A Career Hackers’ Classic, read the full post here.
In 1666, Issac Newton returned to his hometown village at the age of 23 to avoid the plague that was ravaging Europe at the time. This led to a year full of creative and intellectual flow resulting in significant discoveries and advancements such as calculus, motion, gravity, and optics.
1666 was Issac’s “Annus Mirabilis”- the miracle year.
This is what we can achieve in the span of a year. This is the incredible potential that lies within us – waiting to be released.
And, now is the time to make 2023 your “Annus Mirabilis”.
Here are 23 actionable ideas categorized into work, health, money, and personal to help you get started.
(Pick one from each category and get started this week. Continue for a month before picking another. Execute this plan for the whole year and 2023 will be your best year ever.)
Work Actions
1. Learn to prioritize, delete or delegate things from your days
Color code the tasks in your calendar in green= energy creating, yellow= neutral, and red= energy draining. At the end of the week, reflect on the energies of the task. Prioritise energy creating, while deleting or delegating neutral or energy draining over time.
2. Schedule relaxation time into your days
Add and prioritize at least two 15- minute blocks for doing absolutely nothing. Give yourself balance. Go for a walk, read something, stare into space, or do anything non-work related.
3. Build 60-min deep work blocks with no distractions
Use these time frames to do long-term tasks(not urgent ones) with no emails, no messaging, or distractions. Use Flow to make it next level.
4. Reduce the impact of attention residue by taking breaks
Make 25- minute calls/meetings default (instead of 30min). Use the 5 minutes to take a break. Most meetings have 5 minutes of wasted time, so cut that and get straight to the point.
5. Use Spaced Repetition technique to retain things you learn
If you want to learn something and retain it, use this. If you first consume it at 8 am, have Rep1 at 9 am (1hr later), Rep2 at 12 am (3hrs later), Rep 3 at 6 pm (12 hrs later), and so on. The memory is reinforced at increasing intervals. Each repetition is a “flex” of the retention muscle resulting in making the memory stronger.
6. Prioritize your tasks using Eisenhower Matrix
Prioritize the important tasks that have long-term values. Delegate or delete unimportant or energy-draining tasks.
7. Create 1-3 time blocks in the day to process emails and messages
Force a time constraint on these low-value, energy-draining tasks to get them done efficiently.
Health Actions
8. Use the 5-5-5-30 Method to feel energized right after waking up
Right after you wake up, do 5 push-ups, 5 squats, 5 lunges, and a 30-second plank. Jumpstarts your metabolism, giving you an energized start to the day.
9. Go for a 15-minute tech-free walk every morning
For a great start to the day, walk at least 15 minutes in the morning without your phone. This will not just help you with your mood but also with your metabolism, digestion, and more.
10. Try 60-day PLP challenge if you want to gain muscle in a short time
PLP stands for Pull-ups, Lunges, and Pushups. On,
Day1- Do 10 reps of each
Day 2- 11 Reps of each
Day 3- 12 Reps of each
And do all the way up to 69. This will lead to a slow, steady accumulation of volume creating impressive progress.
Use a Foam roller and massage your shoulder and lats to avoid injury.
11. Get cold every day
An 11-minute of cold water immersion or shower can have incredible benefits such as an energy boost and dopamine surge that lasts for hours.
12. Try the 4-7-8 method to fall asleep faster
Breathe in- 4 seconds
Hold- 7 seconds
Exhale- 8 seconds
This triggers your body to turn to rest mode.
13. Try using the Lion’s Breath Technique to immediately reduce stress levels
Sit in a comfortable position with a slight forward lean, hands on the floor. Focus your gaze on the tip of your nose and inhale deeply through your nose. Open your mouth, stick your tongue out and down to your chin, and exhale forcefully with a “HA!” sound. That finishes one “rep” of the technique. Repeat 5- 10 times depending on your time and practice. It’s an ancient breathing practice to help reduce stress.
14. Commit to doing all your grocery shopping from the outer perimeter of the store to eat healthier
Shop from the outer perimeter which typically has the fresh produce while the middle aisles have the processed stuff. Do this for a month and you’ll start to notice health improvements.
Personal Actions
15. Separate work from personal life with this Power Down Ritual
A power-down ritual is simply a set of fixed actions to communicate the end of your professional day to your mind and body. Make a few daily habits like checking the calendar for the following day, planning the day ahead, etc to mark the end of your work day. After this, close down all the technology for the night.
This works as a mental barrier between your work and your personal life.
16. Tell your partner one thing you appreciate about them every single night
This makes the connection grow stronger and helps avoid taking the good for granted.
17. Set Character Alarms to get into character for a specific role or identity during the day.
It’s a simple behavioral intervention to ‘turn on’ the character you need to play at different times using an alarm and labels.
18. Make progress on something new with the 30-for-30 Approach.
Do a thing you want to learn for 30 minutes per day for 30 days straight. The results of 900 minutes of accumulated effort will shock you.
19. Use the Feynman Technique for learning new things.
Learn anything with this method.
Identify a topic, try to explain it to a 5-year-old, study to fill in knowledge gaps exposed by the explanation, and iterate on the process accordingly.
20. Take yourself out for a meal once each month.
Make it as tech-free as possible and let your mind run free. You will learn new things about yourself you never imagined.
Money Actions
21. Create an automated direct deposit for a small amount of money into an investment account every month.
Don’t pay any attention to that account and let it compound.
A $100 monthly investment into the S&P 500 for the last 10 years would be worth ~$20,000 today.
22. Automate all the simple financial tasks
Automate tasks such as paying bills, credit cards, and investing. This will reduce the cognitive burden from you resulting in your improved focus on other tasks.
23. To save money and build wealth, make a rule to wait 48 hours before completing any non-essential material purchase.
Wait for 48 hours after putting something in your cart online before buying. Buy it if you still need it or else invest that money and watch it compound.
Make 2023 your Annus Mirabilis and unlock your potential to the fullest with these 23 ideas.
A Powerful quote from the blog:
“Teaching is the most powerful form of learning.”
~Sahil Bloom
Read the full post here.
Sahil Bloom is an investor, entrepreneur, and creator who talks about finance, business, and personal development that reaches over 1 million people around the world.
