October 13, 2025 • 51 mins
What if the next 12 weeks were your entire year? In this conversation with Brian Moran, co-author of The 12-Week Year, we rethink traditional goal-setting and learn how to compress focus, build urgency, and execute with precision. Instead of drifting through long timelines, this method forces clarity, accountability, and momentum—proving that less time can actually create better results.
3 Takeaways:
- Annual goals invite delay; 12-week goals demand action and reveal what truly matters.
- Weekly execution and scoring expose the real issue—follow-through, not strategy.
- Success comes from fewer, higher-impact goals paired with consistent review and belief-driven action.
Thank you for tuning in! If you feel led, please subscribe & share the show to others who you believe would benefit from it.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_03 (00:00):
In a 12-month cycle, it's just it facilitates
procrastination.
It facilitates overwhelm anddiffusion.
When we brought, we came acrossa concept in athletics called
periodization.
Um, and that's where we borrowedthe tenets of that to create the
12-week year.
And so when you create, when youembrace 12 weeks as the year in
your thinking, right, that's acompletely different game.
(00:22):
Everything changes.
That illusion of lots of time isgone.
It's replaced with a healthysense of urgency, not the
urgency that people freak out atthe end of the calendar year,
but a healthy sense of urgencyand it focuses on the things
that matter most.
So one of the things you come torealize, different mindset
again, is that in a 12-week yearyou can't do everything.
(00:42):
Well, you can't do everything ina calendar year either, but it
seems like you can.
You got that big ass calendarbehind you.
It looks like there's tons oftime.
You got all this time to get allthis stuff done.
The reality is, executiondoesn't happen monthly and
quarterly and semi-annually.
It happens weekly, it happensdaily.
SPEAKER_00 (00:59):
Do hard things.
Help one person.
Be good and do good.
Live a life of discipline, andyou will always win.
You have all the tools that youneed to succeed.
Welcome to win today.
SPEAKER_01 (01:14):
Thank you so much for tuning in.
My name is Ryan Casson.
I'm your host.
My purpose in this world is tohelp push people further and
harder than they believepossible and become unshakable
in what matters most to them intheir lives.
Every week, you're gonna learnfrom either myself or a renowned
expert in their field, and we'regonna unveil pieces of our
playbook to help you win today.
SPEAKER_02 (01:35):
Please, if you love this show, subscribe and share
it with somebody that willbenefit from it.
Let's dig in.
SPEAKER_01 (01:43):
Eighty days is more than enough time to completely
change your life to turn a badyear into a great year, and to
set yourself up for sustainedsuccess.
Last week we shared what youcould do if you were starting
fresh in 2025 as of last week,meaning that maybe things
(02:06):
haven't gone your way and youneed a reset.
Here's a quick and easy playbookto go and execute.
We're expanding upon that withan interview with Brian Moran.
He's the author of one of myfavorite books, The 12-week
year.
And he originally came on theshow at the beginning of 2025 on
(02:27):
episode 186.
And I figure with 12 weeks leftin 2025, what better time to
reintroduce this powerfuldiscussion with Brian as he also
gets us to think about timedifferently.
The essence of the 12-week yearis looking at our calendar as
(02:51):
four three-month chunks versusone big 12-month chunk.
Why that's important is becauseit helps drive more of a sense
of urgency.
And what better timing to bringthis back than right now, we can
look at 2025, the remainder of2025, with 12 weeks being left,
(03:14):
as an entire year in itself.
So every year we cantheoretically get four years
into one and get more done thanwe ever believed possible.
And Brian is going to show usthat.
So my challenge to you andencouragement between this
(03:35):
episode and last, and as we'vebeen talking about time some
more, is see if there'sopportunities for you to shift
your relationship with time andhow you can best leverage it.
One thing that is true is thatwe all get the same 24 hours and
the same seven days a week.
But what we can do differentlywith that is the 24 hours that
(04:00):
you and I both have.
One may look at it as one big24-hour block, or another one,
another example of this is oneof my favorites, Ed Milette.
He breaks up his days intomultiple days.
So he says, I have three days inone.
And what he means by that is forhim to promote more of a sense
of urgency, his first day startsfrom 6 a.m.
(04:23):
to 12 p.m.
and then 12 to 6, and then 6 to12.
So there's a whole lot of waysthat we can build a better
relationship with time so thatwe can generate the results we
want and move closer to the lifethat we ultimately envision.
So enjoy this discussion withBrian and win today.
(04:46):
Brian Moran, welcome to theshow, sir.
SPEAKER_03 (04:50):
Hey, great to be here with you.
SPEAKER_02 (04:52):
Really appreciate the opportunity.
The book has made a big impactand continues to make a big
impact on countless lives, mineincluded.
This was one that I first gotintroduced to in 2021, yeah,
when I first started my podcast.
And my friend Rachel recommendedthat we read this book.
(05:13):
And this thing is covered withhighlights and markers and
chapter notes.
And I'm so excited to dig in.
But before we dig into theprinciples of the book, I'd love
to understand our guests andwhat drives these people at the
core.
What is most important for theworld to know about Brian Moran?
SPEAKER_03 (05:39):
Well, that's that's an interesting question.
Um, our our mission at ourcompany is to change lives.
And that's, you know, I feellike that's why we're here.
Uh part of that's a purposestatement for me as well, is to
have an impact make adifference.
And and so I do that in mybusiness, which brings me great
(06:00):
joy because I know I'm having animpact.
Um, I'm I know I make I'm makinglife better for people, and you
know, I feel like that's part ofmy calling.
And so anytime you can alignyour calling with your vocation,
it's pretty awesome.
And and and I feel blessed to beable to do that.
SPEAKER_02 (06:16):
I love that.
And at what point, Brian, of allthe things that you could have
chosen to help people andorganizations with after a
successful career, what had youland on this principle of
(06:36):
executing wisely with the timethat we have of it over, let's
say, human resources developmentor back-end technology, how did
we land on the principles of the12-week year and that being a
focus point for people andorganizations?
SPEAKER_03 (06:58):
You know, so what happened for me is I I was
working my way through collegeat UPS and they promoted me into
management.
I was I wasn't interested in abusiness degree.
I was getting a degree inphysiology to be a strength
coach.
And I didn't know anyone inbusiness.
I grew up very middle class.
I didn't know anybody who owneda business, I didn't know of any
executive and whatnot.
(07:19):
But what happened for me is umthrough that opportunity, I kind
of got switched on to business.
And and so um went from there toPepsiCo, got promoted, went from
there to consulting firm, gotpromoted a couple of times.
And and then I went out on myown.
And initially I thought, youknow, I'm gonna do kind of what
I've been doing.
I'm gonna bring new ideas, newtechniques to people to help
(07:41):
them perform better.
And as I started working withbusiness owners around that, and
and even individuals and topperformers, and all the way to
people that were struggling, um,you know, I I realized that
that's not what they needed.
You know, as I started to workwith people, I realized that
they all had great ideas, thatthe breakdown wasn't they needed
(08:01):
a new idea.
What they really needed was away to execute more effectively.
And and so it's sort of like thelight bulb went off.
And then I started to work with,well, okay, if that's what
people need the most, what's ittake to execute at a high level?
Um, and ultimately coming to thepoint where we created the the
12-year system, which is anexecution system, because
(08:22):
without a system, what happensis you're grinding out, you're
grinding it week in and weekout, and which is not not a very
effective way to go at it.
And and so fortunately, as weworked with the disciplines and
principles that really drive um,you know, execution, for us, it
ended up looking very much likea system.
And and and that's what it was.
(08:44):
And um so you know, that's howthat got created, just working
with people and coming torealize that look, it's not it's
not a new idea they need.
It's not another idea.
What they need is they need away to execute more effectively.
Is there a system to do thatthere wasn't on the marketplace?
Um, as far as I know, outside ofthe 12-week year, I don't think
(09:05):
there's any other one thatexists.
And so we went to work on okay,what are the fundamentals of
execution and high performanceand how do we put that in a way
that people can really executeon that effectively?
SPEAKER_02 (09:19):
I love what you say about systems because uh it and
it sounds like to me that overtime you didn't encounter people
and organizations not beingdriven.
I'm sure that they had the loftygoals, ambitions, desires.
(09:39):
That wasn't the issue, but it'show do we get there in a timely
manner?
And ultimately, how do we formthe engine that's going to allow
us to get there?
It makes me think about one ofmy favorite books of all time,
Atomic Habits, where James Clearoutlines that hey, to get where
(10:03):
you want in life, goals aregreat, but your goal is simply a
desired outcome.
What gets you there is buildinga system around it.
We don't rise to the level ofour goals, we only fall to the
level of our systems.
So would you say that thebiggest overarching theme or
(10:28):
intent of the 12-week year isreally to create a sense of
urgency for people andorganizations?
SPEAKER_03 (10:36):
Yeah, it's not it's not just an urgency, it's it's
uh it's a focus as well, right?
So one of the things we found inthe annual environment, which no
one had challenged.
So Michael and I started to workwith a set of disciplines, the
fundamental disciplines thatdrive execution high
performance.
But we did it in the contextthat everyone does it, which is
the annual environment.
So you set an annual goal, youbuild an annual plan, you break
(10:57):
it down quarterly, monthly,weekly, and you know what?
It that we got good results, butwe didn't get what they were
capable of.
And we realized it was thatannual environment that was
getting in the way of that.
And so it's just too easy in 12months to put things off.
That's too long a runway infront of us.
Um, and there's some otherthere's some other barriers in
that too.
Like at the planning level, youcan't get tactical.
(11:19):
So plans are conceptual, or youcan't execute concepts.
So once you decide thatexecution is the number one
breakdown for people, then youstart to look at things
differently.
And and so the 12-week years, adifferent mindset as well as a
different way of operating.
And and the two go hand inglove.
One without the other doesn'twork.
And so what happens in that isin a in a 12-month cycle, it's
(11:43):
just it facilitatesprocrastination, it facilitates
overwhelm and diffusion.
When we brought, we came acrossa concept in athletics called
periodization.
Um, and that's where we borrowedthe tenets of that to create the
12-week year.
And so when you create, when youembrace 12 weeks as the year in
your thinking, right, that's acompletely different game.
(12:04):
Everything changes.
That illusion of lots of time isgone.
It's replaced with a healthysense of urgency, not the
urgency that people freak out atthe end of the calendar year,
but a healthy sense of urgencyand it focuses on the things
that matter most.
So one of the things you come torealize, different mindset
again, is that in a 12-week yearyou can't do everything.
Well, you can't do everything ina calendar year either, but it
(12:26):
seems like you can.
You got that big ass calendarbehind you.
It looks like there's tons oftime.
You got all this time to get allthis stuff done.
