Book-Reader-Assist/library/Your Best Year Ever/Back-Matter/Back-Matter-source-text.md

Your Best Year Ever — Back-Matter: LEAP Principle, Sample Goal Templates, Notes, Thanks, Index, About the Author

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The LEAP Principle Draw, Antonio, draw, Antonio, draw and do not waste time. MICHELANGELO, note penned as an old man to his apprentice My wife, Gail, loves The Jetsons. The futuristic cartoon first made its appearance in the 1960s and stayed in syndication for decades. Nowadays Gail enjoys watching it with the grandkids. The show featured flying cars, houses in the sky, robot domestic help, and leisurely (though humorously stressful) work. Some of those inventions have come true, and we’ve surpassed others. But critics point out that the utopian picture of the future is still a long way off. Entrepreneur Peter Thiel, an early investor in Facebook and Elon Musk’s SpaceX, sees a big gap here. “We wanted flying cars,” he’s famous for saying, “instead we got 140 characters.”1 I love Twitter, but I get his point. Based on the vision of previous decades, it feels like we should be further along than we are. So, why the lag? Either we haven’t acted on our priorities, or we have different priorities altogether. Thiel is a visionary. But he knows it takes more than vision to achieve our goals—especially big, audacious ones that will transform our lives for the better. “I disagree with the vision of the future where all you have to do is sit back, eat popcorn, and watch the movie of the future unfold,” Thiel told economist Tyler Cowen in an interview. Dreaming of a better tomorrow isn’t enough. “I think the future is open to us to decide what to do.”2 In other words, the future is in your hands. But only if you act today. I can think of no realization more important than this as we come to a close. I see this all the time with people who set major goals for the year. If you followed the Action Plans for each step, you’ve got a list of your own by

now. Let’s say you want to get fit, write a book, or start a new business. Dreaming up big results can be emotionally satisfying and intellectually stimulating. But getting started requires action. And that can be tough. After all, how can you . . . make room in your schedule for the gym? find the hours it takes each week to sit and write? know if your new product has enough demand in the marketplace? Those are good questions. And they’re important to answer. But proceeding without all the answers is not the real risk here. Not even close. The real risk is this: When facing these sorts of challenges, instead of taking action we can coast on the good feeling of the dream without taking the necessary steps to see it realized. That’s like sitting back, trying to watch the movie of the future. And you’ll never get your hoverboard that way, or anything else for that matter.

Soon you’ll be susceptible to the Law of Diminishing Intent. It states, the longer you wait to take action, the less likely you will be to take it. Jim Rohn originally noticed this phenomenon and coined the term. But you can beat the Law of Diminishing Intent and create your best year ever by leveraging what I call the LEAP Principle: NEVER LEAVE THE SCENE OF CLARITY WITHOUT TAKING DECISIVE ACTION. If you want to see a big change, you must be willing to take a big LEAP. It’s as simple as four steps, one for each letter of the acronym: Lean into the change with expectancy. When you notice that a change is desirable or necessary, that’s your green light. Punch the gas pedal. That inkling is all you need to get going.

Engage with the concept until you achieve clarity. Don’t let the feeling pass. Work with it until you’ve got a sense of what to do. That nagging thought in the back of your mind might be the start of a whole new adventure—or the ladder you need to climb out of a deep rut. Activate and do something—anything. Sometimes we wait to move until we have all the information. That’s a mistake. Clarity comes in degrees. And you only need enough light for the next step. Even if you get off on the wrong foot, the rest of the journey will become clearer as you go. Pounce and do it now. Once you’ve determined your next step, take it. Don’t wait. Waiting feels safe, but waiting kills dreams. I’ve seen high achievers leverage the LEAP Principle time and again. A few years ago, I hosted a mastermind group of entrepreneurs and executives called the Inner Circle. At one of the first meetings, one of the members realized he needed to quit a professional organization he belonged to. The commitment was chipping away at his resources and not providing enough return. It was a light-bulb moment and he jumped into action. He didn’t schedule it for later that week. That would have left the issue unresolved, and the delay would have allowed his intent to diminish. Why? As he built up the complications of quitting in his mind, he would have found reasons to stay on board. Instead, he left the room at the very first break, made a phone call, and resigned. He took a LEAP. Now it’s your turn. Your best year ever isn’t a movie you can sit back and watch. It’s a vision that needs to be built, starting now, or it won’t come true. It’s no accident you were drawn to this book and that you’ve stayed with it till the end. This is your year, this is your moment. Don’t defer your dreams. Don’t delay your goals. Don’t procrastinate on the one thing you need to do today to make meaningful progress in your personal or professional life. Once you’ve determined your next step, take it. Don’t wait. Take a LEAP.

Sample Goal Templates Here you’ll find sample goals using the templates I employ in the Full Focus Planner.™ These are all hypothetical goals that you can use to guide your goal- setting process. I’ve included a mix of achievement and habit goals, one for each of the ten life domains. Your particular mix will look different; this is just to give you a sense of what’s possible with a complete set of goals. These templates demonstrate how the different elements of the Best Year Ever system fit together, including SMARTER goals (chap. 7), key motivations (chap. 10), and next steps (chap. 13). Using templates like these makes the goal review process (chap. 15) quick and easy.

