Achieve more in 12 weeks than most do in 12 months (in your career)

In this conversation, Lachlan Stuart discusses how to achieve more in 12 weeks than most people do in 12 months, particularly in one's career. He shares his personal experience with using 12-week game plans and highlights the importance of setting realistic goals, focusing on behaviors rather than outcomes, and being consistent. He also emphasizes the need for accountability and tracking progress.

Lachlan provides practical tips for implementing these strategies, such as scheduling weekly check-ins, using reminders and calendars, and avoiding distractions. Overall, he encourages listeners to personalize the process and make it their own.

Takeaways

• Setting a 12-week goal creates a sense of urgency and allows for real progress and feedback.
• Focus on the behaviors that will help you achieve your goals, rather than solely focusing on the outcome.
• Consistency is key - establish a routine and stick to it.
• Track your progress and use tools like reminders and calendars to stay organized.
• Take ownership of your goals and be accountable for your actions.

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

Achieving More in 12 Weeks

Speaker 1 0:01

How to achieve more in 12 weeks than most people do in 12 months , and especially in your career . This is a fun topic . On Monday we kick off the new 12-week game plan and over the years I've been , I guess , flying under the radar around . Why I work in 12-week blocks or 90-day blocks ? Because when I first started in business and I started in 12-week blocks or 90-day blocks because when I first started in business and I started in network marketing one thing they recommended was using these 90-day game plans and I found it gave me structure , created , I guess , an end goal and something to follow every day . But recently I've started diving deeper into how the academy works and all the programs that I offer , which has now been completely stripped back , and I guess that may even be a separate episode to talk about some of the changes that I'm excited about moving forward for this quarter . But I started thinking okay , why is it so powerful ? And I stumbled across an incredible book called the 12-Week Year and if you haven't read it , I would highly recommend reading it . But I'm going to share some of my biggest takeaways , but also some other things that have helped me radically transform my life by using these 12-week efforts or these 12-week sprints , so that I can achieve more in 12 weeks than most people do in 12 months .

Speaker 1 1:24

So let me ask you a question have you ever felt stuck ? You're setting out goals , but somehow you're not making progress . At the start of every year , a large percentage of the world set a New Year's resolution okay , a goal to make their life better , and the meaning of that is unique to the individual . But throughout the holiday season , people start feeling super optimistic . Right , we've all been there . The weight of last year's goals gets lighter and the idea that this is my year sinks in . It's incredible what a holiday can do for your mood and your mindset . The problem with optimism is it doesn't guarantee success . It just helps you expect a better outcome .

Speaker 1 2:12

Roughly 72% of workers are not happy . Their workload is too high , they don't get on with colleagues , work hours are too long , work is monotonous and lack of control over schedule . I can relate to all of those things . That's why I decided to work for myself and I was in that boat for ages . But the reality is that the price that I paid for a stable salary and , I guess , potential job security was that there was a trade-off . There is always a trade-off , just like there is working for yourself . But that's what works for most people Actually , 28% they like that . Right ? You look at the numbers . The numbers don't lie . The pain isn't enough for most people to change . I know it took me to hit rock bottom to make a change . And if you're part of that 72% , be aware that you spend 40 hours a week at work , roughly 25% of your time . We have 168 hours a week and 40 of those , for most people , are spent at work . So if you're unhappy at work , there is a high chance that it's influencing your home life and your social life .

Speaker 1 3:29

This isn't a newsletter about why you should work for yourself , because I don't believe everybody should . It's about how you can achieve more in 12 weeks than most people do in 12 months , whether it's in your career , your relationship or your lifestyle . I want you to stand out , just like I wanted the younger me to stand out . You will need to be patient , consistent and to make this process your own . This is a process . It's easy . The challenge you will face is personalizing it , problem solving , adapting and embracing failure . Right , you're going to have failure on this journey . If you can commit to that , then continue to listen on .