The reality is execution doesn'thappen monthly and quarterly and
semi-annually, it happensweekly, it happens daily.
So getting your head aroundthat, aligning your processes
with that is what's so critical.
And when you do that, it's agame changer.
(12:47):
I mean, we have people literallyaccomplish more in 12 weeks than
they did all 12 months.
And it's not by working harderor longer, Ryan, but it's a
different way of approaching it.
SPEAKER_02 (12:55):
Right, because this is such a perfect time to have
this discussion in January,because people may have written
down their goals just like yousee right behind me with my
goals, and I'm looking at whatdo I want 2025 to look like?
But it can be very easy to let'stake into let's use one as an
(13:17):
example.
I just launched a mastermindgroup to teach people how to
form unshakable discipline,which talks a lot about systems.
My goal there is to get 100people in the group by the end
of 2025.
So to prevent myself fromsaying, okay, well, I'll make
(13:37):
that big marketing push inAugust.
Should the goal be to let's get100 people in by the end of
March first quarter?
Or should it really just be moreof a system, which is like what
I'm doing right now is if I gettwo people in per week over the
course of the entire year, thatwould that would fulfill the
(14:02):
goal.
So is it we're helping shiftthis out wait till August, but
should I rethink my goal there?
SPEAKER_03 (14:11):
Yeah, so first off, quarters are are our fourth of a
hole.
So the 12-week year is not aquarter, the 12-week year is the
whole.
Again, it's a different mindset,and it's not like flipping a
switch because you and yourlisteners don't even know how
annualized you are, but you'rein you're entirely annualized.
That's just that's becausethat's the way you've always
operated, that's the wayeveryone operates, and no one
(14:33):
ever ever questioned that.
But the 12-week year is astandalone year, that is the
year.
So if you think of the end of 25as four calendar years from now,
if you said four calendar yearsfrom now, here's where I want to
be, you decide how much to biteoff in the first year, and then
you're not gonna think muchabout the second year till you
get there.
It's the same thing here, it'sjust a compressed cycle.
(14:56):
Um, but one of the things peopletend to do because they're
annualized, they take the annualnumber, they divide it by four.
Because they're used to workingin quarters.
Well, if you do it, if you dothat, that's probably limiting.
I like to tell the story ofAudra Barbot who called me on
September 7th.
She said, Brian, I just got offthe phone with my boss, I hit my
annual goal.
(15:16):
No one else in the company hadwas even close to their goal.
By the end of December, she haddoubled it.
Wow.
That would have never happenedhad she taken the annual goal
and divided by four.
So it's a process of reallyunderstanding what's the best 12
weeks you've ever had, what kindof capacity do you have to work
on strategic activity?
Are you willing to do the heavylifting to get the job done?
(15:37):
You know, and typically you canaccomplish it a lot sooner than
you thought when you when youembrace it as the year.
Because there's a, again, adifferent mindset, there's a
different sense of urgency thatgoes with that.
12 weeks, Brian, is long enoughto make amazing progress, but
near enough where I don't losesight of the deadline.
(15:58):
So never do I get complacentabout, oh, I can do that next
week.
And that's the key.
One more thing done this week,and one more done the next and
the next and the next.
And pretty soon that inflectionpoint starts to move upward.
And so I wouldn't say flat out,no, take it all in 12 weeks, but
you might.
And we've had a lot of peopleaccomplish more in 12 weeks than
they did in the prior 12 months.
Um uh thousands of people dothat, but you know, it's an
(16:20):
individual situation.
What I would say is take 12weeks and set a goal that's
worth celebrating, throw thatannual plan out, and uh think of
that as a four-year goal, andthen focus in on what it's gonna
take to get that over the finishline by the end of March, and
then we'll worry about nextyear, which will be your next
12-week year.
SPEAKER_02 (16:40):
Do you recommend or have you because what I think
about is okay, what couldsomeone think here?
Well, if I have four years inone, then could I wait until
next year to start working onthis?
(17:01):
Have you ever introduced orrecommend any sort of
consequence?
Consequence not being some sortof physical thing, obviously,
but consequence being okay,Michael, Michael or Tim or
Sally, you said that you'regoing to generate ten thousand
(17:22):
dollars in sales by the end ofMarch, year number one.
And if we don't do that, then Xhappens.
Are there any sort of factorslike that that have been used or
you recommend to help keeppeople going and pushing forward
(17:44):
on that particular year?
SPEAKER_03 (17:48):
Yeah, there are people that do that.
We don't recommend it, um,especially negative
consequences.
I mean, if you've got a strongvision of what you want to
accomplish, is there a biggernegative consequence than I'm
missing it?
I'm not living the life I'mcapable of living.
So the topic here is fivedisciplines.
And that first is is thecornerstone.
It's really establishing avision for your life that's
compelling, that that anythingless than that is a negative
(18:12):
consequence.
So you don't need an externalconsequence or or something
that's manufactured.
There's there's real uh youknow, discomfort in my being.
There's there's um you know thatdisconnect from the life I
really know I'm capable ofliving and I want to live.
So we don't we don't try andmanipulate it with outside
(18:33):
consequences.
There are natural consequences.
You know, we do use thecelebratory type of
consequences.
So when I hit this goal, what amI gonna do to celebrate?
And sometimes I'm not evencelebrating the outcome, I'm
celebrating the progress I made.
Because in the end, what yourlisteners need to understand is
you don't control the outcomes.
(18:53):
You control the actions.
And if you get too fixated onthe outcomes, it becomes
paralyzing.
So we don't put nearly theemphasis on the outcomes as we
do the actions because that'swhat we can control.
So I may or may not hit thegoal.
But if I did everything I couldto hit the goal, I'm celebrating
the heck out of that.
Because there's learning inthat, there's self-esteem built,
self-efficacy, um, there'smotivation, um, there's
(19:16):
confidence built.
I mean, all kinds of good thingscome out of that.
Um, but we don't we don'tmanufacture negative
consequences because for ourclients and for us, just missing
the mark, you you know you'remissing out on the better things
in life that you want.
So there's a connection betweenthe actions and the goal and the
life I want to.
SPEAKER_02 (19:36):
And and to your point, when you're truly going
after something big in a 12-weekperiod, as you mentioned in the
beginning, and and there'scountless testimonies on your
website, your results speak forthemselves.
That even if maybe you you youdidn't hit everything, most
(19:56):
people will have done more inthat 12-week period than you
would in an entire 12-monthperiod.
So you're still winning.
You're winning.
And for people to win in 2025,you mentioned that, and there
are five disciplines in the bookwhich which I wrote down.
(20:17):
The first being vision,planning, process control,
measurement, and time use.
Now, we're not gonna get wherewe want to go in life if we
don't know where we want to go.
To help craft a compellingvision for our lives and here in
(20:38):
this new year, as we're inJanuary, what are some things
that people can do or inventorythey should take, reflective
questions they should askthemselves to craft this
compelling vision that they canthen throw into their 12-week
year approach?
SPEAKER_03 (20:57):
Yeah, one of the things you can do is you can
list kind of the different rolesyou have in life.
So you have a role, you and Iprobably have a role as a son if
your parents are still alive.
Mine are gone though.
Um, or a daughter, as a sibling,as a spouse, as a friend, in my
business, in my community.
And just look at the variousareas and think about, you know,
what's what what am I capable ofin this area?
(21:19):
What am I capable as a father?
What would what do I want thatto look like?
Right?
What am I capable of in myfamily?
What am I capable of in mybusiness?
What am I capable?
And you start to look at thatand you take the you start to
take the boundaries off andreally dig into what's in your
heart.
Not what society says you shouldvalue, not what someone else
maybe told you success lookslike, but what does success look
(21:40):
like for you?
You decide it's your life.
Um, and you start to look atthese different areas and just
ponder, you know, if I were todo my best in that each and
every day, what would bedifferent for me three years
down the road, five years downthe road, ten years down the
road?
What kind of life could I expectto live?
Material things, non-materialthings.
Right.
And just notice your thinkingwhere you start to limit
(22:01):
yourself.
unknown (22:03):
Right?
SPEAKER_03 (22:03):
You think about, well, I'd like to have my own
jet.
Well, that's not gonna happen.
Well, it's not gonna happenunless you make it happen.
But I I have friends that havetheir own jet.
So you know what I mean?
It's really about what do youwant, though?
Maybe that's not important toyou.
Maybe, maybe having close familyrelationships where you take
vacations and you create thesememories, right?
That's important to you.
So, so what you want to makesure is that you get what
(22:26):
matters to you, and in the end,you define what great looks
like.
Not good, don't settle for good.
God willing, you're here.
Let's make it great.
And and and then we start todefine that.
We get it on paper, and it'sgoing to be uncomfortable
because if you've got a goodvision, it's exciting and it's
uncomfortable at the same time.
Because there's stuff on thatpaper that maybe you're you've
(22:47):
you've been reluctant to evensay it out loud before.
That's the kind of stuff youwant to get at.
Because that's the stuff thatmakes life really rich.
SPEAKER_02 (22:55):
Have you developed a gauge for the things that we
want in life?
And what you mentioned there,that hey, get it on paper, even
if it scares the living hell outof you, and sit with it for a
minute.
Have you developed a gauge nowdoing this for many years as to
(23:18):
what's attainable, what'sextreme, maybe what's not
pushing yourself enough, becauseit's something that I wrestle
with from time to time andquestion myself, okay, for
instance, endurance sports.
I'm constantly pushing the limitthere this year.
(23:38):
I'll be running across theentire state of South Carolina
over 220 miles.
I just ran 150 miles in onesitting in October, and I'm
constantly looking at okay, is300 miles enough?
Is 700 miles too extreme?
(23:59):
And I often explore with thatgauge, and some of my friends do
as well.
Do you have any thoughtleadership you can provide to
that art?
Discipline is a key component ofthis podcast and a key thing
that we preach.
We view discipline as the fuelto help you create the life that
(24:23):
you ultimately desire anddiscipline being the fuel that
gets your habits and systems andchecks so that you can actually
accomplish your goals.
If you're looking to level up in2025, I am happy to be a part of
that and encourage you to jointhe unshakable discipline
mastermind group.
(24:43):
This has been my baby for acouple years, and we're finally
launching it here in 2025.
The group consists of aself-paced course that teaches
you how to form core habits andmindset that will allow you to
accomplish your goals, a dailyaccountability channel to keep
you on track, motivated, and inalignment with our members, and
(25:06):
weekly mastermind sessions whereyou're going to learn from
either myself or a suite ofrenowned guests, many who have
been on the podcast that aregoing to share pieces of their
winning playbooks directly withyou.
I've learned that being a partof groups over the years has
helped propel me to so many newlevels in life.
