
Pitfall 5: You don’t make it meaningful. You must build your plan around the most important items or there will be too little traction for you in the implementation phase. (Location 1512)
These patients were involved in peer support sessions, and they had a success rate of nearly 80 percent. The groups not involved in peer support had a 10 percent success rate. (Location 1555)
“There is no such thing as a self-made man. You will reach your goals only with the help of others.” (Location 1557)
Weekly Accountability Meeting Agenda I. Individual Report Out: Each member states how they are tracking against their goals and how well they executed. Here are four areas to focus on: a. Your results for the 12 Week Year to date. b. Your weekly execution score. c. Intentions for the coming week. d. Feedback and suggestions from the group. II. Successful Techniques: As a group, discuss what’s been working well and how to incorporate these techniques into one another’s plan. III. Encouragement. (Location 1570)
The weekly routine consists of three simple, yet powerful steps: 1. Score your week 2. Plan your week 3. Participate in a WAM (Location 1600)
Step 1: Score Your Week In Chapter 16 you will see how the 12 Week Year enables you to effectively measure your execution through a weekly scorecard. (Location 1603)
Step 2: Plan Your Week So far, we have talked in detail about the importance of having and working from a weekly plan. (Location 1607)
schedule a time that you can be consistent with each week. Step 3: Participate in a WAM As I discussed previously, your probability of success greatly increases when you meet regularly with a small group of peers. (Location 1614)
Common Pitfalls Don’t let these common pitfalls rob you of your success. Pitfall 1: You don’t plan each week. (Location 1648)
Pitfall 2: You include all your tasks. The weekly plan does not contain everything you do in your job, just the strategic items from your 12 week plan. You should have a separate sheet with to-do items and callbacks. (Location 1662)
Pitfall 3: You assume that each week is the same. (Location 1666)
- đź’ Adapt
Pitfall 5: You don’t use it to guide your day. (Location 1674)
Pitfall 6: You don’t make it part of your routine. (Location 1678)
Lead indicators are the things that happen early in the execution process. They are the things that drive the lags. Most people are pretty good at tracking the lag indicators, but the opportunity for growth is usually the greatest with the lead indicators. (Location 1703)
12 Week Goal Lead and Lag Indicators ****\*\*****\*\*****\*\*****\_\_****\*\*****\*\*****\*\***** ****\*\*****\*\*****\*\*****\_\_****\*\*****\*\*****\*\***** ****\*\*****\*\*****\*\*****\_\_****\*\*****\*\*****\*\***** ****\*\*****\*\*****\*\*****\_\_****\*\*****\*\*****\*\***** (Location 1718)
Pitfall 1: You think that measurement is complicated or unimportant. (Location 1790)
Pitfall 2: You don’t schedule a block of time each week to assess your progress. (Location 1793)
For most people 10 to 15 minutes is sufficient. (Location 1795)
Pitfall 3: You abandon the system when you don’t score well. Too (Location 1796)
Tip 1: Review your weekly score with a buddy or a small group of peers each week. (Location 1799)
Maybe you can’t improve your execution from 45 to 85 percent in one week, but you can move from 45 to 55 or (Location 1802)
Tip 3: Remember that a weekly score of less than 85 percent isn’t necessarily bad. A score of 65 percent might be an improvement in activity from the past 12 weeks. (Location 1804)
Tip 4: Don’t be afraid to confront what your numbers are telling you. (Location 1808)
a 2005 time-use study published by Basex, a business research firm, concluded that 28 percent of the average professional’s time in a day was spent on interruptions and associated recovery time! (Location 1856)
In 2011, the average American spent 2.8 hours a day watching TV. That’s 12 percent of our lives—and that number does not include the hours spent on the newly available entertainment devices such as smartphones and tablets. (Location 1862)
Unique capabilities are one or two things you do absolutely the best. They also tend to be the things that you enjoy doing. Whether you know it or not, your unique capabilities are responsible for your greatest successes and joys throughout your life. (Location 1887)
- đź’ ?