Notes Your Best Is Yet to Come

1. Brent Yarina, “A Race to Remember,” BTN, June 3, 2015, http://btn.com/2015/06/03/a-race-to- remember-i-had-no-idea-i-fell-like-that-in-inspirational-2008-run. Several videos of the race can be found online.
2. Allyssa Birth, “Americans Look to Get Their Bodies and Wallets in Shape with New Year’s Resolutions,” Harris Poll, January 26, 2017, http://www.theharrispoll.com/health-and-life/In-Shape- New-Years-Resolutions.html. See also: “New Years Resolution Statistics,” Statistic Brain Research Institute, January 1, 2017, http://www.statisticbrain.com/new-years-resolution-statistics.
3. Laura House, “Got Ready for the Gym, Packed My Gear, Went for a Burger Instead,” Daily Mail, January 7, 2016, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3388106/New-Year-s-resolutions- broken-just-one-week-2015.html.
4. “New Years Resolution Statistics.”
5. Stacey Vanek Smith, “Why We Sign Up for Gym Memberships but Never Go to the Gym,” NPR, January 15, 2015, http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2014/12/30/373996649/why-we-sign-up- for-gym-memberships-but-don-t-go-to-the-gym.
6. Composite list adapted from “New Years Resolution Statistics”; Mona Chalabi, “How Fast You’ll Abandon Your New Year’s Resolutions,” FiveThirtyEight, January 1, 2015, https://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/how-fast-youll-abandon-your-new-years-resolutions/; Nichole Spector, “2017 New Year’s Resolutions,” NBC News, January 1, 2017, http://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/2017-new-year-s-resolutions-most-popular-how-stick- them-n701891; Lisa Cannon Green, “God Rivals the Gym among New Year’s Resolutions,” Christianity Today, December 29, 2015, http://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2015/december/god- rivals-gym-among-new-years-resolutions.html.
7. Yarina, “A Race to Remember.” Chapter 1 Your Beliefs Shape Your Reality
8. William I. Thomas and Dorothy Swaine Thomas, The Child in America (New York: Knopf, 1928), 572; Robert K. Merton, “The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy,” The Antioch Review 8, no. 2 (Summer 1948); Karl Popper, The Poverty of Historicism (1957; repr., New York: Routledge, 2002), 11.
9. Chris Berdik, Mind Over Mind (New York: Current, 2012), 9.
10. Alan Shipnuck, “What Happened?” Sports Illustrated, April 4, 2016, http://www.golf.com/tour- and-news/what-happened-tiger-woods-it-remains-most-vexing-question-sports.
11. “New Years Resolution Statistics.”
12. Birth, “Americans Look to Get Their Bodies and Wallets in Shape with New Year’s Resolutions.”
13. H. A. Dorfman, The Mental ABC’s of Pitching (Lanham, MD: Rowman, 2000), 212–13.
14. Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander, The Art of Possibility (New York: Penguin, 2002), 1.
15. “Real-Life ‘Daedalus’ Unveils Plaque to Historic Human-Powered Flight,” FAI, June 11, 2016, http://www.fai.org/ciaca-slider-news/41366-real-life-daedalus-unveils-plaque-to-historic-human-

powered-flight. 9. Keith Hamm, “12-Year-Old Tom Schaar Lands 1080,” ESPN, March 30, 2012, http://www.espn.com/action/skateboarding/story/_/id/7755456/12-year-old-tom-schaar-lands- skateboarding-first-1080. 10. From a page in saxophonist Steve Lacy’s notebook, published by Jason Kottke, “Advice on How to Play a Gig by Thelonious Monk,” Kottke.org, February 13, 2017, http://kottke.org/17/02/advice-on-how-to-play-a-gig-by-thelonious-monk. 11. Arthur C. Clarke, Profiles of the Future (New York: Harper, 1962), 14. Chapter 2 Some Beliefs Hold You Back

1. Heidi Grant Halvorson, 9 Things Successful People Do Differently (Boston: Harvard Business Review Press, 2012), 54–63. See also Carol S. Dweck’s discussion of fixed vs. growth mindsets in her book Mindset (New York: Random House, 2006).
2. Jeremy Dean, Making Habits, Breaking Habits (Boston: Da Capo, 2013), 89–90.
3. J. R. R. Tolkien, Roverandom (London: Harper, 2013), 110.
4. Michael Grothaus, “Here’s What Happened When I Gave Up Following the News for a Week,” Fast Company, October 25, 2016, https://www.fastcompany.com/3064824/heres-what-happened- when-i-gave-up-following-the-news-for-a-week.
5. Donna Freitas, The Happiness Effect (New York: Oxford, 2017), 39.
6. Andrea Shea, “Facebook Envy: How the Social Network Affects Our Self Esteem,” WBUR, February 20, 2013, http://legacy.wbur.org/2013/02/20/facebook-perfection.
7. Timothy D. Wilson, Redirect: Changing the Stories We Live By (New York: Back Bay, 2015),
9. Henry Cloud, The Power of the Other (New York: Harper, 2016), 9.
10. Brent Schlender, Becoming Steve Jobs (New York: Crown Business, 2015), 408. Chapter 3 You Can Upgrade Your Beliefs
11. Charles Duhigg, The Power of Habit (New York: Random House, 2012), 84–85.
12. Donald Miller, Scary Close (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2014), 12–13.
13. Erin Gruwell, The Freedom Writers Diary (New York: Broadway, 2009), 49.
14. Albert Bandura, “Toward a Psychology of Human Agency,” Perspectives on Psychological Science 1, no. 2 (June 1, 2006), http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1745- 6916.2006.00011.x.
15. Martin Luther King Jr., “Living Under the Tensions of Modern Life,” The Papers of Martin Luther King Jr., vol. 6, ed. Clayborne Carson and Susan Carson (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007), 265.
16. See Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler, Abundance (New York: Free Press, 2014). See also Matt Ridley, The Rational Optimist (New York: Harper, 2011).
17. Vivek Wadhwa, “Why Middle-Aged Entrepreneurs Will Be Critical to the Next Trillion-Dollar Business,” Venture Beat, October 31, 2014, https://venturebeat.com/2014/10/31/why-middle-aged- entrepreneurs-will-be-critical-to-the-next-trillion-dollar-business. Step 2 Complete the Past
18. Jeremy Coon et al. Napoleon Dynamite (Beverly Hills, CA: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2004). Chapter 4 Thinking Backward Is a Must
19. Daniel Kahneman and Dale T. Miller, “Norm Theory: Comparing Reality to Its Alternatives,” Heuristics and Biases: The Psychology of Intuitive Judgment, ed. Thomas Gilovich, Dale Griffin, and