(25:30):
If you want to go fast, goalone.
If you want to go far, then gotogether.
And it's my wish that theunshakable crew is a choice that
makes sense for you in 2025.
We are growing up to 100 membersthis year and have limited time
(25:50):
founding member pricing for 12more folks before we permanently
increase pricing to$97 a month.
You can get in now for$67 amonth, locked in for life, and
be a part of the adventure thatwe're creating with our members.
If you're somebody that cravesdiscipline, seeks it, or wants
(26:14):
it this year, and you're reallycommitted to making lasting
changes in your life and beingaround others that are committed
to winning and serving the worldand sharing what they learn with
others so that we make thisworld a better place, then join
the unshakable crew.
Go to unshakabediscipline.comand you can sign up.
(26:36):
It is also in the show notes.
Unshakable Shake is inMilkshake.
Unshakabeldiscipline.com.
And we're excited to have you in2025.
Let's go.
SPEAKER_03 (26:51):
Well, I think it's what you said, right?
What matters to you?
And and what happens is as weaccomplish things, then we start
to think bigger and bolder.
Right?
And and so oftentimes when youstart out, it's you think you're
thinking big, and then you lookback and you go, man, was I
thinking small.
That's just part of the process.
You know, it's really hard, Imean, to have it be real, right?
(27:15):
We we see people that, you know,they're young, they're starting
their career, and they're gonnahave this amazing success.
That's a joke because they don'teven know what it takes to get
there.
They're not, they're not willingto pay the price.
But once you start really payingthe price and you start
accomplishing things in yourlife, you like you run that
marathon and you set a PR, andthen you come back and you do
this, or whether it's in yourbusiness, now you start to get a
(27:38):
sense of, boy, I'm capable ofmore than I know.
And I start to think bigger andbolder.
And where you stop is really upto you.
That's a personal thing.
I would never want to throttleanybody in terms of what's
possible.
I mean, you know, if we didthat, there'd be so many things
that we enjoy today thatwouldn't be around, like, you
know, the medical advancementsfrom artificial hips and knees
(27:59):
to transplants to scanningtechnology to all that.
There'd be, you know, spacetravel wouldn't happen.
And when Kennedy challengedpeople to put a man on the moon,
the US, we couldn't get a rocketship off the launching pad.
You know, had we waited, itwould have never happened.
So I really think it's a processof though, just pushing your
boundaries out.
We call it on the skinnybranches, as far as you can go,
(28:21):
and then chasing that.
And then and then when you getthere, guess what?
New opportunities are going toopen up, new vistas, and they're
gonna be bigger and bolder thanthe last one.
SPEAKER_02 (28:29):
One thing that I shared in my mastermind group
last week that that goes alongwith this, it especially since
we're in the new year, I like tochallenge people's thoughts
process and their beliefsystems.
And I was having a conversationwith a mentor that dropped this
quote, which then I immediatelyshared with the group, and I'm
gonna share it here as well,because I believe it highlights
(28:52):
what you're saying here, Brian.
The unconscious will allow us tohave only what we believe we
deserve.
If we have a small view ofourselves, then what we deserve
is poverty, and our unconsciouswill see to it that we have that
actuality.
SPEAKER_03 (29:14):
Yeah, yeah, Earl Nightingale, who was one of the
first guys in the personaldevelopment space decades ago,
said it this way, he said, Youbecome what you think about.
And so if you think about smallthings, you become small.
If you think about big things,you become big as long as you're
willing to act on them.
But part of that is part of youtraining yourself to act on it
(29:35):
is that those that visionbecoming real.
If it's something that I thinkis just somewhere 10 years from
now, you know, it's gonna feelgood occasionally, but I'm not
gonna act on it.
When I really start to see it aspossible for me, that's when it
gets exciting.
And so the way to do that is tobe able to try it on and and and
really entertain the question ofwhat if, you know, well, what I
(29:58):
I probably can't run seven.
1700 miles, but what if I could?
What would be different?
What would be different for me,for my family, for my community,
for the people I work with, forthe people I'm trying to
inspire, for my podcastaudience, right?
What would and and you just yousit with the what if because at
the starting gate is not thetime to figure out the how.
It's got to be aboutpossibility.
(30:19):
And as you become comfortablewith that and you and you go
from this being reallyimpossible to possible, now we
can start start to talk aboutthe how.
How might I do that?
What would I need to dodifferently?
What different things would Ineed to do?
Um, how how would I need toadjust my training, my sleep, my
food intake, all of that stuff?
Then it now we're working on it.
(30:41):
Why?
Because we see this possible forus.
It's the I mean, you're arunner, it's a four-minute mile
thing.
Right up until the time,everyone said impossible.
Medica me medical community,we're not built to do that.
Roger breaks through thatrecord, and then other people do
boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
Well, what happened?
Well, it went from a collectiveimpossible to possible.
(31:02):
And and and and now highschoolers challenging the mark,
you know.
So um, but it's the same inevery era of our life.
SPEAKER_02 (31:08):
It makes me think about the I was having a
conversation with someone thisweek that on Sunday the American
half marathon world record gotshattered by Connor Mance.
So he broke a 17-year-longrecord previously held by Ryan
Hall when he ran the HoustonMarathon on Sunday.
(31:30):
He finished in 59 minutes and 17seconds.
Fastest American by nearly 30seconds.
And now I think about who'sgonna be the first American to
break 59 minutes, and how manypeople are actually capable of
running that 59-17 right now,but they just didn't believe it.
(31:54):
And now Connor is a pathfinderfor additional Americans to come
into the mix and become fasterand faster and faster.
Same thing with Elliot Kipchoge,who was the first man to run the
sub-two-hour marathon.
There will be a day, Brian,where sub-two-hour marathons
(32:19):
become the standard for winningthe world majors.
We're not there yet, but all ittook was one person to test and
defy the limits and ultimatelybelieve in themselves.
SPEAKER_03 (32:34):
So you see it in the Olympics all the time.
Right?
I mean, but it's the same innon-physical events as it is
physical.
It first happens, if you can'tcreate it mentally, you'll never
create it in the physicaluniverse.
SPEAKER_02 (32:48):
Amen.
And I love I love at thebeginning of the book, that's
why we started with with thatquote Great things, great things
happen twice when they happen inyour mind first.
And if they can't happen in yourmind, they're not going to
happen right in front of you.
Now that we've gotten clear onvision and we've uncovered
here's some steps that peoplecan follow, in addition to some
(33:12):
encouragement for their beliefsystems.
How can we then put this intoplay?
So we know what we want.
Yep.
Is there a set number of goalsthat we should have in a 12-week
year, or is it the less equalsmore approach?
SPEAKER_03 (33:38):
It's really the latter.
And the reason is because everytime you add one more goal, the
probability of you being greatat any of them diminishes
significantly.
So, you know, I'm sure yourlisteners have heard the slogan
less is more.
Well, the first time I ever saidthat, I hated it.
I'm like, no, it's not.
More is more.
Well, it's not when it comes toachieving because you have
(33:59):
limited capacity.
You have limited time, limitedenergy, limited intellect,
limited resources, right?
It's not a slam, it's thereality.
So every time you pile on onemore thing, it just spreads you
thinner and thinner and thinner.
So it's it's the same at thegoal level, same at the tactical
level, right?
We're always looking to create aplan that's very focused.
So people go, Well, I got abunch of things I want to
(34:20):
accomplish.
Okay.
If you chase them all, you'regonna be mediocre at everything.
How about let's be great at afew things versus mediocre at
many?
And by the way, we're looking at12 weeks.
So 12 weeks goes by pretty fast.
So if we took the one or two topthings in your life and we moved
the needle over the next 12weeks, and then we did that
(34:41):
again the next 12 weeks andagain the next 12 weeks in a
very short period of time, yourlife is tremendously different.
But it comes through the focus.
It's a difference between afloodlight or a uh, you know,
overhead light and a laser beam.
It's still light, but when youfocus that, when you focus that
light, you can cut throughsteel.
It's the same for you and I.
When we focus our energies,there's no telling what we're
(35:04):
capable of.
And that's part of how ourclients are able to accomplish
so much more.
They're not trying to doeverything.
Right?
Otherwise, it'd be reallystressful.
We're not trying to takeeverything you do in 12 months
and cram it into 12 weeks.
We're focusing on a few thingsand being more consistent with
the actions that matter most.
SPEAKER_02 (35:21):
We've got something else that can help us accomplish
a lot in 2025, in addition toimplementing the elements of the
12-week year that Brian is soamazingly dishing out to us, and
that is Magic Mind.
Magic Mind is an absolutegame-changing supplement that
helps keep me focused and in azen-like state, especially when
(35:44):
I'm about to start my mostdifficult task of the day.
If you're like me, you know thatit can be difficult at times to
be focused and productive andstress-free with everything
going on, as many of us arejuggling many hats and are very
ambitious and have many coals inthe fire.
There is a way to still staysharp, feel relaxed, and power
(36:08):
through your day, and that'swhere Magic Mind comes in.
It's a little two-ounce shotthat has an incredible
ingredient such as Ashwagandhaand L-Tianine, which are both
known for reducing stress,helping you stay calm and
focused, and powering throughyour day.
What I really love about this isthat it helps improve focus and
(36:29):
mental clarity, whether you'retackling a tough project,
working through a long to-dolist, or you just need to say
start for the day ahead.
Magic Mind is offering anamazing special right now, 45%
off using code WINTODAY JAN.
That is WINTODAY JAN J A N.
You can go to magicmind.comslash win today jan for 45% off
(36:56):
to increase your focus, reduceyour stress, and make 2025 an
amazing year.
SPEAKER_03 (37:02):
And what happens is one more on top of one more, on
top of one more, on top of onemore, on top of one more.
And in 12 short weeks, it can bea very, very different outcome.
SPEAKER_02 (37:11):
I was surprised when I read an article a few years
ago that looked into theday-to-day life of Jeff Bezos
when he was still the CEO ofAmazon.
And contrary to what I believed,and probably what many people
believed at the time, was thatyou'd think Jeff Bezos as a CEO
(37:31):
of Amazon, he must do 5,000things a day.
I mean, he's got Amazon Prime toworry about, he's got the Whole
Foods, the Washington Post, he'sgot Prime Video, so many
different meetings.
And what he said about his day,Brian, is that a good day for
him is if he makes three gooddecisions in a day.
(37:55):
And if anything is mentallytaxing, let's say at three or
four o'clock in the afternoon,that then becomes a 10 a.m.
or 8 a.m.
meeting the next day whenthere's more mental capacity.
And I thought, wow, if one ofthe most arguably successful
people in the world from amonetary and business
(38:18):
perspective, said that he'sfocused on no more than three
good decisions in a day, whywould we think that we need to
do fifty to a hundred things ina day and then get mad when we
only accomplish six?
