Leading up to the end of the year and a little into the start of the new year is when we are at our most conducive to usher in big changes. The passing of the 31st of December and the start of the 1st of January is, technically, just like the end of any other day and the start of the next. It is mere paper accounting that happens to increment what we call the current year by one.
Much like birthdays and anniversaries, the new year's day only turns out to be special as compared to the others because we make it so in our heads.
But the truth is that we do, and hence, it is a special day for us. So we might as well make us of it to usher in big changes that we would like to see in ourselves.
Do you want to make 2019 your most productive year yet?
I do. And I want us to do it together.
So, what is The 0.7 Club?
For over five years now, I have been employing Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) in order to lead a more deliberate and productive life. And I can't understate the impact it has had on me. I have written several posts in the past about how effective this has been for me and have had conversations with many of my friends and readers regarding the same.
And this year, I've decided to extend that to anyone else who is interested in making 2019 their most productive year yet. And as a consequence, I've founded The 0.7 Club.
The name takes inspiration from life coach Robin Sharma's 'The 5am Club' which is a concept that he introduced over twenty years ago, "based on a revolutionary morning routine that has helped his clients maximize their productivity, activate their best health and bulletproof their serenity in this age of overwhelming complexity."
While I'm not one to wake up at 5am and I don't have a strict morning routine, I do set and follow OKRs that continues to help me achieve much the same results year on year.
In the process of setting OKRs, I set three measurable milestones for every objective that I have. Achieving the first milestone is deemed fairly straightforward and is something I ought to achieve with little discomfort. This is the 0.3. Achieving the second milestone is pretty involved and takes up a lot of my time and effort and is something I'd be very happy with were I to achieve it. This is the 0.7. And the third milestone is the dream and achieving it will require me to work extremely hard and also for luck to favour me. This is the 1.0.
For example, here is one such objective with the three milestones for 2019 for me:
Objective: Level up my writing skills.
Key Result 1.0: Publish 250 blog posts including 50 long posts on Product Management and 50 long posts on self improvement
Key Result 0.7: Publish 200 blog posts including 50 long posts on Product Management
Key Result 0.3: Publish 150 blog posts including 25 long posts on Product Management
I have over ten such objectives defined for the year, spanning across various themes that cover Health & Fitness, Skills (Work, writing, stand-up comedy, etc), Relationships, Finances and Leisure/Travel.
These are the themes that one needs to invest in for a well-rounded life, and I've outlined objectives in all of them as the purpose of this whole exercise is to make more deliberate choices, lead a more well-rounded life, push myself to achieve bigger things and of course, make 2019 my most productive year yet.
By accepting my invite and joining The 0.7 Club, you will get to see all my goals for 2019 and in return you can share your goals with me. And we will keep each other accountable by reporting to each other on how we are progressing towards our goals on a weekly basis. I seek you to hold me accountable, to guide me when I'm straying from my goals and I promise to do the same for you, in addition to offering one-on-one help with the whole process itself.
CONVERSATION