We’ve seen the books – Atomic Habits, Tiny Habits, and even my book, One Shade Greener at Home.
They focus on starting with the smallest habits and build over time to accomplish great things.
This is a great approach especially when you begin to work toward a goal.
However, having a vision of where the tiny habits will land in a week, month, quarter, or year is helpful.
Jay Shetty uses the 1-4-3-1 Method for planning.
Thinking about what will be accomplished in One Year, Four Quarters, Three Months, One Week.
Starting with the end in mind, this breaks the big one-year goal into much smaller parts.
My Story
In 2005, I moved into a new role at work as the “Business Planning Manager”.
This role taught me to set visions for the future – 10 to 20 years out.
Work on 3–5-year plans that move toward that vision.
Create annual plans with goals and objectives.
Then, break the year down into quarters and months.
I started to proactively work on my personal development about 15 years ago.
At the time, the obvious approach in my mind was to treat the process like business planning.
I’ve learned that the level of planning that works for one person is very different from others.
You may need a detailed breakdown all the way to weekly activities to keep you on track.
Or you might need a more general direction to go each month to make progress.
The key is to find the right “smallest” increment.
The one that inspires you to move in the direction you want.
Your Turn
Do you use the small habits approach?
How do you tie daily actions to year-long aims?
Would the quarterly, monthly, and weekly planning work for you?