September 5, 2024 • 12 mins
In this episode of The Cycle Breaker Podcast, host Sukhi Kaur explores the transformative concept of the 12-Week Year. Based on the book "The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months", Sukhi dives into how setting goals in 12-week periods can help overcome perfectionism, imposter syndrome, and procrastination. She explains how this method fosters greater focus, urgency, and alignment with your core values. Sukhi shares her own experience with this approach and offers practical tips for integrating it into your personal and business life. Ready to redefine your goals and maximize your potential? Tune in for actionable insights on breaking cycles and creating lasting impact! For more support, visit sukhilifecoach.com/freeconsult to schedule a free consultation.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:09):
Welcome to the Cycle Breaker podcast. I'm
your host, Sukhi Kaur, a certified
feminist life coach, and I'm here to help
you navigate being a woman of color
entrepreneur, breaking generational
cycles and letting go of imposter
syndrome. Here you will learn to create
self-awareness around the truth of who
you are and see your ability to
(00:30):
change how you experience yourself. And
further the results you create in your
life. So let's break these much needed
cycles together here in community.
So today I want to share something that I
(00:50):
actually found really useful in an
audio book that I was listening to last
week and I haven't finished the whole
thing, but I feel like it's been really
helpful so far. So I wanted to share this
because I think, you
know, one of the ways that perfectionism
and imposter syndrome, how that
manifests in our business is really.
(01:13):
It it keeps us in sometimes from
giving ourselves set
timelines to evaluate
ourselves, to actually give ourselves
time to be like, OK, I'm gonna set these
big goals and evaluate myself and
make this a regular thing, like a
routine,
(01:34):
routine, like tasks that I do for myself.
And I think one of the ways that we do
that and it's kind of like the norm in
some ways, is that setting annual goals.
And I was thinking about this because you
know, it's already September and
at the end of the year is usually when
folks evaluate themselves like as a whole
(01:57):
and you know the beginning of the year is
when you set your intentions.
And that's where, you know, at the end of
the year you feel like, oh, I need to get
my stuff together. I have this many
months. It's kind of creates that
urgency, which is in. It depends on if
it's super pressuring. It depends on how
you think about it. But sometimes that
(02:17):
urgency is is good to push you a little
bit to be like, OK, I have this much
time, like actually I don't have all
year. I need to get this in order if I
really want to make it my end of year
goals. And the and it's interesting
because the audio book I was listening to
is called The 12 Week Year, Get
More Done in 12 Weeks than others get and
(02:39):
then Others Do in 12 Months by Brian
P Morin and Michael Lennington.
So it's called The 12 Week Year
because the author introduces
this concept of setting our
goals as a 12 week period.
And you get, you know, four times
approximately for the year. But and
(03:01):
you may be thinking about that as like,
oh, you can always have quarterly goals
that like, you know, that feed into your
annual goals. And sometimes I feel like
that really you can always just push
quarterly goals and still try to make up
for annual goals. Like it's really to me
at least. The end of the year is when the
urgency is there and like that's really
(03:23):
the push, whether it be in sales,
whether it be to get testimonials to set
yourself up for the next year, get the
taxes, all that stuff ready, right. And I
think this concept of having 12
week years is interesting because it it
kind of forces us if we do try it and
this is something that I'm gonna
definitely try and try to approach.
(03:45):
My goals like this, because I think
having these goals kind of forces us
to let go of perfectionism in the 1st
place of like, oh, like, you know, not
having this grand like
goal that we can and even the imposter
syndrome, right?Like not having this
grand goal, we can tell others of like,
oh, I have this one big by the end of the
(04:07):
year I'm gonna do this, but say if.
