2024- Last 100 Days Plan

2024 is the first year in several years where I did not start the year with any goals. At the beginning of the year or even in late 2023, I could not think of anything specific that I wanted to achieve in 2024. I invested in a fancy planner but it did not help me gain the clarity I needed. Recently, I was listening to a podcast where Ankara Warikoo was being interviewed and what he said stuck with me. He recommended that people set input based goals rather than outcome based goals. Outcome based goals are not always in our control but input based goals are always in our control. 

What exactly is the difference in the two? Input based goals are those where we state what work we would put in- Example: Read a page everyday or work out everyday etc. Outcome based goals are those where expect a pre-defined outcome- Example: 10k followers on Instagram, or , lose 45kgs this year. Even if we put in the work, we may not achieve the desired outcome. However, we would be still be making progress if we use input based goals- may be we will have 8k followers or maybe we will lose 30kg instead of 45- the work has gone in and we have made progress.

This podcast helped me with a mindset shift. Last year when I thought of what I would like to achieve next year- I was thinking in terms of outcome. After listening to the podcast, I asked myself, what am I willing to do or where would I like to focus my energy on for whatever time we still have left this year.

The other mindset shift I made was in terms of what is my purpose in life? Many people have amazing level of clarity to this deep question. Not me. I do not have a bigger purpose in life. I decided that until I find the bigger "What"/ "Why",  I will work on self-improvement and personal development. So I put together a to-do list to work consistently for the rest of the year. 

Here's a glimpse of my to-do list (not exhaustive as some are quite private) for the rest of the year:

- Read: for 2 mins everyday

- Write 1 line in my journal everyday

- Meditate for 1 min everyday

- 30 mins of walk everyday

- 30 mins of workout everyday

- Go to bed before midnight everyday

- Write a blog post daily (not necessarily publish it)

- No sugar except on festivals and birthdays

Currently I am in the pre-100 days plan period and I am testing it out to see how easy or difficult it is for me to keep to my to-do list. I would be refining in as needed to keep it as realistic as possible.

In case you are a bit all over the place like me, and do not have concrete goals in place, I suggest to give this approach a shot. I hope it will give you a plan to work towards.