Daniel Kahneman (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 348. 2. Brené Brown, Rising Strong (New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2015), 270. 3. Marilyn Darling et al., “Learning in the Thick of It,” Harvard Business Review, July–August 2005, https://hbr.org/2005/07/learning-in-the-thick-of-it. 4. Sonja Lyubomirsky, Lorie Sousa, and Rene Dickerhoof, “The Costs and Benefits of Writing, Talking, and Thinking About Life’s Triumphs and Defeats,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 90, no. 4 (2006), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16649864. 5. Carina Chocano, “Je Regrette,” Aeon, October 16, 2013, https://aeon.co/essays/why-regret-is- essential-to-the-good-life. 6. George Santayana, The Life of Reason (New York: Scribner, 1905), 284. Chapter 5 Regret Reveals Opportunity

1. Larry Shannon-Missal, “Tattoo Takeover,” Harris Poll, February 10, 2016, http://www.theharrispoll.com/health-and-life/tattoo_takeover.html.
2. The bungled tattoo examples are from the “bad tattoos” feature at TattooNow.com. The bored or adventurous can find a million more via Google.
3. Beatrice Aidin, “Rethinking Ink,” London Telegraph, January 23, 2016, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/beauty/body/rethinking-ink-how-tattoos-lost-their-cool.
4. Brown, Rising Strong, 211.
5. Janet Landman, Regret (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993), 15.
6. Brown, Rising Strong, 213.
7. Landman, Regret, 21–29.
8. Neal J. Roese and Amy Summerville, “What We Regret Most . . . and Why,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, September 2005, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2394712.
9. Sarah Graham, “Brain Region Tied to Regret Identified,” Scientific American, August 8, 2005, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/brain-region-tied-to-regr. See the original study here: Giorgio Coricelli et al., “Regret and Its Avoidance: A Neuroimaging Study of Choice Behavior,” Nature Neuroscience 8 (August 2005), http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v8/n9/full/nn1514.html, along with follow-up here: Angela Ambrosino, Nadège Bault, and Giorgio Coricelli, “Neural Foundation for Regret-Based Decision Making,” Revue d’économie politique 118, no. 1 (January– February 2008), https://www.cairn.info/revue-d-economie-politique-2008-1-page-63.htm. Chapter 6 Gratitude Makes the Difference
10. Don Yaeger, “Welcome to Krzyzewskiville,” Success, August 10, 2015, http://www.success.com/article/welcome-to-krzyzewskiville.
11. Robert A. Emmons and Anjali Mishra, “Why Gratitude Enhances Well-Being,” Designing Positive Psychology, ed. Kennon M. Sheldon et al. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), 254.
12. David DeSteno et al., “Gratitude: A Tool for Reducing Economic Impatience,” Psychological Science 25, no. 6 (April 2014), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24760144. Quote from Martha C. White, “Be Thankful, Save More,” Today, June 13, 2014, http://www.today.com/money/be- thankful-save-more-study-says-gratitude-helps-us-reach-1D79801892.
13. Michele M. Tugade and Barbara L. Fredrickson, “Resilient Individuals Use Positive Emotions to Bounce Back from Negative Emotional Experiences,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 86, no. 2 (February 2004), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3132556.
14. Emmons and Mishra, “Why Gratitude Enhances Well-Being,” 250.
15. Based on interviews published in Michael Hyatt, Set Yourself Up for Your Best Year Ever, MichaelHyatt.com, December 2014.
16. Ibid.
17. Timothy D. Wilson, Redirect, 62–63.