You share your 12 week goal. It may not
be as grand as a year because it actually
these are goals that won't take 12 months
of time. Or if if you know your
yearly goals could be set for a year and
they may not need that much time, but
these won't be goal. These may not be
(04:29):
as impactful goals when you're
telling others or when you're thinking
about this. But it
still isn't, you know, it's the goals are
just for your own progress and for your
own self. And one way I was thinking of
doing this is that, you know, letting go
of that perfectionism of like, I need to
have these amazing big goals. And yeah,
(04:51):
we all should have big goals, but if you
want to approach it little by little, we
we may actually get more done because
that urgency we feel at the end of the
year, we'll feel it multiple times in the
year. And it'll be more of a practice we
do rather than a one-time like
communal thing we do across the board
where, you know, sometimes even with New
(05:11):
Year's goals, I don't really like setting
those as much because I feel like at
times it's like, oh, you always see like
the gym memberships going on sale and
like, you know, it's almost like playing
on insecurities and depending on how you
approach it, right?Like it depends on
your mindset and the what you make it
mean and what you think for yourself,
but. I don't know if that really serves
(05:34):
me personally at the end of year goals
only as much as it
can. So I'm definitely gonna try this 12
week year and so it it it forces us
almost to let go of that perfectionism
and that big picture thinking and
even the imposter syndrome of like, oh
like you know, if I'm gonna set these
(05:55):
small goals, will I actually be able
to, you know
Match my outward perception
as I'm doing throughout the just
the smaller goals that I'm setting. And
I think it kind of forces
you to, I guess I shouldn't say force,
but it it does, you know, nudge you and
(06:17):
push you to make goals and think about
them intentionally. And one way I was
thinking about it was if we create
these 12 week goals, these
12 week year goals
and make sure that they align with like
our top values that we live by.
Like, for example, one of my top five
(06:38):
values is integrity, like to
live authentically. And I want to make
sure what I'm working on, whether it's in
my personal life or my business, like
it's authentic to me. I don't want to do
it because I think I should. I don't want
to do it because I think that's what
industry is supposed to be. Even if it
may take me longer or somebody may not,
(06:59):
I'm, you know, in the position of being
misunderstood. That's OK. That's
something I want to risk. But the way
that I was thinking about letting go of
that, like, you know, strong hold
of needing to look a certain way, needing
to have these great goals to validate
ourselves, I think
grounding ourselves with the values and
(07:20):
making sure we're checking our 12 week
year. Value like 12 week
year goals will really be
grounding. And to me that's
where I'm kind of thinking that for me
that connects the dots. And again, I
haven't listened to the entire audio
book, but I thought that was such a good
concept to to
(07:43):
use, especially when it comes to
business, right?Like there may just be
things that we need to get done that
don't necessarily need to be a year and.
You know, depending on how much resources
you want to take or how much time that
actually takes, we can kind of start
thinking about like a real time. What can
(08:04):
we actually do rather than from this
perfectionist dreaming position of
like, oh, I want to do this and I want to
do that. It's like, Oh no, what, what
could you actually do in 12 weeks?And
that's. Set those goals and let's get
that done and then go from there because
there's not a lot of not as much
uncertainty as there would be in a 12
month period. So that's something I
(08:26):
wanted to offer as a tool to try
to see if that works for you. Feel free
to send me a message on either
through my website or on my Instagram at
Suki under score life coach to just
share. You know, how is it going
even considering the 12 week year?
Like is there a lot of resistance to it?
(08:48):
Have you been able to, you know,
first
even figure out what your values are that
you wanna make sure you're aligned with?
And that's like, you know, that's really
personal and that may take some time, but
it really, it can just be as simple
as like, let me just check in with the
values I've set. And then make these
(09:10):
goals that are more
short-term, that are more like
thinking of it as like big goals, but you
just in less time period. And
of course like if you need more time to
do something, you can always evaluate and
like evaluations can be both what
went well and what didn't go well so we
can do better the next time so.
(09:32):
Evaluations, something actually that I
coached someone the other day about was
my my client about was how she
hesitates to do evaluations because it's
like this resistance to it. And I think a
lot of the resistance in evaluations is
usually that we don't want to hear the
criticism, but you
know when we are very so self-critical
(09:52):
and like my clients tend to be and I tend
to be at times. It's it's something
that's that's naturally there that we
have to hone in and see what are we
resisting and our brain sometimes catch
us before we do of like you may
just be resisting that
criticism in the evaluation. So
(10:13):
evaluation could it's both sides, right.
And if you get to do that multiple
times a year instead of just that one
time, I really wonder how
much. Of a change that would be
because as like the imposter
syndrome like lens, sometimes it's
very diluted of what we actually
(10:35):
accomplished and what we actually got
done cause there's never enough, right.
But then there's not as much data or
tracking or you know, something we can
that's like factual that we can gonna go
through, go back to and be like, hey,
this is actually what we did. Instead of
being like, oh, I just did nothing this
year, like I'm not really even working in
(10:56):
my business. I think that really helps
dim down that imposter voice as
well to be like, oh, you, you know,
you're just saying all these things and
not doing enough. But if you, if you
set your goals with intention, you set
them for 12 week periods. I think
that's a way around that and like a way
(11:17):
around questioning that as well, so. I'm
curious to see how this goes for you. I'm
really excited to try this for myself.
Feel free to message me like I said and
and have a great week.