Speaker 1 4:08

The first real challenge I encountered with goal setting was not being realistic . I set goals like I want to make a million dollars in a year , and this was back when I was coming from like a $40,000 a year salary , so pretty big difference . Right , I will squat 160 kilos and be 8% body fat . I wrote a newsletter on this a couple of weeks back , if you'd like to read about that , and I will fly my family overseas . I've budgeted what that looks like and it's around $22,000 for what I want to achieve with that . Reading them out , they are huge goals , but every goal I set required me to level up . You can either look at goals and miss them and adopt the belief that you're a failure , or give the meaning that you're a failure , or you can do what I did and if you miss the mark , you just go .

Speaker 1 4:58

Okay . What did I not do or what do I need to do more of in order to continue making progress to the life that I want to live ? Right ? Life is a journey . It's not about constantly hitting outcomes . It's the process of understanding things better , learning to become efficient , developing your identity and building your identity . Sorry , so every year I was failing and I guess the big thing was I actually never truly started . Within a few weeks I was often overwhelmed , I'd lost focus and I'd moved back to my day-to-day grind . I wasn't happy , but it was easy , it was comfortable , it's what I knew .

Speaker 1 5:38

It was around that time , sorry , year after year went by until I was fed up , I was broke , I was hated my life and I didn't see a future that I enjoyed . And I know that I'm not alone in this . I know there are many people who listen to this show who can relate to that . It was around that time that my buddy presented me with a quote unquote opportunity , and I took a while to think about it and I realized hey , there's not too much to think about , lockie , I hate my life , so any opportunity you're getting right now is probably worth trying . Right , do something different . And it was the act of doing something different that radically transformed my life .

Speaker 1 6:19

It was during this experience , as I mentioned , that I started learning about these 90-day game plans , or , as I call it in the Small Academy , the 12-week game plan . I like to change the name up , make it my own , but the focus of achieving 12 months progress in 12 weeks , one goal , one plan , 100% focus . I won't lie . It took me , I would say , around seven game plans before I finally completed one . Life would always find a way to get in the way , and over time I built out my focus success system , which has helped me complete around 31 game plans since , and I'm very excited to have opened up the waitlist for the focus success system Now with that one . It's my system . However , what I help you do is design your own success system , because we are all unique . We need to develop our own systems , but I'm going to help you see some key things , think for yourself and understand how you're going to build that for your life and for your goals . So the wait list the link will be in the bio there or , if you subscribe to my newsletter , make sure you get on board that there . So , since completing those 31 , I don't recognize my life now .

Mastering Time Management and Goal Setting

Speaker 1 7:37

People often ask about why I use a 12-week game plan and I want to break it down for you . It has truly been one of the keys of my success over the last decade and it's something that you can implement . By the end of this episode , you will have a better understanding of why and how it has set me up for success . I want to show you how you can achieve more in 12 weeks than most people do in 12 months . I thought to make it more interesting and for me to hold myself accountable . I can use examples for my next goal , which is kicking off on Monday .

Speaker 1 8:11

I'm going to be documenting it over on X , aka formerly known as Twitter , if you want to follow along , and the reason why I'm using that platform . I've recently really enjoyed it a lot more , just because I feel like on Instagram at the moment , there's a lot of people posting nice videos and photos , but you're not really getting to the essence of the individual , of how they're thinking , etc . And I'm in a period in my life where I want to understand things more rather than just seeing everyone talking about the same shit on a surface level . And I found a good community over there where people break things down well and complex ideas in a way that I can understand . So that's why I'm doing that over there , if you'd like to come over there , same as my Instagram handle at Lachlan Stewart . So there are a few key points we're going to run through .