Chapter 7 Great Goals Check Seven Boxes

1. Micheline Maynard, “Incentives Still Leave GM Short of Market Goal,” New York Times, October 22, 2002, http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/22/business/incentives-still-leave-gm-short-of- market-goal.html; Drake Bennett, “Ready, Aim . . . Fail,” Boston Globe, March 15, 2009, http://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/03/15/ready_aim____fail; Chris Woodyard, “GM Bailout Played Out over Five Years,” USA Today, December 9, 2013, https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2013/12/09/gm-bailout-timeline/3929953.
2. See, for instance, Lisa D. Ordóñez, Maurice E. Schweitzer, Adam D. Galinsky, and Max H. Bazerman, “Goals Gone Wild,” Academy of Management Perspectives 23, no. 1 (February 2009), http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/09-083.pdf.
3. Lawrence Tabak, “If Your Goal Is Success, Don’t Consult These Gurus,” Fast Company, December 31, 1996, https://www.fastcompany.com/27953/if-your-goal-success-dont-consult-these- gurus.
4. Gail Matthews, “The Effectiveness of Four Coaching Techniques in Enhancing Goal Achievement,” presented at the Ninth Annual International Conference on Psychology, sponsored by the Athens Institute for Education and Research, May 25–28, 2015, http://www.dominican.edu/academics/ahss/undergraduate-programs/psych/faculty/assets-gail- matthews/researchsummary2.pdf.
5. Edwin A. Locke and Gary P. Latham, “Goal Setting Theory,” in New Developments in Goal Setting and Performance (New York: Routledge, 2013), 5.
6. Timothy A. Pychyl, “Goal Progress and Happiness,” Psychology Today, June 7, 2008, https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dont-delay/200806/goal-progress-and-happiness.
7. Richard Layard, Happiness: Lessons from a New Science (New York: Penguin, 2005), 73.
8. Locke and Latham, “Goal Setting Theory,” 5.
9. Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow (New York: FSG, 2011), 302–3.
10. Locke and Latham, “Goal Setting Theory,” 9.
11. Sarah Milne, Sheina Orbell, and Paschal Sheeran, “Combining Motivational and Volitional Interventions to Promote Exercise Participation,” British Journal of Health Psychology 7 (2002), http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1348/135910702169420/epdf.
12. Alice G. Walton, “What Happened to Your Goals?” Chicago Booth Review, February 23, 2017, http://review.chicagobooth.edu/behavioral-science/2017/article/what-happened-your-goals.
13. Mike Gayle, The To-Do List (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2009). Chapter 9 Seriously, Risk Is Your Friend
14. Dean Karnazes, The Road to Sparta (New York: Rodale, 2016).
15. Katie Arnold, “Drafting Dean: Interview Outtakes,” Outside, December 8, 2006, https://www.outsideonline.com/1885421/drafting-dean-interview-outtakes.
16. Charles Moore, Daniel H. Burnham: Architect, Planner of Cities (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1921), 147.
17. Desert Runners, directed by Jennifer Steinman, Smush Media, 2013.
18. Steve Kerr and Douglas LePelley, “Stretch Goals: Risks, Possibilities, and Best Practices,” in Edwin A. Locke and Gary P. Latham, eds., New Developments in Goal Setting and Task Performance (New York: Routledge, 2013), 21.
19. Kerr and LePelley, “Stretch Goals,” 23–24.
20. Arnold, “Drafting Dean.” Step 4 Find Your Why
21. Donald Miller, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2009), 177–79.

Chapter 10 Your What Needs a Why

1. Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection (Center City, MN: Hazelden, 2010), 66.
2. Kennon M. Sheldon and Andrew J. Elliot, “Goal Striving, Need Satisfaction, and Longitudinal Well-Being,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 76, no. 3 (1999), https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/SDT/documents/1999_SheldonElliot.pdf.
3. Nikos Ntoumanis et al., “When the Going Gets Tough: The ‘Why’ of Goal Striving Matters,” Journal of Personality 82, no. 3 (June 2014), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4288988/.
4. Ibid.
5. Duhigg, The Power of Habit, 51. Chapter 11 You Can Master Your Own Motivation
6. Kaitlin Woolley and Ayelet Fishbach, “The Experience Matters More Than You Think: People Value Intrinsic Incentives More Inside Than Outside an Activity,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 109, no. 6 (2015), http://home.uchicago.edu/~kwoolley/Woolley&FishbachJPSP2015.pdf.
7. Duhigg, The Power of Habit, 51.
8. Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool, Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2016), 172.
9. Dean, Making Habits, Breaking Habits, 5–7.
10. Brad Isaac, “Jerry Seinfeld’s Productivity Secret,” LifeHacker, July 24, 2007, http://lifehacker.com/281626/jerry-seinfelds-productivity-secret.
11. James Linville and George Plimpton, “Fran Lebowitz, A Humorist at Work,” The Paris Review, Summer 1993, https://www.theparisreview.org/miscellaneous/1931/a-humorist-at-work-fran- lebowitz.
12. Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling, The 4 Disciplines of Execution (New York: FreePress, 2012). Chapter 12 The Journey Is Better with Friends
13. J. R. R. Tolkien, The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, ed. Humphrey Carpenter (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1981), 23–24.
14. Ibid., 38, 166.
15. Ibid., 184.
16. Ibid., 362.
17. John Swansburg, “The Self-Made Man,” Slate, September 29, 2014, http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history/2014/09/the_self_made_man_history_of_a_ myth_from_ben_franklin_to_andrew_carnegie.html.
18. Proverbs 27:17 ESV.
19. Proverbs 22:24–25.
20. Cloud, The Power of the Other, 78.
21. Walton, “What Happened to Your Goals?”
22. Derek Sivers, “Keep Your Goals to Yourself,” TED, July 2010, https://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_keep_your_goals_to_yourself.
23. Duhigg, The Power of Habit, 85.
24. Ibid., 88–89.
25. Enrico Moretti, The New Geography of Jobs (New York: Mariner, 2013), 141.
26. Joshua Wolf Shenk, “The Power of Two,” Atlantic, July–August 2014, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/07/the-power-of-two/372289.

