I stumbled across The 12 Week Year this Holiday season, and it is already working for me, and here’s why.
I have always identified as a serial procrastinator. I thrive under pressure. In college, I would always have research papers due. I would do the research early in the semester to know exactly what I wanted to write and have the outline and everything ready, but I just could not physically get myself to write the paper until I had at most 2 weeks left before it was due. These weren’t small papers, and they were usually due around exam time, so it was EXTRA stressful, but that was when I would be able to do my best work. Or so I thought.
Even with work, I will have a deadline for Friday and do everything and nothing until Thursday afternoon or Friday and then start, which, based on the scope of the work, has sometimes caused problems. That improved in Q4 of 2024 as I was just sick and tired of myself and slightly repulsed with how I let everything spin completely out of control, and it didn’t seem like I had the reigns of my work life in hand.
So that was the problem and the “Oh I have a problem” realization.
I saw a YouTuber I love and follow, Latasha James, holding the book in the thumbnail and remembered seeing it as the book of the month in my local library earlier this year. So I went to audible and purchased it, thinking I could listen while I did my Christmas Declutter.
In the very first chapter, he had me hooked because the best months, being close to the end of the year, resonated with me as a serial procrastinator. As he narrated, it got me thinking: well, how do I apply this to my work, specifically with the big goal of increasing my income, launching my shop and moving?
If each day is actually a week, then they have to matter, and that shifted something inside my head. I don’t know if it’s scarcity thinking, but each minute has to matter. Another thing he mentioned is how taking massive action today matters most as it leads to the results we want to see at the end of the period.
As I am writing this, I realize it may seem like a very simple concept, but for me, it is profound because how I viewed time is I always could find a way to in high stress tackle my to-do list or panic, but this removes it.
I am determined to score high on each Weekly Accountability Meeting. My cousin says I live for praise, which is true, so knowing I can pat myself on the back every Sunday at 5pm if I score 85% or higher has shifted how I view completing these tasks. I MUST be great and finish everything that I need to do.
I can already see the shift in my approach to work, and that is how I know the 12-week Year is working for me.
More important than the book and what it has offered, I think, is the conversation I had with the Lord about provision and favour and I believe that things are changing for the better, so if I implement the systems and use the tools that work for me, I am believing by faith that the doors will burst open and all my dreams and aspirations he is going to do exceedingly abundantly FAR above what I could ask, think or even imagine.
Now, that is a flex and promise I am holding on to.
God bless you. See you tomorrow!