Hey, if you're listening to this podcast
and wondering how I can help you break
free of your cycles, especially those
(11:38):
that hold you back in business, I'm happy
to chat. You can sign up for a
consultation without any preparation
needed. At
sukhilifecoach.com/freeconsult
and we can talk about your cycles and how
to break free of them. Cheers to breaking
more much needed generational cycles.
Welcome to the Cycle Breaker podcast. I'm
your host, Sukhi Kaur, a certified
feminist life coach, and I'm here to help
you navigate being a woman of color
entrepreneur, breaking generational
cycles and letting go of imposter
syndrome. Here you will learn to create
self-awareness around the truth of who
you are and see your ability to
(00:30):
change how you experience yourself. And
further the results you create in your
life. So let's break these much needed
cycles together here in community.
So today I want to share something that I
(00:50):
actually found really useful in an
audio book that I was listening to last
week and I haven't finished the whole
thing, but I feel like it's been really
helpful so far. So I wanted to share this
because I think, you
know, one of the ways that perfectionism
and imposter syndrome, how that
manifests in our business is really.
(01:13):
It it keeps us in sometimes from
giving ourselves set
timelines to evaluate
ourselves, to actually give ourselves
time to be like, OK, I'm gonna set these
big goals and evaluate myself and
make this a regular thing, like a
routine,
(01:34):
routine, like tasks that I do for myself.
And I think one of the ways that we do
that and it's kind of like the norm in
some ways, is that setting annual goals.
And I was thinking about this because you
know, it's already September and
at the end of the year is usually when
folks evaluate themselves like as a whole
(01:57):
and you know the beginning of the year is
when you set your intentions.
And that's where, you know, at the end of
the year you feel like, oh, I need to get
my stuff together. I have this many
months. It's kind of creates that
urgency, which is in. It depends on if
it's super pressuring. It depends on how
you think about it. But sometimes that
(02:17):
urgency is is good to push you a little
bit to be like, OK, I have this much
time, like actually I don't have all
year. I need to get this in order if I
really want to make it my end of year
goals. And the and it's interesting
because the audio book I was listening to
is called The 12 Week Year, Get
More Done in 12 Weeks than others get and
(02:39):
then Others Do in 12 Months by Brian
P Morin and Michael Lennington.
So it's called The 12 Week Year
because the author introduces
this concept of setting our
goals as a 12 week period.
And you get, you know, four times
approximately for the year. But and
(03:01):
you may be thinking about that as like,
oh, you can always have quarterly goals
that like, you know, that feed into your
annual goals. And sometimes I feel like
that really you can always just push
quarterly goals and still try to make up
for annual goals. Like it's really to me
at least. The end of the year is when the
urgency is there and like that's really
(03:23):
the push, whether it be in sales,
whether it be to get testimonials to set
yourself up for the next year, get the
taxes, all that stuff ready, right. And I
think this concept of having 12
week years is interesting because it it
kind of forces us if we do try it and
this is something that I'm gonna
definitely try and try to approach.
(03:45):
My goals like this, because I think
having these goals kind of forces us
to let go of perfectionism in the 1st
place of like, oh, like, you know, not
having this grand like
goal that we can and even the imposter
syndrome, right?Like not having this
grand goal, we can tell others of like,
oh, I have this one big by the end of the
(04:07):
year I'm gonna do this, but say if.
You share your 12 week goal. It may not
be as grand as a year because it actually
these are goals that won't take 12 months
of time. Or if if you know your
yearly goals could be set for a year and
they may not need that much time, but
these won't be goal. These may not be
(04:29):
as impactful goals when you're
telling others or when you're thinking
about this. But it
still isn't, you know, it's the goals are
just for your own progress and for your
own self. And one way I was thinking of
doing this is that, you know, letting go
of that perfectionism of like, I need to
have these amazing big goals. And yeah,
(04:51):
we all should have big goals, but if you
want to approach it little by little, we
we may actually get more done because
that urgency we feel at the end of the
year, we'll feel it multiple times in the
year. And it'll be more of a practice we
do rather than a one-time like
communal thing we do across the board
where, you know, sometimes even with New
(05:11):
Year's goals, I don't really like setting
those as much because I feel like at
times it's like, oh, you always see like
the gym memberships going on sale and
like, you know, it's almost like playing
on insecurities and depending on how you
approach it, right?Like it depends on
your mindset and the what you make it
mean and what you think for yourself,
but. I don't know if that really serves
(05:34):
me personally at the end of year goals
only as much as it
can. So I'm definitely gonna try this 12
week year and so it it it forces us
almost to let go of that perfectionism
and that big picture thinking and
even the imposter syndrome of like, oh
like you know, if I'm gonna set these
(05:55):
small goals, will I actually be able
to, you know
Match my outward perception
as I'm doing throughout the just
the smaller goals that I'm setting. And
I think it kind of forces
you to, I guess I shouldn't say force,
but it it does, you know, nudge you and
(06:17):
push you to make goals and think about
them intentionally. And one way I was
thinking about it was if we create
these 12 week goals, these
12 week year goals
and make sure that they align with like
our top values that we live by.