1. The Samson Society (SamsonSociety.com) is an international Christian accountability group for men, founded by Nate Larkin. Chapter 13 One Journey Is Many Steps
2. Rick Beard, “The Napoleon of the American Republic,” New York Times, October 31, 2011, https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/31/the-napoleon-of-the-american-republic.
3. Stephen Sears, “McClellan at Antietam,” Civil War Trust, https://www.civilwar.org/learn/articles/mcclellan-antietam. For the complete story, see Stephen Sears, George B. McClellan: The Young Napoleon (New York: Ticknor & Fields), 270–323.
4. “Eat a Live Frog Every Morning, and Nothing Worse Will Happen to You the Rest of the Day,” Quote Investigator, April 3, 2013, http://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/04/03/eat-frog.
5. Francesca Gino and Bradley Staats, “Your Desire to Get Things Done Can Undermine Your Effectiveness,” Harvard Business Review, March 22, 2016, https://hbr.org/2016/03/your-desire-to- get-things-done-can-undermine-your-effectiveness.
6. Chris Napolitano, “Having a Backup Plan Might Be the Very Reason You Failed,” Aeon, June 16, 2016, https://aeon.co/ideas/having-a-backup-plan-might-be-the-very-reason-you-failed.
7. W. H. Murray, The Scottish Himalayan Expedition (London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1951), 6–7.
8. Beard, “The Napoleon of the American Republic.”
9. Steven J. Zaloga, George S. Patton (Oxford: Osprey, 2010), 12.
10. Michael Keane, Patton: Blood, Guts, and Prayer (Washington, DC: Regnery, 2012), 156.
11. “Patton’s Career a Brilliant One,” New York Times, December 22, 1945, http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1111.html. Chapter 14 You Can Trigger Success
12. Heidi Grant, “Get Your Team to Do What It Says It’s Going to Do,” Harvard Business Review, May 2014, https://hbr.org/2014/05/get-your-team-to-do-what-it-says-its-going-to-do.
13. Thomas Llewelyn Webb and Paschal Sheeran, “How Do Implementation Intentions Promote Goal Attainment? A Test of Component Processes,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 43, no. 2 (March 2007), https://www.researchgate.net/publication/43327389_How_do_implementation_intentions_promote_g oal_attainment_A_test_of_component_processes.
14. Grant, “Get Your Team to Do What It Says It’s Going to Do.”
15. Peter M. Gollwitzer and Gabriele Oettingen, “Planning Promotes Goal Striving,” Handbook of Self-Regulation, 2nd ed., ed. Kathleen D. Vohs and Roy F. Baumeister (New York: Guilford, 2011),

Chapter 15 Visibility Is Essential

1. James H. Doolittle with Carroll V. Glines, I Could Never Be So Lucky Again (New York: Bantam, 1991), 128–50.
2. Cheryl J. Travers, “Using Goal Setting Theory to Promote Personal Development,” in New Developments in Goal Setting and Performance, ed. Edwin A. Locke and Gary P. Latham (New York: Routledge, 2013), 603–19.
3. Christopher Bergland, “The Neuroscience of Perseverance,” Psychology Today, December 26, 2011, https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201112/the-neuroscience- perseverance.
4. Karnazes, The Road to Sparta, 108–9.

The LEAP Principle

1. Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry, “Facebook Investor Wants Flying Cars, Not 140 Characters,” Business Insider, July 30, 2011, http://www.businessinsider.com/founders-fund-the-future-2011-7.
2. Tyler Cowen, “Peter Thiel on Stagnation, Innovation, and What Not to Call your Company,” Conversations with Tyler [Podcast], Mercatus Center, March 29, 2015, https://medium.com/conversations-with-tyler/peter-thiel-on-the-future-of-innovation-77628a43c0dd.

Thanks Let me tell you how this happened: Megan Hyatt Miller is my oldest daughter and the chief operating officer of Michael Hyatt & Company. In the fall of 2013 she said, “Dad, you have a unique approach to goal setting. I think we should interview you about that for Platform University® [my membership website]. We could use it as a master class in January.” I thought it was a good idea, so I agreed. A few days later, Megan ran the idea by Stu McLaren, my partner in Platform University®. He loved the idea but suggested we turn it into a stand-alone, online course. We all got excited about it, and a few weeks later, we were in Toronto shooting it. Thus was born 5 Days to Your Best Year Ever™. Since that time, more than thirty thousand students from over one hundred countries have taken the course. Out of its success we created a live event that we host in January in Nashville. I also host a series of face- to-face, quarterly workshops for our most dedicated students. And now, this book. None of this would have happened if it had not been for the vision, creativity, encouragement, and hard work of Megan and Stu. Thank you both. My wife, Gail, is a constant source of encouragement. She is never afraid to speak her mind and express her opinion. But she always does it in a way that is loving and kind, something that has become her trademark in dealing with everyone who knows her. Joel Miller is our chief content officer at Michael Hyatt & Company. He helped me stitch together this manuscript using the raw materials of my course, assorted blog posts, podcasts, and webinars, and my interactions with students both online and off. He worked tirelessly to finish this project in the midst of an unusually busy season in our business. He has truly become my creative partner and collaborator. I am grateful for his ability to