Speaker 1 9:01

First one use a 12-week timeframe . Okay , I had never , as I mentioned at the beginning , really thought about the power of a time frame . I just adopted it because I was doing it when I was in sales , and when I read the 12-week year , it helped me understand it better . Setting a 12-week goal creates a sense of urgency , but it also allows you to make enough real progress to gain feedback on . The most common goal-set is a smart formula , which we all know it's specific , measurable , achievable , relevant and time-bound . We have that in our game plan and we use that within the Strongman of Value Academy there as well . But , for example , my goal is to earn $20,000 in 12 weeks by selling or through sales of the Focus Success System . Okay , so the specific is earn $20,000 selling my online course . I know how many units I do based off the price . How is it measurable ? Well , through the KPIs that help market it for one . But then I track sales and I track revenue to see if the KPIs that I'm doing are working well or they're not . Is it achievable ? Yes , based on my pricing strategy and marketing plan . I think it's extremely valuable for the investment on it and the way that I'm marketing it . I truly believe in that plan . Is it relevant ? Well , yeah , it really aligns with my business growth objectives and I shared this on the call this morning with our Academy members .

Speaker 1 10:34

The reason why I am driving this course for the next 12 weeks , as opposed to one-on-one coaching or things like that . While I was on the road with my wife's band , we had a lot of late nights and quite often when we're driving around the United States , we had black spots of no Wi-Fi and no signal . So it made it very hard for me to always be on time for my calls and I don't want to be unreliable . So , rather than obviously just not taking on any more clients at all , I can just batch them to a time where I know I have a day off . Or , alternatively , because I want to continue growing my income and growing my business , I've created this and I'm going to test that out for 12 weeks because , once again , I have a lot more travel coming up over the next couple of months , so it's really relevant to me right now .

Speaker 1 11:22

It's probably the biggest pain point in my life right now and the time bound deadline . That's it . It's a 12-week deadline Monday , september 23rd so a key part to making a timeframe work is scheduling weekly check-ins and monthly reviews and sticking to them . So obviously , for those of you who are in the academy , we do that . We have our weekly calls . But to hold yourself accountable right To accept responsibility for your own accountability set things in your reminder on your phone . So what I look at is utilizing the note section in my iPhone . I utilize the calendar section , so that's how I map out time to achieve the tasks that need to be done , and then I use the reminders to schedule the things that I need to do . So if I know every Friday that's when I would like to do my weekly check-in . I do that , and it's important to have in some check-in questions , which I'll share with you in a moment . But the most important thing is I could not tell you how many times that I've scheduled things in my calendar and I would skip them because I thought I had more important things to do .

Speaker 1 12:35

Reviews keep your goals in sight , right . There's no veering off track for a few weeks or adding additional tasks to distract yourself . It helps you keep the main thing , the main thing , and that was game changing for me . So when you if you're like I was and you do start listening and scheduling these things in , but then it comes time to do it and you get a better opportunity or a better offer that you feel . Make sure you reschedule to do that , because the reviewing part has been one of the , if not the most powerful thing in my week . So here are my weekly review questions that I'll share with you and , once again , this is what's working well for me at the moment . They have changed and if you feel there are better questions for you , use those instead . So question number one what feedback can I take from achieving my one thing this week ? Question two how was my mindset this week ? Question two how was my mindset this week ? Question three how am I using my time ? Can I use it better ? So they're the review questions . Often this will lead to me becoming more efficient , because I'm reviewing and seeing what's lagging or not right .

Speaker 1 13:44

So you don't really have a goal if you don't have a structured plan to follow . A lot of people and it was actually something that I recognized today , which I'm going to put into our game plan was there wasn't space for the main tasks within the plan , in our game plan . So it's something that I'm updating and we've had this game plan for like four or five years and when I went through it today and I was talking about it , I was like man , I don't even have space for the dude's plans . Like , obviously we have the calendar part , but how do I help them identify what those key tasks are , so that way you can build the plan ? So while I'm writing this , I'm spending this whole week , as I was writing this newsletter , to fine tune my plan for the goal above , and it requires planning ahead . So I'm thinking about things like upcoming travel as I said , I've got a lot of that coming up . Upcoming events I've got a workshop in Australia and a few other functions coming up .

