Yearly Themes are an alternative to New Years Resolutions.
popularized by CGP Grey:
Instead of setting a highly granular goal like “run one mile every day”, you set a much larger theme like order, adventure, or branching out. This theme gives you enough room to find your own goals, interests, and solutions within it.
Themes allow for your focus to change when you learn what’s important and workable, while still making sure you have some domain to focus in. Six months into the year you may discover something new. Should you do it? Yes, if it fits the theme. Themes are your heuristic to slice on.
I like to think of a theme as an overarching tool that you are using to help guide you were thinking over the course of a year. Every day you got 100 million decisions to make about whatever With a theme you’re trying to shape those decision. It helps shape in those moments that if there’s like a tie breaker between deciding something one way or another, you should lean in the direction that more closely aligns with your theme
Themes allow for choice, for Bottom-Up Design. After the theme is set, you decide (and keep deciding) how to get there.
North Star-ing It’s a North Star. A thing that you move towards but never actually reach.
Name should be ‘resonant’. Not logical process, feeling process. What name clicks, makes you feel something.
Creating Yearly Themes
to ideate: Get it all out on paper, find overlaps. cut out what doesn’t belong and doesn’t really resonate. Don’t Should All Over Yourself.
My Yearly Themes
- 2020 - The Year Of Solid Foundations
- 2021 - The Year Of Actualization
- 2022 -The Year Of Connection
- 2023 - The Year of Making It Happen
- 2023 winter - The Year Of Solid Foundations 2
- 2024 - The Year of Wearing My Heart On My Sleeve
See Also
- PZ grey talking about themes on cortex