analyze, synthesize, and organize my content into final form. I can’t imagine embarking on any creative endeavor without him at my side. My literary agent, Bryan Norman of Alive Communications, has become an invaluable part of our team. He has been involved in every phase of this project from ideation to publication. He is my trusted advisor for everything related to my publishing pursuits. Not only is he crazy-smart, he is exceedingly responsive and near flawless in his execution. His quick wit and light heart are an added bonus. I am grateful to my editor, Chad Allen, for his vision, creative input, and patience in working with us on this project. He has been a literary midwife in helping me give birth to it. He is everything I could want in an editor. I would also like to thank all my friends at Baker Books, including Dwight Baker, Mark Rice, Patti Brinks, Barb Barnes, and Julie Davis. Their approach to publishing is uniquely author friendly. This is our second project together, and we have more to come. I am deeply grateful for our publishing partnership. My video producer, Dean Rainey, of Rainey Media, also had his fingerprints on this project. He helped shape the initial content of the course and has partnered with us through every iteration of it. His coaching and belief in me have been invaluable. I especially want to thank the alumni of my 5 Days course, including those who have shared their stories in this book: Natalee Champlin (NataleeChamplin.com) Ray Edwards (RayEdwards.com) James Reid (JamesReid.com) H. Blake Edwards (HBlakeEdwards.com) Sundi Jo Graham (SundiJo.com) Scott Kedersha (ScottKedersha.com) You have become more than my students; you are my teachers. Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my amazing team at Michael Hyatt & Company, both employees and key contractors: Blair Arcaini, Suzanne and Justin Barbour, Jennifer Bogard, Matt and Lauren Brady, Andrew Buckman, Mike Burns, Chad Cannon, Kyle Chowning, Aleshia Curry, James Kelly, Alison Kennedy, Madeline and Shawn Lemon,

Emily Lineberger, Jeremy Lott, Kristin McCall, Jeff McCord, Anna McKenzie, John Meese, Rachel Mullins, Suzanne Norman, Charae and Matt Price, Dean Rainey, Mandi Rivieccio, Danielle Rodgers, Christina Sheer, Brandon Triola, Kyle Wyley, and Dave Yonkowiak. You inspire me every day and enable me to do what I do best.

Index abundance thinking, 36–37, 43, 50, 92, 185 accomplishment, 72–73 accountability (intentional relationships), 182, 186, 190 achievement goals, 125–26, 128–32, 148 samples, 238, 240, 242, 245, 246 acknowledge value of getting outside Comfort Zone, 143, 148 acknowledge what happened (After-Action Review), 71–73 action, 105, 194, 201–2 action (property of power), 51 action, outcome, and recall, 84 actionable (SMARTER goals), 110–12 action plan, 99 activate (LEAP Principle), 232 Activation Triggers, 23, 115, 207–12, 227 adjust behavior (After-Action Review), 76–77 After-Action Review, 68–77, 83, 99, 217 agency, 91, 154 Alcoholics Anonymous, 48–49, 183, 187 Ali, Muhammad, 45 autonomous motives, 156 avocational (life domain), 18, 121 Back Stage, 163 backward thinking, 66–67, 81 Baez, Joan, 43 Bandura, Albert, 51 Bannister, Roger, 33, 34 barriers, mostly imaginary, 44 beliefs and community, 184 power of, 28–30 Berdik, Chris, 28 Bergland, Christopher, 221 black-and-white thinking, 39 Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, 89 Bono, 43 breakthrough year, 17 “broaden-and-build theory,” 93 Brown, Brené, 67, 81, 82, 152, 154 Burnham, Daniel, 136

Cairns, Scott, 79 catastrophizing, 39 celebrating progress, 107, 220–21, 224–25 chain system (tracking streaks), 172–73 changing the rhyme scheme, 26, 97 Chesterton, G. K., 154 Chocano, Carina, 71 circumstances, power to change, 50–52 civil rights movement, 45, 47 clarity, 101–2, 105 Clarke, Arthur C., 34 closure on the past, 21 Cloud, Henry, 42, 181 coaching, 186 collaboration, 185 comfort, and boredom and low engagement, 134 Comfort Zone, 136–38, 143, 196–97 commitment to act, 201–2 competition (intentional relationships), 182, 185, 190 complete-the-past exercise. See After-Action Review confidence, and personal growth, 20 contingencies, 207, 210–12 “core narratives” about life, 42 Covey, Sean, 175 creativity, 54 cynicism, 32 daily review, 215–16, 228 Darling, Marilyn, 68 Dean, Jeremy, 39 Delusional Zone, 136, 140–42, 222 Desire Zone, 163 DeSteno, David, 92 Dickerhoof, Rene, 69 disappointment, 18 discomfort, 134 Discomfort Zone, 136, 138–40, 141–42, 148, 196–98, 222 dissatisfaction, 25 Doolittle, General “Jimmy,” 213–14 Dorfman, Harvey, 32 doubts, 21, 30 Duhigg, Charles, 183–84 Ellison, Larry, 43 Emmons, Robert A., 90, 93 emotion, 196 emotional (life domain), 18, 120 emotional key motivations, 164 encouragement (intentional relationships), 182, 190 engage with the concept (LEAP Principle), 232