And as we move through thisprogression here with vision
(38:42):
being clear and making sure thatyou've got less but more
meaningful goals in your 12-weekyear, one thing I love that I've
I wrote up, I marked up in thebook is getting into the system,
you introduce a lot of differentscorecards and the concept of
(39:05):
leading and lag indicators.
So what's an example if we if wemade an example goal and broke
that down?
We're clear on what we want.
Now, how do we incorporate thesystem around it using the
scorecard and tools introducedin the book?
SPEAKER_03 (39:26):
Well, the first thing we need to do, Ryan, is we
need to get a tactical plan, nota conceptual plan.
And and that's that's going totake some training because
people don't even know they'replanning conceptually.
They plan conceptually partlybecause they're in an annual
environment, partly becausethey've never been taught to
plan differently.
But um, for instance, aconceptual plan would be
exercise or diet, or if you'rein sales, get referrals,
(39:48):
cross-sell, things like that.
They're great concepts, butconcepts don't execute.
So we've got to get verygranular.
The statements in the plan haveto describe an action you can
take.
Run five miles per day, fivedays a week, something like
that.
Okay.
So that's the first step.
And we're not looking foreverything you can think of,
we're looking for the criticalfuse.
(40:08):
So there's a way to sort thoseso we get the high payoff
activities.
So we're not trying to burnourselves out trying to do
everything.
Okay.
So that's the first thing.
Without a tactical plan, anykind of feedback or scoring is
worthless.
So people get together and theytalk about all of that, and
that's why they their theirconversations are surface and
they're opinion-based becausetheir plan is conceptual.
(40:30):
When you get a tactical plan,now you're getting feedback
that's really specific.
So you're gonna know whichtactics worked and which ones
didn't, because the reality isthere's no perfect plan.
I don't care how many plansyou've written.
I've written thousands and seenthousands.
There's no perfect plan.
So you got to go out there andexecute it and then pay
attention for feedback.
Well, when you got a conceptualplan, the feedback is vague.
(40:53):
When you got a tactical plan,it's very specific.
So you know what worked and whatdidn't work.
And along the way, we're gonnameasure a couple of things.
We're gonna measure theoutcomes, we're gonna measure
the lead and lags.
So you know, if you're trying torun a marathon in a certain
amount of time, we're gonnameasure that.
And the lead indicators aregonna be is my score improving
every week, or my time improvingevery week, or am I doing the
(41:15):
things I need to do?
Right in a sales environment,the lag is sales.
The leads are maybe referrals orproposals submitted or things
like that.
Um so we're gonna track thoseoutcomes.
Most importantly, though, we'regonna score the execution.
Because again, that's what I cancontrol.
So we track the lead and lags,we score the execution.
(41:36):
And in those two sets ofnumbers, we have everything we
need to know where to adjust.
Because if there's a breakdown,it's one of two places.
It's either in the plan, I don'thave the right tactical plan, or
it's in the execution, I'm justnot doing it.
Where do you think it is most ofthe time?
Probably not I'm not where wheredo you think the breakdown is?
(41:57):
In the plan or the execution?
The execution.
Yeah.
80-90% of time.
But what do most people do isthey go change the plan.
All right, well, why do they dothat?
Well, partly because it'seasier, but partly because they
don't have a way to pinpoint thebreakdown.
With the 12-week year, you'llknow.
Because we're scoring theexecution.
And so we know every week how Iperformed as the CEO of my
(42:21):
world.
I'll know if I'm a 30 percentileor 90 percentile, and I'll know
why.
And that's really critical.
SPEAKER_02 (42:26):
That's one thing that I love throughout the book
is that there are so manydifferent places for it's really
people get to interact with thebook, and you can actually write
out what your what your whatdoes your vision look like, and
there's examples of thescorecard throughout the book.
(42:48):
I've been I actually read thiswhen I was getting ready to
qualify for the Boston Marathonand qualifying for the Boston
Marathon, and I'm looking forthe page where I wrote the exact
example, but I wrote BostonMarathon lag, lag indicator.
(43:13):
My league and my lead indicatorsare my weekly running mileage
and my my paces, what's myprogression?
So I'm saying that to hopefullyprovide some additional context
to people like, hey, this isit's as simple as here's that
one goal, and then here's whatI'm looking at week in and week
(43:36):
out.
SPEAKER_03 (43:38):
Now, the the additional thing to that would
be scoring the tactical plan.
So the tactical plan might be,you know, I consumed X amount of
calories or uh, you know, uh agram and a half of protein for
every pound, you know, whateverthat diet is, there may be a
number of tactics around that.
It may be that I got, you know,a minimum of eight hours of
(44:00):
sleep every night.
Um, I drank twice my weight inin ounces of b of water, right?
I I ran a minimum of five milesevery day.
You know, those are the tacticsin the plan that we're gonna put
a score to as well, becausethat's what we can control.
That's what ultimately is gonnadrive your success in the event
or your success in business oryour success in life, whatever
(44:20):
it is.
And so it's those two sets ofmeasures that really matter.
SPEAKER_02 (44:23):
And that ultimately brings us back to the beginning
in building the system and theengine around it.
Because now we're talking, okay,if we're gonna get tactical and
measure what are the what arethe mini steps that are going to
get me to the we'll call it thethe big step or the goal.
(44:45):
And it's exactly what youmentioned there.
And then, okay, how do westructure our day so that we're
getting enough calories and whatare we doing the night before to
ensure that we're gonna get asolid breakfast to fuel us
before our run tomorrow?
So I love that all these steps,everything we're talking about,
(45:06):
is simple in theory.
At times, given that lifehappens, can be difficult in
execution because of unforeseencircumstances, but when we take
the time to get clear on what wewant and map it out, there's no
guesswork.
We're eliminating all of theguesswork, which is, I believe,
(45:27):
also where people strugglebecause then they get into
analysis paralysis, they don'tthey don't know what they want,
they're not clear on what theywant and where they want to go.
Brian, you offer these resourcesto people on a monthly basis and
three-year workshops.
How can people really takeadvantage of the 12-week year
(45:51):
beyond purchasing a copy forthemselves?
SPEAKER_03 (45:56):
Yeah, go to go to 12 weekyearworkshop.com.
So that's the number1212weekyeworkshop.com.
We run a workshop, you can get acopy of the book and the
workshop for like$20.25 to helpyou crush 2025.
That's the best way.
We go 90 minutes hard, we unpackthe concepts, we'll talk more
deeply about um the plans andthe scorecards and all those
(46:19):
pieces that make up the systemthat help you perform at your
best.
Right?
Well, we've and we've gotthousands of examples.
We share a few, but we've gotthousands of examples of when
you learn to execute, everythingchanges.
You know, everything has to beexecuted.
You have great intent.
If you don't act on itconsistently, it's worthless.
It has no impact in your life,it has no impact in the world.
And so um, what you'll find iswhen you start to do that, it's
(46:42):
amazing what you're gonnaaccomplish in 12 weeks.
SPEAKER_02 (46:45):
Amen.
What are you most excited aboutin your 12-week year?
I almost said 2025.
But what's most exciting aboutyour 12-week year right now?
SPEAKER_03 (46:57):
Yeah, we're doing a lot with business owners and
leaders, really helping them umapply it for themselves in their
role, but also with their teams.
You know, we've we've workedwith multi-billion dollar
companies, had huge impacts, andit's exciting to be able to help
small businesses and mid-sizedbusinesses and entrepreneurs
really apply it in a way thatthat just accelerates their
success.
So that's that's fun for us.
(47:18):
We're excited about that.
I'm excited for you, Brian.
SPEAKER_02 (47:20):
Brian, it's customary to end the podcast
with a rapid fire session, andin that we're going to ask you
three questions.
Now, the amount of time that youhave to answer the question is
the amount of time that it takesto go up one elevator floor.
So imagine you and I are goingto lunch together in some cool
(47:42):
place in Scottsdale.
Yeah.
We're going up three floors.
A new person walks in theelevator on each floor and asks
you one question.
All right.
So first person, first personwalks in, they recognize you,
they've read 12-week year, andthey ask, Brian, what's one gem
(48:03):
that you have, whether it be aquote or a mantra that you live
your life by that I can put inmy back pocket or live my life
by as well?
SPEAKER_03 (48:14):
Yeah, it's probably the concept of greatness in the
moment, which is this notionthat life is lived in the
moment, that's what we have.
And because I think everybodythinks if they're gonna be great
at some time in the future, whenthe reality is, is all we have
is right now.
A minute ago is a memory, aminute from now is not here.
God willing, we get to live thefuture, but we have is right
now.
And so if we're great in themoment, we're gonna be the
(48:35):
results are gonna reflect thatdown the road.
So learning how to justapproaching life with that
mindset, instead of puttingthings off, let me be great in
the moment, let me do the thingsI need to do today so that I can
live the life I want to live.
SPEAKER_02 (48:48):
Be great in the moment.
Next person comes on.
Brian, what's one step that Ican take today to incorporate
the teachings of the 12-weekyear into my life?
SPEAKER_03 (49:02):
Yeah, well, one is just throw out the annual plan,
set a 12-week goal.
Seriously, the annual plan isbetter than no plan, but but if
you've been doing that, you'reready to take the next step.
You're ready to level up, set a12-week goal.
Figure out what greatness lookslike in the next 12 weeks,
something we're celebrating, andthen lock that in.
That is your year.
(49:23):
Get your mind out of I've gotall this time to catch up if I
don't get it done, and figureout how to get it over the
finish line.
SPEAKER_02 (49:30):
Last one, and this may be the most difficult one.
Brian, what's one book besidesyours that we can read in our
12-week year to enhance ourmindset and ensure a prosperous
(49:50):
2025 in the four years that it'sgoing to bring us.
SPEAKER_03 (49:58):
You know, I'm I'm a big believer in mindset.
90% of life is between yourears.
And there's one of my favoritebooks is Feel the Fear and Do It
Anyways by Dr.
Susan Jeffers.
It's a little paperback, it wentout of print for a while.
I think it's back in print, butshe looks at people that
experience a ton of success inthe life versus everyone else,
and she found that both of themexperience fear when they're on
(50:20):
new ground, but the successfulpeople do it anyways.
And she's got some key points tohelp you take the action, even
when you're frightened, evenwhen you're fearful, even when
you're anxious about it.
And it's a it's just a reallypowerful book.
Powerful play.
SPEAKER_02 (50:33):
I haven't heard that one before, so we'll add that to
the arsenal.
Uh Brian, it's been good, anabsolute pleasure to have you on
board.
As I mentioned, you've you'vereally made an impact on my life
since 2021.