1. Block out 15 minutes first thing Monday morning to review the prior week and to plan for the current week. 2. Schedule your three-hour strategic block. 3. Schedule one to two buffer blocks each day, Monday through Friday, typically one in the morning and one near the end of the day (e.g.,-12:00 and 4:00-5:00). Remember that the amount of buffer time varies by individual and administrative workload. 4. Schedule a breakout block. 5. Schedule all additional important activities. a. Client and prospect appointments b. Standing meetings c. Marketing and sales d. Planning e. Required administrative and operational tasks f. Preparation for client meetings and customer service g. Project work h. Referral lunches i. One-on-one coaching sessions j. Personal tasks (Location 1927)
Performance Time Agendas Following are suggested agendas for strategic and buffer blocks. The agendas will help you leverage these critical time blocks more effectively. Strategic Block—Sample Agenda, 3 Hours Reconnect with your vision: 5-10 minutes. Review your vision and assess your progress. Are you advancing, are you making progress, is there still an emotional connection? 12 week review: 10-15 minutes. Review your metrics. Look at your results against your goals. Inspect your weekly execution score and your lead and lag indicators. Are you executing at a high level and is it producing? If not, what can you do this week to improve? Assess performance breakdowns: 10-20 minutes. Is there a breakdown? If so, what is the root cause? Do you need to adjust your plan, or just execute better? (Location 1948)
Work on plan tactics: 2–2.5 hours. Use this time to complete tactics from your 12 week plan. Other examples of strategic block activity: Read a book. Take an online course. Plan for the next 12 Week Year (most often done in week 12 or 13). Buffer Block—Sample Agenda, 30 to 60 Minutes Review and respond to email. Listen to voicemail and respond as needed. Make necessary outbound calls. Follow up on to-do list items. Take quick meetings with staff to answer questions or to plan follow-up. Organize and file work in process and completed items. Identify any new to-do list items and record. These (Location 1956)
Chapter 18 Taking Ownership (Location 2049)
When we acknowledge our accountability, our focus shifts from defending our actions to learning from them. Failures simply become feedback in the ongoing process of becoming excellent. (Location 2065)
4. Associate with “Accountables.” There is a proverb that says, “He who walks with the wise grows wise.” Who you associate with matters. Stay away from victims and excuse makers. Treat that mind-set like a deadly, contagious disease. Nurture relationships with people who are accountable. If you have important people in your life that are excuse makers, be a positive influence; have them read this chapter and model accountability. (Location 2123)
The choices you have in a given situation may not be very attractive, but you still have choices, and that is an important and empowering distinction. How you think about accountability affects everything. (Location 2139)
Here are a few tips on how you can you create accountability within your organization. Become aware of victim conversations. Take notice of how you and others in your organization talk about failure. Focus those conversations on first acknowledging reality and then on what can be done differently in the future. (Location 2155)
Model accountability. Actions speak louder than words. If you want others to be accountable, then demonstrate accountability in action. (Location 2159)
Clarify expectations. Accountability starts with clear expectations. Knowing what is expected is fundamental to individual and organizational accountability. (Location 2161)
Focus on the future. Accountability is not about the past, but about the future. So often we make judgments about the past as either good or bad, when, in many cases, the past just is. (Location 2166)
By now you should be clear that accountability is not the same as consequences. (Location 2175)
Accountability is not consequences; it’s ownership. (Location 2176)
Pitfall 2: You look outside yourself. Waiting for things beyond your control to change is another major pitfall. (Location 2177)
Successful commitment occurs when your stated intentions are stronger than your hidden intentions, or when you consciously reconcile the conflict. (Location 2267)
Commitment Exercise In this exercise we will have you work through the process of establishing a set of 12 week commitments. (Location 2283)
1. First, determine a few goals that would represent a real breakthrough for you in one of the categories in the commitment wheel: spiritual, spouse/relationship, family, community, physical, personal, or business. Write these goals in the section of Figure 19.2 titled “Goal Statements.” Remember to state these goals positively and with as much specificity as possible; make them measureable. As an example let’s use this goal: I will weigh 185 pounds and have 10 percent body fat. (Location 2287)
2. Next identify the keystone action that will have the biggest impact on reaching your goal. It’s important to note that we are not saying that this is necessarily the only action that you will need to take; it’s just the one with the greatest impact. Ideally, this action is something that you can engage in daily or weekly. (Location 2296)
3. Now, determine the costs that you will have to pay to consistently take that action every week. Write those in the box under “Commitment Costs.” This is where you surface any hidden intentions that may conflict with your stated goal. For example, the costs of working out every day might include giving up TV, (Location 2308)
4. Finally, circle the keystone actions for which you are willing to pay the costs. They are now your commitments for the next 12 Week Year! (Location 2313)
Pitfall 2: You fail to confront missed commitments. (Location 2384)
A research study by Amy N. Dalton and Stephen A. Spiller, found that the benefits of planning diminish rapidly, if not altogether, if you pursue and plan with more than one goal. (Location 2439)
It turns out that using that trip approach works with your other goals as well. The drive confines your focus because you physically cannot do anything else while you drive. You might think about your other goals during the times between lane changes and map checks—on a long stretch of interstate, for example—but when you are actively making turns, all you are doing is focusing on driving. (Location 2458)
It found that if you think that your plan to reach multiple goals actually is manageable, then you are more likely to execute it and planning becomes beneficial for multiple goals as well. (Location 2464)
changed many things, but the most important might have been that I started to value my time much more than I used to. (Location 2513)
I am not tenacious about spending it on my highest value activities I feel like I am losing money. (Location 2514)
Take the time each week for the strategically important items that matter most over the long term. (Location 2536)
Install the weekly routine and make these three steps your new habits. 1. Plan your week 2. Score your week 3. Participate in a Weekly Accountability Meeting (WAM) (Location 2538)
Your Second Four Weeks (Location 2548)
It is precisely now when you can set yourself up for success for this, and your subsequent 12 Week Years. You should be seeing progress in your lead and lag numbers, your weekly scores should be improving toward 85 percent, and you should have a sense of progress toward your goal. If not, identify the breakdown and commit to resolving it. Whether it’s your plan, your execution effort, or both, now is the time to address it. (Location 2553)
Your Last Four Weeks (and the Secret of the 13th Week) (Location 2557)
Success Tips We send out coaching emails (Location 2566)
- đź’ Mark
Your first week’s score is not all that important. What is important is that you block out time each week to score and plan your week. (Location 2576)