The Sunday Reset
I’ve got a problem, and I think you might too.
I lose sight of where I’m going.
Not like in a “should I quit my job and disregard my degree to solo travel Antarctica” way, but in a “what should I be doing during this upcoming week to make progress in my life beyond my job” way.
For me, there’s obscurity clouding my weekly actions that makes them feel pointless or unconnected to the bigger picture. Consistently, I’ll forget/choose not to do them.
If it won’t immediately help me achieve something big, I lose sight of the vision I had when I first came up with the big goal and the ensuing mini goals needed to achieve it.
Goals like taking an hour out of my Tuesday night to cold-email people I’d love to be mentored by. Little actions like sending those shots in the dark are supposed to add up over time and help me to achieve my bigger goal of finding a great mentor to learn from.
In theory, it sounds great. In practicality? I’ve yet to actually spend an hour doing this and I came up with the “great idea” in January.
Side Note: I recently switched jobs from engineering design work to a more sales-focused role, and my new favorite word is “bottleneck.” lol. I love it, it’s new to me, and I can’t use it enough :)
In this case, the bottleneck behind me achieving my larger goal of finding a mentor is this tinier action I keep brushing off. Finding a mentor is important to me, sure, but that doesn’t seem to register in my head when I’m doing anything but sending cold emails during my Tuesday evenings.
Now, the bottleneck (told ya I love the word) behind me not doing the tinier goal is where I think my issue is.
I forget the importance the mini-goals have in achieving my larger goal.
It’s not pressing that I send those emails out tonight and the benefit won’t immediately show up, so why treat it as an urgent action?
And this happens with other tiny goals of mine too, not just this mentor example. Throughout my weeks, I find myself repeatedly failing to do these tiny actions I know would benefit my larger goals.
What’s helped me actually be actionable and remember the direction I want to be heading towards is the 20 minutes I spend every Sunday reviewing and previewing my week.
It’s given me an anchor I can fall back on throughout the week.
System 3.1 — Weekly Review/Preview
Here it is.
Spend 20 minutes during the day that ends your week answering the same six questions and updating your calendar.
That’s all.
The beauty in this is the deliberateness you’ll put towards designing your upcoming days, and the consideration of your previous week you’ll use in that design effort.
Automatically, updating your calendar and time-blocking for your Serendipity Hour (what I called the cold-emailing session. Smh, even a fun name didn’t help me do it) gives some added importance and intention to what you’re doing.
It also provides a recent reminder of what you want to accomplish. No longer are you forgetting the goals you set back in January.
That 20 minutes helps you stay organized, sure, but it also reminds you how everything works together to get you to where you want to be.
It keeps your ideal direction at the forefront of your mind.
Here are the 6 questions I answer every Sunday in addition to updating my calendar for the upcoming 7 days:
What did I learn this week?
What pattern did I identify?
How much did I save?
What shiny object tempted me, and why did I pass?
Who did I help?
What’s next week’s top priority?
Here’s an example of mine from last week:
What did I learn this week?
I learned an optimal system for BetterLife’s growth on Threads is to post 3 times per day, with the posts being personal. The volume comes in the replies.
What pattern did I identify?
When I work on BetterLife, I can work for hours. Wasn’t like that at my job…
How much did I save?
I saved money by passing on multiple drinks on Saturday night (20$).
What external shiny object tempted me, and why did I pass?
I passed on creating bullshit framework posts on social media. Seems to be the way to gain followers but it’s not my style.
Who did I help?
I connected with a new therapist! I connected with another app builder, Ken too!
What’s next week’s top priority?
Building the testers revisions into BetterLife’s Life Dashboard App.
Reflect on your answers afterwards too.
Did you get tempted by YouTube a bunch this past week? I don’t know what you’ll define as a shiny object (some weeks its something technical, like my example, others its watching too much sports) but passing on anything tempting deserves your acknowledgement!
The objective of these questions is to shine a light on what your actions are leading you towards each week.
As you update your calendar for the next week, keep your answers in mind too.
Recognize how you want to spend your time this week and that recognition can serve as that anchor for your upcoming week.
My goal for this week is to send out those emails 💀. Using these 20 minutes later today, I think I got a real chance in sending some out.
What’s your goal gonna be?
I write a newsletter on living more deliberately that comes out every other Sunday.
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