And it's an honor to have youhere across from me and and
(50:55):
share the experience from thebook.
And it's my wish that listenersadopt the 12-week year, buy it,
ditch the annualized thinking,and let's see what we can really
accomplish in this calendar year2025 by adopting the 12-week
(51:16):
year, 12 weeks at a time.
And that is going to help peoplewin today.
Thanks so much for tuning in.
In a 12-month cycle, it's just it facilitates
procrastination.
It facilitates overwhelm anddiffusion.
When we brought, we came acrossa concept in athletics called
periodization.
Um, and that's where we borrowedthe tenets of that to create the
12-week year.
And so when you create, when youembrace 12 weeks as the year in
your thinking, right, that's acompletely different game.
(00:22):
Everything changes.
That illusion of lots of time isgone.
It's replaced with a healthysense of urgency, not the
urgency that people freak out atthe end of the calendar year,
but a healthy sense of urgencyand it focuses on the things
that matter most.
So one of the things you come torealize, different mindset
again, is that in a 12-week yearyou can't do everything.
(00:42):
Well, you can't do everything ina calendar year either, but it
seems like you can.
You got that big ass calendarbehind you.
It looks like there's tons oftime.
You got all this time to get allthis stuff done.
The reality is, executiondoesn't happen monthly and
quarterly and semi-annually.
It happens weekly, it happensdaily.
SPEAKER_00 (00:59):
Do hard things.
Help one person.
Be good and do good.
Live a life of discipline, andyou will always win.
You have all the tools that youneed to succeed.
Welcome to win today.
SPEAKER_01 (01:14):
Thank you so much for tuning in.
My name is Ryan Casson.
I'm your host.
My purpose in this world is tohelp push people further and
harder than they believepossible and become unshakable
in what matters most to them intheir lives.
Every week, you're gonna learnfrom either myself or a renowned
expert in their field, and we'regonna unveil pieces of our
playbook to help you win today.
SPEAKER_02 (01:35):
Please, if you love this show, subscribe and share
it with somebody that willbenefit from it.
Let's dig in.
SPEAKER_01 (01:43):
Eighty days is more than enough time to completely
change your life to turn a badyear into a great year, and to
set yourself up for sustainedsuccess.
Last week we shared what youcould do if you were starting
fresh in 2025 as of last week,meaning that maybe things
(02:06):
haven't gone your way and youneed a reset.
Here's a quick and easy playbookto go and execute.
We're expanding upon that withan interview with Brian Moran.
He's the author of one of myfavorite books, The 12-week
year.
And he originally came on theshow at the beginning of 2025 on
(02:27):
episode 186.
And I figure with 12 weeks leftin 2025, what better time to
reintroduce this powerfuldiscussion with Brian as he also
gets us to think about timedifferently.
The essence of the 12-week yearis looking at our calendar as
(02:51):
four three-month chunks versusone big 12-month chunk.
Why that's important is becauseit helps drive more of a sense
of urgency.
And what better timing to bringthis back than right now, we can
look at 2025, the remainder of2025, with 12 weeks being left,
(03:14):
as an entire year in itself.
So every year we cantheoretically get four years
into one and get more done thanwe ever believed possible.
And Brian is going to show usthat.
So my challenge to you andencouragement between this
(03:35):
episode and last, and as we'vebeen talking about time some
more, is see if there'sopportunities for you to shift
your relationship with time andhow you can best leverage it.
One thing that is true is thatwe all get the same 24 hours and
the same seven days a week.
But what we can do differentlywith that is the 24 hours that
(04:00):
you and I both have.
One may look at it as one big24-hour block, or another one,
another example of this is oneof my favorites, Ed Milette.
He breaks up his days intomultiple days.
So he says, I have three days inone.
And what he means by that is forhim to promote more of a sense
of urgency, his first day startsfrom 6 a.m.
(04:23):
to 12 p.m.
and then 12 to 6, and then 6 to12.
So there's a whole lot of waysthat we can build a better
relationship with time so thatwe can generate the results we
want and move closer to the lifethat we ultimately envision.
So enjoy this discussion withBrian and win today.
(04:46):
Brian Moran, welcome to theshow, sir.
SPEAKER_03 (04:50):
Hey, great to be here with you.
SPEAKER_02 (04:52):
Really appreciate the opportunity.
The book has made a big impactand continues to make a big
impact on countless lives, mineincluded.
This was one that I first gotintroduced to in 2021, yeah,
when I first started my podcast.
And my friend Rachel recommendedthat we read this book.
(05:13):
And this thing is covered withhighlights and markers and
chapter notes.
And I'm so excited to dig in.
But before we dig into theprinciples of the book, I'd love
to understand our guests andwhat drives these people at the
core.
What is most important for theworld to know about Brian Moran?
SPEAKER_03 (05:39):
Well, that's that's an interesting question.
Um, our our mission at ourcompany is to change lives.
And that's, you know, I feellike that's why we're here.
Uh part of that's a purposestatement for me as well, is to
have an impact make adifference.
And and so I do that in mybusiness, which brings me great
(06:00):
joy because I know I'm having animpact.
Um, I'm I know I make I'm makinglife better for people, and you
know, I feel like that's part ofmy calling.
And so anytime you can alignyour calling with your vocation,
it's pretty awesome.
And and and I feel blessed to beable to do that.
SPEAKER_02 (06:16):
I love that.
And at what point, Brian, of allthe things that you could have
chosen to help people andorganizations with after a
successful career, what had youland on this principle of
(06:36):
executing wisely with the timethat we have of it over, let's
say, human resources developmentor back-end technology, how did
we land on the principles of the12-week year and that being a
focus point for people andorganizations?
SPEAKER_03 (06:58):
You know, so what happened for me is I I was
working my way through collegeat UPS and they promoted me into
management.
I was I wasn't interested in abusiness degree.
I was getting a degree inphysiology to be a strength
coach.
And I didn't know anyone inbusiness.
I grew up very middle class.
I didn't know anybody who owneda business, I didn't know of any
executive and whatnot.
(07:19):
But what happened for me is umthrough that opportunity, I kind
of got switched on to business.
And and so um went from there toPepsiCo, got promoted, went from
there to consulting firm, gotpromoted a couple of times.
And and then I went out on myown.
And initially I thought, youknow, I'm gonna do kind of what
I've been doing.
I'm gonna bring new ideas, newtechniques to people to help
(07:41):
them perform better.
And as I started working withbusiness owners around that, and
and even individuals and topperformers, and all the way to
people that were struggling, um,you know, I I realized that
that's not what they needed.
You know, as I started to workwith people, I realized that
they all had great ideas, thatthe breakdown wasn't they needed
(08:01):
a new idea.
What they really needed was away to execute more effectively.
And and so it's sort of like thelight bulb went off.
And then I started to work with,well, okay, if that's what
people need the most, what's ittake to execute at a high level?
Um, and ultimately coming to thepoint where we created the the
12-year system, which is anexecution system, because
(08:22):
without a system, what happensis you're grinding out, you're
grinding it week in and weekout, and which is not not a very
effective way to go at it.
And and so fortunately, as weworked with the disciplines and
principles that really drive um,you know, execution, for us, it
ended up looking very much likea system.
And and and that's what it was.
(08:44):
And um so you know, that's howthat got created, just working
with people and coming torealize that look, it's not it's
not a new idea they need.
It's not another idea.
What they need is they need away to execute more effectively.
Is there a system to do thatthere wasn't on the marketplace?
Um, as far as I know, outside ofthe 12-week year, I don't think
(09:05):
there's any other one thatexists.
And so we went to work on okay,what are the fundamentals of
execution and high performanceand how do we put that in a way
that people can really executeon that effectively?
SPEAKER_02 (09:19):
I love what you say about systems because uh it and
it sounds like to me that overtime you didn't encounter people
and organizations not beingdriven.
I'm sure that they had the loftygoals, ambitions, desires.
(09:39):
That wasn't the issue, but it'show do we get there in a timely
manner?
And ultimately, how do we formthe engine that's going to allow
us to get there?
It makes me think about one ofmy favorite books of all time,
Atomic Habits, where James Clearoutlines that hey, to get where
(10:03):
you want in life, goals aregreat, but your goal is simply a
desired outcome.
What gets you there is buildinga system around it.
We don't rise to the level ofour goals, we only fall to the
level of our systems.
So would you say that thebiggest overarching theme or
(10:28):
intent of the 12-week year isreally to create a sense of
urgency for people andorganizations?
SPEAKER_03 (10:36):
Yeah, it's not it's not just an urgency, it's it's
uh it's a focus as well, right?
So one of the things we found inthe annual environment, which no
one had challenged.
So Michael and I started to workwith a set of disciplines, the
fundamental disciplines thatdrive execution high
performance.
But we did it in the contextthat everyone does it, which is
the annual environment.
So you set an annual goal, youbuild an annual plan, you break
(10:57):
it down quarterly, monthly,weekly, and you know what?
It that we got good results, butwe didn't get what they were
capable of.
And we realized it was thatannual environment that was
getting in the way of that.
And so it's just too easy in 12months to put things off.
That's too long a runway infront of us.
Um, and there's some otherthere's some other barriers in
that too.
Like at the planning level, youcan't get tactical.
(11:19):
So plans are conceptual, or youcan't execute concepts.
So once you decide thatexecution is the number one
breakdown for people, then youstart to look at things
differently.
And and so the 12-week years, adifferent mindset as well as a
different way of operating.
And and the two go hand inglove.
One without the other doesn'twork.
And so what happens in that isin a in a 12-month cycle, it's
(11:43):
just it facilitatesprocrastination, it facilitates
overwhelm and diffusion.
When we brought, we came acrossa concept in athletics called
periodization.
Um, and that's where we borrowedthe tenets of that to create the
12-week year.
And so when you create, when youembrace 12 weeks as the year in
your thinking, right, that's acompletely different game.
(12:04):
Everything changes.
That illusion of lots of time isgone.
It's replaced with a healthysense of urgency, not the
urgency that people freak out atthe end of the calendar year,
but a healthy sense of urgencyand it focuses on the things
that matter most.
So one of the things you come torealize, different mindset
again, is that in a 12-week yearyou can't do everything.
Well, you can't do everything ina calendar year either, but it
(12:26):
seems like you can.
You got that big ass calendarbehind you.
It looks like there's tons oftime.
You got all this time to get allthis stuff done.
The reality is execution doesn'thappen monthly and quarterly and
semi-annually, it happensweekly, it happens daily.
So getting your head aroundthat, aligning your processes
with that is what's so critical.
And when you do that, it's agame changer.
(12:47):
I mean, we have people literallyaccomplish more in 12 weeks than
they did all 12 months.
And it's not by working harderor longer, Ryan, but it's a
different way of approaching it.