Enron, 104 entitlement, 154 entity theorists, 36 Ericsson, Anders, 171 exciting (SMARTER goals), 115–17 exercise, 161, 186 external motivators, 157, 168–69 Facebook, 41–42, 185 failure, 72, 83–84. See also regrets “failure of imagination,” 34 fear, 41, 143–44, 148 Filipović, Zlata, 51, 54 financial (life domain), 18, 121 Fishbach, Ayelet, 116, 169 fitness centers, 12–13 Foden, John, 134 forethought (property of power), 51 forward thinking, 67 Frank, Anne, 51, 54 Franklin, Benjamin, 205 Freitas, Donna, 41–42 friendships, 179, 187 Front Stage, 163 Full Focus Planner, 121, 215, 219 fun, fast, and easy (myth), 152 Gayle, Mike, 118 General Electric, 107 General Motors, 103–4, 117, 140 Gies, Miep, 54 Gino, Francesca, 196 goals failure of, 21–23 as next steps, 218, 227 review of, 214–24, 228 setting of, 14, 18, 21, 104, 147 and strategies, 222 and tasks, 216 goal-striving, grateful and non-grateful, 90 Goff, Bob, 49, 57 Gollwitzer, Peter M., 211 Gordon, Jon, 95 gratitude, 89–97, 100 Grothaus, Michael, 41 growing, 145–46 Gruwell, Erin, 50–52 habit frequency (habit goals), 129 habit goals, 126–32 samples, 237, 239, 241, 243, 244

habits and achievements, 172 become automatic, 171–72 of thinking, 25–26 Halvorson, Heidi Grant, 207 happiness, 20, 25, 145 Harkavy, Daniel, 107 Hawk, Tony, 34 heads and hearts, 164, 165 health, 13, 17 hopeful, 91 Huling, Jim, 175 if/then planning, 207–8, 211 “I Have a Dream” speech, 46, 47 implementation intentions, 205 implementation tactics, 23 incremental change, 176 incremental theorists, 36 integrity, 83 intellectual (life domain), 18, 119 intellectual key motivations, 164 intention (property of power), 51 intentional relationships, 181–88 internalizing rewards, 169–71 intrinsic motivations, 115–16, 157, 169 It’s a Wonderful Life (film), 96 Ive, Jony, 43 Jobs, Steve, 43, 158 journaling, and expressing gratitude, 95, 100 Kahneman, Daniel, 66, 113 Kampf, Heather, 11, 16 Kanellopoulos, Kanellos, 33, 34 Karnazes, Dean, 133–34, 225 Kennedy, John F., 46 Kerr, Steve, 137 key motivations, 156, 158–66, 189, 216–17 King, Martin Luther, Jr., 45–48, 52, 54 Krzyzewski, Mike, 89, 91–92 lag measures, 175 Landman, Janet, 82, 83, 85, 114 Latham, Gary P., 112 Law of Diminishing Intent, 231 Layard, Richard, 110 lead measures, 175 lean into change (LEAP Principle), 232 lean into the experience, 143, 148

LEAP Principle, 231–33. See also activate, engage with the concept, lean into change, pounce learn from the past (After-Action Review), 74–75 learning (intentional relationships), 182, 190 Lebowitz, Fran, 173 Lennon, John, 185 LePelley, Douglas, 137 “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” (King), 46 Lewis, C. S., 178, 179, 187 liberating truths, 31, 37, 44, 47, 49, 60 life domains, 18–19, 20, 69–70. See also avocational, emotional, financial, intellectual, marital, parental, physical, social, spiritual, vocational LifeScore Assessment, 20, 119 LifeScore domains, 119 limiting beliefs, 21, 31, 37, 38–44, 46–50, 60, 143, 221 Lincoln, Abraham, 193–94 Locke, Edward A., 112, 114 low-bar next-action steps, 23 Lubbock, John, 35 Lyubomirsky, Sonja, 69 Ma, Yo-Yo, 43 marathon, 133–34 marital (life domain), 18, 120 Mark the Monk, 103 marriage, 17, 20, 158–59 Marshall, George C., 202 material success, 25 Matthews, Gail, 104–5, 183 McCartney, Paul, 185 McChesney, Chris, 175 McClellan, George B., 193–95, 202, 217 McGill, Mike, 33–34 McLuhan, Marshall, 65 “McTwist,” 34 measurable (SMARTER goals), 109–10 measuring the gain, 174–76 medial orbitofrontal cortex, 85 mentoring, 186 Merton, Robert K., 28 Michelangelo, 229 Miller, Dale T., 66 Miller, Don, 49, 57 Mishra, Anjali, 90, 93 momentum, 196 Monk, Thelonious, 34 Moore, Joseph, 68 Moretti, Enrico, 185 motion, 196 motivations, 23, 83 mastering, 167–76, 189 see also key motivations