Like, for example, one of my top five
(06:38):
values is integrity, like to
live authentically. And I want to make
sure what I'm working on, whether it's in
my personal life or my business, like
it's authentic to me. I don't want to do
it because I think I should. I don't want
to do it because I think that's what
industry is supposed to be. Even if it
may take me longer or somebody may not,
(06:59):
I'm, you know, in the position of being
misunderstood. That's OK. That's
something I want to risk. But the way
that I was thinking about letting go of
that, like, you know, strong hold
of needing to look a certain way, needing
to have these great goals to validate
ourselves, I think
grounding ourselves with the values and
(07:20):
making sure we're checking our 12 week
year. Value like 12 week
year goals will really be
grounding. And to me that's
where I'm kind of thinking that for me
that connects the dots. And again, I
haven't listened to the entire audio
book, but I thought that was such a good
concept to to
(07:43):
use, especially when it comes to
business, right?Like there may just be
things that we need to get done that
don't necessarily need to be a year and.
You know, depending on how much resources
you want to take or how much time that
actually takes, we can kind of start
thinking about like a real time. What can
(08:04):
we actually do rather than from this
perfectionist dreaming position of
like, oh, I want to do this and I want to
do that. It's like, Oh no, what, what
could you actually do in 12 weeks?And
that's. Set those goals and let's get
that done and then go from there because
there's not a lot of not as much
uncertainty as there would be in a 12
month period. So that's something I
(08:26):
wanted to offer as a tool to try
to see if that works for you. Feel free
to send me a message on either
through my website or on my Instagram at
Suki under score life coach to just
share. You know, how is it going
even considering the 12 week year?
Like is there a lot of resistance to it?
(08:48):
Have you been able to, you know,
first
even figure out what your values are that
you wanna make sure you're aligned with?
And that's like, you know, that's really
personal and that may take some time, but
it really, it can just be as simple
as like, let me just check in with the
values I've set. And then make these
(09:10):
goals that are more
short-term, that are more like
thinking of it as like big goals, but you
just in less time period. And
of course like if you need more time to
do something, you can always evaluate and
like evaluations can be both what
went well and what didn't go well so we
can do better the next time so.
(09:32):
Evaluations, something actually that I
coached someone the other day about was
my my client about was how she
hesitates to do evaluations because it's
like this resistance to it. And I think a
lot of the resistance in evaluations is
usually that we don't want to hear the
criticism, but you
know when we are very so self-critical
(09:52):
and like my clients tend to be and I tend
to be at times. It's it's something
that's that's naturally there that we
have to hone in and see what are we
resisting and our brain sometimes catch
us before we do of like you may
just be resisting that
criticism in the evaluation. So
(10:13):
evaluation could it's both sides, right.
And if you get to do that multiple
times a year instead of just that one
time, I really wonder how
much. Of a change that would be
because as like the imposter
syndrome like lens, sometimes it's
very diluted of what we actually
(10:35):
accomplished and what we actually got
done cause there's never enough, right.
But then there's not as much data or
tracking or you know, something we can
that's like factual that we can gonna go
through, go back to and be like, hey,
this is actually what we did. Instead of
being like, oh, I just did nothing this
year, like I'm not really even working in
(10:56):
my business. I think that really helps
dim down that imposter voice as
well to be like, oh, you, you know,
you're just saying all these things and
not doing enough. But if you, if you
set your goals with intention, you set
them for 12 week periods. I think
that's a way around that and like a way
(11:17):
around questioning that as well, so. I'm
curious to see how this goes for you. I'm
really excited to try this for myself.
Feel free to message me like I said and
and have a great week.
Hey, if you're listening to this podcast
and wondering how I can help you break
free of your cycles, especially those
(11:38):
that hold you back in business, I'm happy
to chat. You can sign up for a
consultation without any preparation
needed. At
sukhilifecoach.com/freeconsult
and we can talk about your cycles and how
to break free of them. Cheers to breaking
more much needed generational cycles.
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