SPEAKER_02 (12:55):
Right, because this is such a perfect time to have
this discussion in January,because people may have written
down their goals just like yousee right behind me with my
goals, and I'm looking at whatdo I want 2025 to look like?
But it can be very easy to let'stake into let's use one as an
(13:17):
example.
I just launched a mastermindgroup to teach people how to
form unshakable discipline,which talks a lot about systems.
My goal there is to get 100people in the group by the end
of 2025.
So to prevent myself fromsaying, okay, well, I'll make
(13:37):
that big marketing push inAugust.
Should the goal be to let's get100 people in by the end of
March first quarter?
Or should it really just be moreof a system, which is like what
I'm doing right now is if I gettwo people in per week over the
course of the entire year, thatwould that would fulfill the
(14:02):
goal.
So is it we're helping shiftthis out wait till August, but
should I rethink my goal there?
SPEAKER_03 (14:11):
Yeah, so first off, quarters are are our fourth of a
hole.
So the 12-week year is not aquarter, the 12-week year is the
whole.
Again, it's a different mindset,and it's not like flipping a
switch because you and yourlisteners don't even know how
annualized you are, but you'rein you're entirely annualized.
That's just that's becausethat's the way you've always
operated, that's the wayeveryone operates, and no one
(14:33):
ever ever questioned that.
But the 12-week year is astandalone year, that is the
year.
So if you think of the end of 25as four calendar years from now,
if you said four calendar yearsfrom now, here's where I want to
be, you decide how much to biteoff in the first year, and then
you're not gonna think muchabout the second year till you
get there.
It's the same thing here, it'sjust a compressed cycle.
(14:56):
Um, but one of the things peopletend to do because they're
annualized, they take the annualnumber, they divide it by four.
Because they're used to workingin quarters.
Well, if you do it, if you dothat, that's probably limiting.
I like to tell the story ofAudra Barbot who called me on
September 7th.
She said, Brian, I just got offthe phone with my boss, I hit my
annual goal.
(15:16):
No one else in the company hadwas even close to their goal.
By the end of December, she haddoubled it.
Wow.
That would have never happenedhad she taken the annual goal
and divided by four.
So it's a process of reallyunderstanding what's the best 12
weeks you've ever had, what kindof capacity do you have to work
on strategic activity?
Are you willing to do the heavylifting to get the job done?
(15:37):
You know, and typically you canaccomplish it a lot sooner than
you thought when you when youembrace it as the year.
Because there's a, again, adifferent mindset, there's a
different sense of urgency thatgoes with that.
12 weeks, Brian, is long enoughto make amazing progress, but
near enough where I don't losesight of the deadline.
(15:58):
So never do I get complacentabout, oh, I can do that next
week.
And that's the key.
One more thing done this week,and one more done the next and
the next and the next.
And pretty soon that inflectionpoint starts to move upward.
And so I wouldn't say flat out,no, take it all in 12 weeks, but
you might.
And we've had a lot of peopleaccomplish more in 12 weeks than
they did in the prior 12 months.
Um uh thousands of people dothat, but you know, it's an
(16:20):
individual situation.
What I would say is take 12weeks and set a goal that's
worth celebrating, throw thatannual plan out, and uh think of
that as a four-year goal, andthen focus in on what it's gonna
take to get that over the finishline by the end of March, and
then we'll worry about nextyear, which will be your next
12-week year.
SPEAKER_02 (16:40):
Do you recommend or have you because what I think
about is okay, what couldsomeone think here?
Well, if I have four years inone, then could I wait until
next year to start working onthis?
(17:01):
Have you ever introduced orrecommend any sort of
consequence?
Consequence not being some sortof physical thing, obviously,
but consequence being okay,Michael, Michael or Tim or
Sally, you said that you'regoing to generate ten thousand
(17:22):
dollars in sales by the end ofMarch, year number one.
And if we don't do that, then Xhappens.
Are there any sort of factorslike that that have been used or
you recommend to help keeppeople going and pushing forward
(17:44):
on that particular year?
SPEAKER_03 (17:48):
Yeah, there are people that do that.
We don't recommend it, um,especially negative
consequences.
I mean, if you've got a strongvision of what you want to
accomplish, is there a biggernegative consequence than I'm
missing it?
I'm not living the life I'mcapable of living.
So the topic here is fivedisciplines.
And that first is is thecornerstone.
It's really establishing avision for your life that's
compelling, that that anythingless than that is a negative
(18:12):
consequence.
So you don't need an externalconsequence or or something
that's manufactured.
There's there's real uh youknow, discomfort in my being.
There's there's um you know thatdisconnect from the life I
really know I'm capable ofliving and I want to live.
So we don't we don't try andmanipulate it with outside
(18:33):
consequences.
There are natural consequences.
You know, we do use thecelebratory type of
consequences.
So when I hit this goal, what amI gonna do to celebrate?
And sometimes I'm not evencelebrating the outcome, I'm
celebrating the progress I made.
Because in the end, what yourlisteners need to understand is
you don't control the outcomes.
(18:53):
You control the actions.
And if you get too fixated onthe outcomes, it becomes
paralyzing.
So we don't put nearly theemphasis on the outcomes as we
do the actions because that'swhat we can control.
So I may or may not hit thegoal.
But if I did everything I couldto hit the goal, I'm celebrating
the heck out of that.
Because there's learning inthat, there's self-esteem built,
self-efficacy, um, there'smotivation, um, there's
(19:16):
confidence built.
I mean, all kinds of good thingscome out of that.
Um, but we don't we don'tmanufacture negative
consequences because for ourclients and for us, just missing
the mark, you you know you'remissing out on the better things
in life that you want.
So there's a connection betweenthe actions and the goal and the
life I want to.
SPEAKER_02 (19:36):
And and to your point, when you're truly going
after something big in a 12-weekperiod, as you mentioned in the
beginning, and and there'scountless testimonies on your
website, your results speak forthemselves.
That even if maybe you you youdidn't hit everything, most
(19:56):
people will have done more inthat 12-week period than you
would in an entire 12-monthperiod.
So you're still winning.
You're winning.
And for people to win in 2025,you mentioned that, and there
are five disciplines in the bookwhich which I wrote down.
(20:17):
The first being vision,planning, process control,
measurement, and time use.
Now, we're not gonna get wherewe want to go in life if we
don't know where we want to go.
To help craft a compellingvision for our lives and here in
(20:38):
this new year, as we're inJanuary, what are some things
that people can do or inventorythey should take, reflective
questions they should askthemselves to craft this
compelling vision that they canthen throw into their 12-week
year approach?
SPEAKER_03 (20:57):
Yeah, one of the things you can do is you can
list kind of the different rolesyou have in life.
So you have a role, you and Iprobably have a role as a son if
your parents are still alive.
Mine are gone though.
Um, or a daughter, as a sibling,as a spouse, as a friend, in my
business, in my community.
And just look at the variousareas and think about, you know,
what's what what am I capable ofin this area?
(21:19):
What am I capable as a father?
What would what do I want thatto look like?
Right?
What am I capable of in myfamily?
What am I capable of in mybusiness?
What am I capable?
And you start to look at thatand you take the you start to
take the boundaries off andreally dig into what's in your
heart.
Not what society says you shouldvalue, not what someone else
maybe told you success lookslike, but what does success look
(21:40):
like for you?
You decide it's your life.
Um, and you start to look atthese different areas and just
ponder, you know, if I were todo my best in that each and
every day, what would bedifferent for me three years
down the road, five years downthe road, ten years down the
road?
What kind of life could I expectto live?
Material things, non-materialthings.
Right.
And just notice your thinkingwhere you start to limit
(22:01):
yourself.
unknown (22:03):
Right?
SPEAKER_03 (22:03):
You think about, well, I'd like to have my own
jet.
Well, that's not gonna happen.
Well, it's not gonna happenunless you make it happen.
But I I have friends that havetheir own jet.
So you know what I mean?
It's really about what do youwant, though?
Maybe that's not important toyou.
Maybe, maybe having close familyrelationships where you take
vacations and you create thesememories, right?
That's important to you.
So, so what you want to makesure is that you get what
(22:26):
matters to you, and in the end,you define what great looks
like.
Not good, don't settle for good.
God willing, you're here.
Let's make it great.
And and and then we start todefine that.
We get it on paper, and it'sgoing to be uncomfortable
because if you've got a goodvision, it's exciting and it's
uncomfortable at the same time.
Because there's stuff on thatpaper that maybe you're you've
(22:47):
you've been reluctant to evensay it out loud before.
That's the kind of stuff youwant to get at.
Because that's the stuff thatmakes life really rich.
SPEAKER_02 (22:55):
Have you developed a gauge for the things that we
want in life?
And what you mentioned there,that hey, get it on paper, even
if it scares the living hell outof you, and sit with it for a
minute.
Have you developed a gauge nowdoing this for many years as to
(23:18):
what's attainable, what'sextreme, maybe what's not
pushing yourself enough, becauseit's something that I wrestle
with from time to time andquestion myself, okay, for
instance, endurance sports.
I'm constantly pushing the limitthere this year.
(23:38):
I'll be running across theentire state of South Carolina
over 220 miles.
I just ran 150 miles in onesitting in October, and I'm
constantly looking at okay, is300 miles enough?
Is 700 miles too extreme?
(23:59):
And I often explore with thatgauge, and some of my friends do
as well.
Do you have any thoughtleadership you can provide to
that art?
Discipline is a key component ofthis podcast and a key thing
that we preach.
We view discipline as the fuelto help you create the life that
(24:23):
you ultimately desire anddiscipline being the fuel that
gets your habits and systems andchecks so that you can actually
accomplish your goals.
If you're looking to level up in2025, I am happy to be a part of
that and encourage you to jointhe unshakable discipline
mastermind group.
(24:43):
This has been my baby for acouple years, and we're finally
launching it here in 2025.
The group consists of aself-paced course that teaches
you how to form core habits andmindset that will allow you to
accomplish your goals, a dailyaccountability channel to keep
you on track, motivated, and inalignment with our members, and
(25:06):
weekly mastermind sessions whereyou're going to learn from
either myself or a suite ofrenowned guests, many who have
been on the podcast that aregoing to share pieces of their
winning playbooks directly withyou.
I've learned that being a partof groups over the years has
helped propel me to so many newlevels in life.
(25:30):
If you want to go fast, goalone.
If you want to go far, then gotogether.
And it's my wish that theunshakable crew is a choice that
makes sense for you in 2025.
We are growing up to 100 membersthis year and have limited time
(25:50):
founding member pricing for 12more folks before we permanently
increase pricing to$97 a month.
You can get in now for$67 amonth, locked in for life, and
be a part of the adventure thatwe're creating with our members.