Mura, Steve, 32 Murray, W. H., 201–2 Napoleon Dynamite (film), 63 negative relationships, 42 negativity bias, 41–42 new frame, 154 news media, negativity bias of, 41 New Year’s resolutions, 12, 30, 116, 152, 205 nonviolence, 47 obstacles, 201–12 “Oedipus Effect,” 28 Oettingen, Gabriele, 211 Off Stage, 163 online communities, 185–86 opportunities filtering of, 105–6 hidden in regret, 85, 100 opportunity principle, 84–85 others, limiting beliefs about, 38 outside resources, 199–201 overthinking, 145, 148 pain, profit in, 134 parental (life domain), 18, 120 Parks, Rosa, 45 Parry, Charles, 68 past, 21, 63–64 patience, 92 Patton, George S., 202–3 peer groups, 185–87 perfectionism, 154 perseverance, 156, 168, 175 personal growth, 13, 14, 20 personal histories, 25 personalizing, 39 personal satisfaction, 25 perspective, 153 Pheidippides, 133–34 physical (life domain), 18, 120 planning and preparation, 194–95 Plant Nanny (app), 174 Platform University, 185 Plato, 213 pleasure paradox, 96 Pool, Robert, 171 Popper, Karl, 28 possibility, 43 pounce (LEAP Principle), 232

Powell, Laurene, 43 power to change, 50–52 prayer, 95, 100 processing a negative experience, 69–70 procrastination, 195 professional achievement, 14 progress, celebration of, 107 Pychyl, Timothy A., 110, 224–25 quarterly review, 219–20, 228. See also recommit, rejoice, remove, replace, revise racial reconciliation, 47 racism, 47 Ramsey, Dave, 140–41 reading/study groups, 187 recognizing limiting belief, 55 recommit (to goal), 221–22, 224 recording limiting belief, 55–56 reframing frustrations, 154 regrets, 71, 81–86 regular goal review, 23 rejecting/reframing limiting belief, 57–59 rejoice (in progress toward goals), 220–21, 224 relationships, 13, 49 relevant (SMARTER goals), 117–18, 140 remove (goals), 222–24 reorienting to new belief, 59 replace (goals), 224, 228 resilience, and gratitude, 92 resourcefulness, 54 resources, 52–55 reviewing limiting belief, 56–57 review of goals, 214–24, 228 revise (goals), 222, 224 revising belief, 59 rhyme scheme, 26, 97 risky (SMARTER goals), 112–13, 136, 138, 145 road sign vs. roadblock, 85–86 Roese, Neal J., 84–85 Rohn, Jim, 231 running groups, 186 Samson Society, 187 Santayana, George, 74, 76 scarcity thinking, 36–37, 49, 92, 184 Schaar, Tom, 34 Schlender, Brent, 43 seeking outside help, 199–201 Seinfeld, Jerry, 172 self, limiting beliefs about, 39 self-compassion, 154

self-fulfilling prophecy, 28 self-reflection (property of power), 51 Sheeran, Paschal, 207 Simon, Julian, 54 Sivers, Derek, 183 SMARTER goals, 107–21, 129, 147. See also actionable, exciting, measurable, relevant, risky, specific, time-keyed SMART goals, 107 social (life domain), 18, 120 social media, negativity bias of, 41–42 Solomon, 179 Sousa, Lorie, 79 Spartathalon, 134 specific (SMARTER goals), 107–9 spiritual (life domain), 18, 119 Staats, Bradley, 196 start date (habit goals), 129 state what you wanted to happen (After-Action Review), 69–71 strategy, 23, 222 streak target (habit goals), 129 Sullivan, Dan, 175, 190 Summerville, Amy, 84–85 tasks, 216 tattoos, 80–81 team-building, 190 thankfulness, 95, 100 therapy, 67 Thiel, Peter, 229–30 Thomas, William I., 28 time-keyed (SMARTER goals), 113–15 time trigger (habit goals), 129 Tolkien, J. R. R., 41, 177–79, 187 tracking streaks, 172–74 trauma, 67 Travers, Cheryl J., 214 Twain, Mark, 173 twenty-one day “rule,” 171 unhappiness, 25 universalizing, 39 upgrading beliefs, 44, 48, 60, 97 van Gogh, Vincent, 193 vision, 230 vocational (life domain), 18, 120 Wadhwa, Vivek, 58 Walton, Alice G., 116 Watley, Denis, 125 wealth, 13

Webb, Thomas, 207 weekly review, 216–19, 228 Weir, Mike, 30 Welch, Jack, 138 why (motivation), 23, 154–56, 157, 189 Wilson, Timothy D., 42, 96 Woods, Tiger, 30 Woolley, Kaitlin, 116, 169 world, limiting beliefs about, 38 written goals, 104–7 Yeager, Chuck, 33, 34 Zander, Rosamund Stone and Benjamin, 33, 47

About the Author Michael Hyatt is the founder and CEO of Michael Hyatt & Company, a leadership-development company dedicated to helping high achievers win at work and succeed at life. As the former chairman and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, he is also the author of the USA Today bestseller Living Forward (coauthored with Daniel Harkavy) and the New York Times bestseller Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World. His blog, MichaelHyatt.com, is ranked by Google in the top one-half percent of all blogs with more than one million page views a month, and he has been featured in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fast Company, Inc., and Entrepreneur. Michael is the creator of several online courses, including 5 Days to Your Best Year Ever™ and Free to Focus™, and the online community, Platform University®. While Michael loves his work, it is not the most important thing in his life. That position belongs to his family. He has been married to his wife, Gail, for thirty-nine years. They have five daughters, three sons-in-law, and eight grandchildren and live just outside of Nashville, Tennessee. Web: MichaelHyatt.com Twitter: @michaelhyatt Facebook: facebook.com/michaelhyatt