If you're somebody that cravesdiscipline, seeks it, or wants
(26:14):
it this year, and you're reallycommitted to making lasting
changes in your life and beingaround others that are committed
to winning and serving the worldand sharing what they learn with
others so that we make thisworld a better place, then join
the unshakable crew.
Go to unshakabediscipline.comand you can sign up.
(26:36):
It is also in the show notes.
Unshakable Shake is inMilkshake.
Unshakabeldiscipline.com.
And we're excited to have you in2025.
Let's go.
SPEAKER_03 (26:51):
Well, I think it's what you said, right?
What matters to you?
And and what happens is as weaccomplish things, then we start
to think bigger and bolder.
Right?
And and so oftentimes when youstart out, it's you think you're
thinking big, and then you lookback and you go, man, was I
thinking small.
That's just part of the process.
You know, it's really hard, Imean, to have it be real, right?
(27:15):
We we see people that, you know,they're young, they're starting
their career, and they're gonnahave this amazing success.
That's a joke because they don'teven know what it takes to get
there.
They're not, they're not willingto pay the price.
But once you start really payingthe price and you start
accomplishing things in yourlife, you like you run that
marathon and you set a PR, andthen you come back and you do
this, or whether it's in yourbusiness, now you start to get a
(27:38):
sense of, boy, I'm capable ofmore than I know.
And I start to think bigger andbolder.
And where you stop is really upto you.
That's a personal thing.
I would never want to throttleanybody in terms of what's
possible.
I mean, you know, if we didthat, there'd be so many things
that we enjoy today thatwouldn't be around, like, you
know, the medical advancementsfrom artificial hips and knees
(27:59):
to transplants to scanningtechnology to all that.
There'd be, you know, spacetravel wouldn't happen.
And when Kennedy challengedpeople to put a man on the moon,
the US, we couldn't get a rocketship off the launching pad.
You know, had we waited, itwould have never happened.
So I really think it's a processof though, just pushing your
boundaries out.
We call it on the skinnybranches, as far as you can go,
(28:21):
and then chasing that.
And then and then when you getthere, guess what?
New opportunities are going toopen up, new vistas, and they're
gonna be bigger and bolder thanthe last one.
SPEAKER_02 (28:29):
One thing that I shared in my mastermind group
last week that that goes alongwith this, it especially since
we're in the new year, I like tochallenge people's thoughts
process and their beliefsystems.
And I was having a conversationwith a mentor that dropped this
quote, which then I immediatelyshared with the group, and I'm
gonna share it here as well,because I believe it highlights
(28:52):
what you're saying here, Brian.
The unconscious will allow us tohave only what we believe we
deserve.
If we have a small view ofourselves, then what we deserve
is poverty, and our unconsciouswill see to it that we have that
actuality.
SPEAKER_03 (29:14):
Yeah, yeah, Earl Nightingale, who was one of the
first guys in the personaldevelopment space decades ago,
said it this way, he said, Youbecome what you think about.
And so if you think about smallthings, you become small.
If you think about big things,you become big as long as you're
willing to act on them.
But part of that is part of youtraining yourself to act on it
(29:35):
is that those that visionbecoming real.
If it's something that I thinkis just somewhere 10 years from
now, you know, it's gonna feelgood occasionally, but I'm not
gonna act on it.
When I really start to see it aspossible for me, that's when it
gets exciting.
And so the way to do that is tobe able to try it on and and and
really entertain the question ofwhat if, you know, well, what I
(29:58):
I probably can't run seven.
1700 miles, but what if I could?
What would be different?
What would be different for me,for my family, for my community,
for the people I work with, forthe people I'm trying to
inspire, for my podcastaudience, right?
What would and and you just yousit with the what if because at
the starting gate is not thetime to figure out the how.
It's got to be aboutpossibility.
(30:19):
And as you become comfortablewith that and you and you go
from this being reallyimpossible to possible, now we
can start start to talk aboutthe how.
How might I do that?
What would I need to dodifferently?
What different things would Ineed to do?
Um, how how would I need toadjust my training, my sleep, my
food intake, all of that stuff?
Then it now we're working on it.
(30:41):
Why?
Because we see this possible forus.
It's the I mean, you're arunner, it's a four-minute mile
thing.
Right up until the time,everyone said impossible.
Medica me medical community,we're not built to do that.
Roger breaks through thatrecord, and then other people do
boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
Well, what happened?
Well, it went from a collectiveimpossible to possible.
(31:02):
And and and and now highschoolers challenging the mark,
you know.
So um, but it's the same inevery era of our life.
SPEAKER_02 (31:08):
It makes me think about the I was having a
conversation with someone thisweek that on Sunday the American
half marathon world record gotshattered by Connor Mance.
So he broke a 17-year-longrecord previously held by Ryan
Hall when he ran the HoustonMarathon on Sunday.
(31:30):
He finished in 59 minutes and 17seconds.
Fastest American by nearly 30seconds.
And now I think about who'sgonna be the first American to
break 59 minutes, and how manypeople are actually capable of
running that 59-17 right now,but they just didn't believe it.
(31:54):
And now Connor is a pathfinderfor additional Americans to come
into the mix and become fasterand faster and faster.
Same thing with Elliot Kipchoge,who was the first man to run the
sub-two-hour marathon.
There will be a day, Brian,where sub-two-hour marathons
(32:19):
become the standard for winningthe world majors.
We're not there yet, but all ittook was one person to test and
defy the limits and ultimatelybelieve in themselves.
SPEAKER_03 (32:34):
So you see it in the Olympics all the time.
Right?
I mean, but it's the same innon-physical events as it is
physical.
It first happens, if you can'tcreate it mentally, you'll never
create it in the physicaluniverse.
SPEAKER_02 (32:48):
Amen.
And I love I love at thebeginning of the book, that's
why we started with with thatquote Great things, great things
happen twice when they happen inyour mind first.
And if they can't happen in yourmind, they're not going to
happen right in front of you.
Now that we've gotten clear onvision and we've uncovered
here's some steps that peoplecan follow, in addition to some
(33:12):
encouragement for their beliefsystems.
How can we then put this intoplay?
So we know what we want.
Yep.
Is there a set number of goalsthat we should have in a 12-week
year, or is it the less equalsmore approach?
SPEAKER_03 (33:38):
It's really the latter.
And the reason is because everytime you add one more goal, the
probability of you being greatat any of them diminishes
significantly.
So, you know, I'm sure yourlisteners have heard the slogan
less is more.
Well, the first time I ever saidthat, I hated it.
I'm like, no, it's not.
More is more.
Well, it's not when it comes toachieving because you have
(33:59):
limited capacity.
You have limited time, limitedenergy, limited intellect,
limited resources, right?
It's not a slam, it's thereality.
So every time you pile on onemore thing, it just spreads you
thinner and thinner and thinner.
So it's it's the same at thegoal level, same at the tactical
level, right?
We're always looking to create aplan that's very focused.
So people go, Well, I got abunch of things I want to
(34:20):
accomplish.
Okay.
If you chase them all, you'regonna be mediocre at everything.
How about let's be great at afew things versus mediocre at
many?
And by the way, we're looking at12 weeks.
So 12 weeks goes by pretty fast.
So if we took the one or two topthings in your life and we moved
the needle over the next 12weeks, and then we did that
(34:41):
again the next 12 weeks andagain the next 12 weeks in a
very short period of time, yourlife is tremendously different.
But it comes through the focus.
It's a difference between afloodlight or a uh, you know,
overhead light and a laser beam.
It's still light, but when youfocus that, when you focus that
light, you can cut throughsteel.
It's the same for you and I.
When we focus our energies,there's no telling what we're
(35:04):
capable of.
And that's part of how ourclients are able to accomplish
so much more.
They're not trying to doeverything.
Right?
Otherwise, it'd be reallystressful.
We're not trying to takeeverything you do in 12 months
and cram it into 12 weeks.
We're focusing on a few thingsand being more consistent with
the actions that matter most.
SPEAKER_02 (35:21):
We've got something else that can help us accomplish
a lot in 2025, in addition toimplementing the elements of the
12-week year that Brian is soamazingly dishing out to us, and
that is Magic Mind.
Magic Mind is an absolutegame-changing supplement that
helps keep me focused and in azen-like state, especially when
(35:44):
I'm about to start my mostdifficult task of the day.
If you're like me, you know thatit can be difficult at times to
be focused and productive andstress-free with everything
going on, as many of us arejuggling many hats and are very
ambitious and have many coals inthe fire.
There is a way to still staysharp, feel relaxed, and power
(36:08):
through your day, and that'swhere Magic Mind comes in.
It's a little two-ounce shotthat has an incredible
ingredient such as Ashwagandhaand L-Tianine, which are both
known for reducing stress,helping you stay calm and
focused, and powering throughyour day.
What I really love about this isthat it helps improve focus and
(36:29):
mental clarity, whether you'retackling a tough project,
working through a long to-dolist, or you just need to say
start for the day ahead.
Magic Mind is offering anamazing special right now, 45%
off using code WINTODAY JAN.
That is WINTODAY JAN J A N.
You can go to magicmind.comslash win today jan for 45% off
(36:56):
to increase your focus, reduceyour stress, and make 2025 an
amazing year.
SPEAKER_03 (37:02):
And what happens is one more on top of one more, on
top of one more, on top of onemore, on top of one more.
And in 12 short weeks, it can bea very, very different outcome.
SPEAKER_02 (37:11):
I was surprised when I read an article a few years
ago that looked into theday-to-day life of Jeff Bezos
when he was still the CEO ofAmazon.
And contrary to what I believed,and probably what many people
believed at the time, was thatyou'd think Jeff Bezos as a CEO
(37:31):
of Amazon, he must do 5,000things a day.
I mean, he's got Amazon Prime toworry about, he's got the Whole
Foods, the Washington Post, he'sgot Prime Video, so many
different meetings.
And what he said about his day,Brian, is that a good day for
him is if he makes three gooddecisions in a day.
(37:55):
And if anything is mentallytaxing, let's say at three or
four o'clock in the afternoon,that then becomes a 10 a.m.
or 8 a.m.
meeting the next day whenthere's more mental capacity.
And I thought, wow, if one ofthe most arguably successful
people in the world from amonetary and business
(38:18):
perspective, said that he'sfocused on no more than three
good decisions in a day, whywould we think that we need to
do fifty to a hundred things ina day and then get mad when we
only accomplish six?
And as we move through thisprogression here with vision
(38:42):
being clear and making sure thatyou've got less but more
meaningful goals in your 12-weekyear, one thing I love that I've
I wrote up, I marked up in thebook is getting into the system,
you introduce a lot of differentscorecards and the concept of
(39:05):
leading and lag indicators.
So what's an example if we if wemade an example goal and broke
that down?
We're clear on what we want.
Now, how do we incorporate thesystem around it using the
scorecard and tools introducedin the book?
SPEAKER_03 (39:26):
Well, the first thing we need to do, Ryan, is we
need to get a tactical plan, nota conceptual plan.
And and that's that's going totake some training because
people don't even know they'replanning conceptually.
They plan conceptually partlybecause they're in an annual
environment, partly becausethey've never been taught to
plan differently.
But um, for instance, aconceptual plan would be
exercise or diet, or if you'rein sales, get referrals,
(39:48):
cross-sell, things like that.
They're great concepts, butconcepts don't execute.
So we've got to get verygranular.
The statements in the plan haveto describe an action you can
take.
Run five miles per day, fivedays a week, something like
that.
Okay.
So that's the first step.
And we're not looking foreverything you can think of,
we're looking for the criticalfuse.
(40:08):
So there's a way to sort thoseso we get the high payoff
activities.
So we're not trying to burnourselves out trying to do
everything.
Okay.
So that's the first thing.
Without a tactical plan, anykind of feedback or scoring is
worthless.
So people get together and theytalk about all of that, and
that's why they their theirconversations are surface and
they're opinion-based becausetheir plan is conceptual.
(40:30):
When you get a tactical plan,now you're getting feedback
that's really specific.
So you're gonna know whichtactics worked and which ones
didn't, because the reality isthere's no perfect plan.
I don't care how many plansyou've written.
I've written thousands and seenthousands.
There's no perfect plan.
So you got to go out there andexecute it and then pay
attention for feedback.
Well, when you got a conceptualplan, the feedback is vague.
(40:53):
When you got a tactical plan,it's very specific.
So you know what worked and whatdidn't work.
And along the way, we're gonnameasure a couple of things.
We're gonna measure theoutcomes, we're gonna measure
the lead and lags.
So you know, if you're trying torun a marathon in a certain
amount of time, we're gonnameasure that.
And the lead indicators aregonna be is my score improving
every week, or my time improvingevery week, or am I doing the
(41:15):
things I need to do?
Right in a sales environment,the lag is sales.
The leads are maybe referrals orproposals submitted or things
like that.
Um so we're gonna track thoseoutcomes.
Most importantly, though, we'regonna score the execution.
Because again, that's what I cancontrol.
So we track the lead and lags,we score the execution.
(41:36):
And in those two sets ofnumbers, we have everything we
need to know where to adjust.
Because if there's a breakdown,it's one of two places.
It's either in the plan, I don'thave the right tactical plan, or
it's in the execution, I'm justnot doing it.
Where do you think it is most ofthe time?
Probably not I'm not where wheredo you think the breakdown is?
(41:57):
In the plan or the execution?
The execution.
Yeah.
80-90% of time.
But what do most people do isthey go change the plan.
All right, well, why do they dothat?
Well, partly because it'seasier, but partly because they
don't have a way to pinpoint thebreakdown.
With the 12-week year, you'llknow.
Because we're scoring theexecution.
And so we know every week how Iperformed as the CEO of my
(42:21):
world.
I'll know if I'm a 30 percentileor 90 percentile, and I'll know
why.
And that's really critical.
SPEAKER_02 (42:26):
That's one thing that I love throughout the book
is that there are so manydifferent places for it's really
people get to interact with thebook, and you can actually write
out what your what your whatdoes your vision look like, and
there's examples of thescorecard throughout the book.
(42:48):
I've been I actually read thiswhen I was getting ready to
qualify for the Boston Marathonand qualifying for the Boston
Marathon, and I'm looking forthe page where I wrote the exact
example, but I wrote BostonMarathon lag, lag indicator.
(43:13):
My league and my lead indicatorsare my weekly running mileage
and my my paces, what's myprogression?
So I'm saying that to hopefullyprovide some additional context
to people like, hey, this isit's as simple as here's that
one goal, and then here's whatI'm looking at week in and week
(43:36):
out.
SPEAKER_03 (43:38):
Now, the the additional thing to that would
be scoring the tactical plan.
So the tactical plan might be,you know, I consumed X amount of
calories or uh, you know, uh agram and a half of protein for
every pound, you know, whateverthat diet is, there may be a
number of tactics around that.
It may be that I got, you know,a minimum of eight hours of
(44:00):
sleep every night.
Um, I drank twice my weight inin ounces of b of water, right?
I I ran a minimum of five milesevery day.
You know, those are the tacticsin the plan that we're gonna put
a score to as well, becausethat's what we can control.
That's what ultimately is gonnadrive your success in the event
or your success in business oryour success in life, whatever
(44:20):
it is.
And so it's those two sets ofmeasures that really matter.
SPEAKER_02 (44:23):
And that ultimately brings us back to the beginning
in building the system and theengine around it.
Because now we're talking, okay,if we're gonna get tactical and
measure what are the what arethe mini steps that are going to
get me to the we'll call it thethe big step or the goal.
(44:45):
And it's exactly what youmentioned there.
And then, okay, how do westructure our day so that we're
getting enough calories and whatare we doing the night before to
ensure that we're gonna get asolid breakfast to fuel us
before our run tomorrow?
So I love that all these steps,everything we're talking about,
(45:06):
is simple in theory.
At times, given that lifehappens, can be difficult in
execution because of unforeseencircumstances, but when we take
the time to get clear on what wewant and map it out, there's no
guesswork.
We're eliminating all of theguesswork, which is, I believe,
(45:27):
also where people strugglebecause then they get into
analysis paralysis, they don'tthey don't know what they want,
they're not clear on what theywant and where they want to go.
Brian, you offer these resourcesto people on a monthly basis and
three-year workshops.
How can people really takeadvantage of the 12-week year
(45:51):
beyond purchasing a copy forthemselves?
SPEAKER_03 (45:56):
Yeah, go to go to 12 weekyearworkshop.com.
So that's the number1212weekyeworkshop.com.
We run a workshop, you can get acopy of the book and the
workshop for like$20.25 to helpyou crush 2025.
That's the best way.
We go 90 minutes hard, we unpackthe concepts, we'll talk more
deeply about um the plans andthe scorecards and all those
(46:19):
pieces that make up the systemthat help you perform at your
best.
Right?
Well, we've and we've gotthousands of examples.
We share a few, but we've gotthousands of examples of when
you learn to execute, everythingchanges.
You know, everything has to beexecuted.
You have great intent.
If you don't act on itconsistently, it's worthless.
It has no impact in your life,it has no impact in the world.
And so um, what you'll find iswhen you start to do that, it's
(46:42):
amazing what you're gonnaaccomplish in 12 weeks.
SPEAKER_02 (46:45):
Amen.
What are you most excited aboutin your 12-week year?
I almost said 2025.
But what's most exciting aboutyour 12-week year right now?
SPEAKER_03 (46:57):
Yeah, we're doing a lot with business owners and
leaders, really helping them umapply it for themselves in their
role, but also with their teams.
You know, we've we've workedwith multi-billion dollar
companies, had huge impacts, andit's exciting to be able to help
small businesses and mid-sizedbusinesses and entrepreneurs
really apply it in a way thatthat just accelerates their
success.
So that's that's fun for us.
(47:18):
We're excited about that.
I'm excited for you, Brian.
SPEAKER_02 (47:20):
Brian, it's customary to end the podcast
with a rapid fire session, andin that we're going to ask you
three questions.
Now, the amount of time that youhave to answer the question is
the amount of time that it takesto go up one elevator floor.
So imagine you and I are goingto lunch together in some cool
(47:42):
place in Scottsdale.
Yeah.
We're going up three floors.
A new person walks in theelevator on each floor and asks
you one question.
All right.
So first person, first personwalks in, they recognize you,
they've read 12-week year, andthey ask, Brian, what's one gem
(48:03):
that you have, whether it be aquote or a mantra that you live
your life by that I can put inmy back pocket or live my life
by as well?
SPEAKER_03 (48:14):
Yeah, it's probably the concept of greatness in the
moment, which is this notionthat life is lived in the
moment, that's what we have.
And because I think everybodythinks if they're gonna be great
at some time in the future, whenthe reality is, is all we have
is right now.
A minute ago is a memory, aminute from now is not here.
God willing, we get to live thefuture, but we have is right
now.
And so if we're great in themoment, we're gonna be the
(48:35):
results are gonna reflect thatdown the road.
So learning how to justapproaching life with that
mindset, instead of puttingthings off, let me be great in
the moment, let me do the thingsI need to do today so that I can
live the life I want to live.
SPEAKER_02 (48:48):
Be great in the moment.
Next person comes on.
Brian, what's one step that Ican take today to incorporate
the teachings of the 12-weekyear into my life?
SPEAKER_03 (49:02):
Yeah, well, one is just throw out the annual plan,
set a 12-week goal.
Seriously, the annual plan isbetter than no plan, but but if
you've been doing that, you'reready to take the next step.
You're ready to level up, set a12-week goal.
Figure out what greatness lookslike in the next 12 weeks,
something we're celebrating, andthen lock that in.
That is your year.
(49:23):
Get your mind out of I've gotall this time to catch up if I
don't get it done, and figureout how to get it over the
finish line.
SPEAKER_02 (49:30):
Last one, and this may be the most difficult one.
Brian, what's one book besidesyours that we can read in our
12-week year to enhance ourmindset and ensure a prosperous
(49:50):
2025 in the four years that it'sgoing to bring us.
SPEAKER_03 (49:58):
You know, I'm I'm a big believer in mindset.
90% of life is between yourears.
And there's one of my favoritebooks is Feel the Fear and Do It
Anyways by Dr.
Susan Jeffers.
It's a little paperback, it wentout of print for a while.
I think it's back in print, butshe looks at people that
experience a ton of success inthe life versus everyone else,
and she found that both of themexperience fear when they're on
(50:20):
new ground, but the successfulpeople do it anyways.
And she's got some key points tohelp you take the action, even
when you're frightened, evenwhen you're fearful, even when
you're anxious about it.
And it's a it's just a reallypowerful book.
Powerful play.
SPEAKER_02 (50:33):
I haven't heard that one before, so we'll add that to
the arsenal.
Uh Brian, it's been good, anabsolute pleasure to have you on
board.
As I mentioned, you've you'vereally made an impact on my life
since 2021.
And it's an honor to have youhere across from me and and
(50:55):
share the experience from thebook.
And it's my wish that listenersadopt the 12-week year, buy it,
ditch the annualized thinking,and let's see what we can really
accomplish in this calendar year2025 by adopting the 12-week
(51:16):
year, 12 weeks at a time.
And that is going to help peoplewin today.
Thanks so much for tuning in.
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