Speaker 1 14:43

Potential obstacles that can get in the way and , for me , a lot of the time that is having committed to too many things . So I've pre-done 15 weeks of podcasts . I have cut down on a lot of things that I'm doing and I'm focusing solely on the academy , the men who are in there , but also , from a sales standpoint , the focus success system . So this helps me with setting that realistic plan and breaking it down into manageable steps . So , for instance , my plan to reach $20,000 in sales involves incrementally increasing the price of the course , with starts at five sales each . The reason why I've done that and not everyone has to do that but I did that because I had a minimal , viable product , meaning something that I believe is good enough to get out into the market . That I have planned to update every couple of weeks and , as I add the upcoming modules , the people who have already purchased . So there's a little hint if you get in early , why it's at the price it's at Now , you're going to get immense value because it's going to triple in price and you'll get access to all of those modules as well . So I had the timeframe to do that , so it'll be fully completed within the next six weeks and it will be at full price within the next six weeks . So that is all scheduled out . So I know how I'm going to track that KPI and I have already covered that part . But finally , it's really important to set those realistic goals .

Speaker 1 16:15

Changing too many things at once leads to the feeling of overwhelm and so many people quitting Focus on one or two key changes and build from there . Build until it becomes a habit and don't , I guess , believe the bullshit around . It's 21 days or whatever it is . Everyone's different , everyone's discipline is different . Their focus , attention , chaos in life is different . So do what works for you until it becomes something that you just naturally do . And , sorry as well , add a little bonus point here which isn't in the newsletter . But if you don't feel like you're going to stick to that habit for a long period of time , it's probably not even a habit worthwhile developing , okay .

Speaker 1 16:56

So let's go to the second key point . Focus on the behavior , not the outcome . Sorry , I've got to keep drinking as well . I was having a conversation with Hazley Cush , if anyone knows him , and he was talking about his vocals and how he does warm-ups before talking and obviously drinking a lot of water . And , um , my brother-in-law had vocal surgery from not warming up and hurting his throat . And I'm like man , I always have a sore throat , uh , and if those of you have listened to enough episode , you might notice I do a lot of like because my throat gets really dry and sore . So I've started introducing a warm-up and I've got my drink bottle here just so it stops doing that , I guess , and I'm learning from the masters . But anyway , back , focus on the behaviors , not the outcome . That's probably a good example .

Speaker 1 17:46

Don't allow motivation or inspiration to fool you into thinking the deal is done . So building your 12-week game plan is the first thing , but it's not the only thing . Backing it up with action is a whole different thing . I couldn't tell you how many people tell me what they're going to do and then the next time I catch up with them , I'm like hey , how are you going with learning the guitar ? Oh , I haven't got around to it . I haven't had time . I go hey , man , how's the running going ? Oh man , I've been working long hours . I haven't managed to get it in . Yet I'm like okay , interesting , a lot of people love to talk the talk , but they don't back it up . There's a great quote by Aristotle we are what we sorry . We are what we repeatedly do . Excellence , then , is not an act but a habit . So build those excellent habits .

Strategies for Goal Achievement and Accountability

Speaker 1 18:41

Identify the key behaviors that will help you achieve your goals . For example , to sell my online course , I need to consistently engage with my audience and provide value . This includes and this is what I've written down and I'll get feedback right . If I fall short , I'm going to know hey , those actions aren't the right actions . But if I achieve it , I'm like cool , let's double down on that . The actions are meeting 10 new people a day , whether it's face-to-face or social media , posting social content regularly and I have the numbers , I'm not going to bore you with the numbers Writing newsletters et cetera , getting those out weekly and doing these podcasts and making one call to action every day , inviting people to join my newsletter , inviting people to purchase a program , simple things like that . So it's organic , not paid marketing for any of you who are sitting there going man , just spend some money on ads . No , I'm not doing that . I know what my goal is , I know what my goal is , I know what my vision is and I know how I'm getting there . So this is what we're doing . This doesn't guarantee me to achieve my goal , as I said , but it will give me feedback , massive feedback , and , as long as I'm , I guess I'm making progress regardless , because I'm either working out what actions don't deliver or if my content needs to be better . My call to action , my hook , whatever it may be , but they're all needle moving actions right . So it's keeping that main thing .

Speaker 1 20:03

The main thing Distractions are going to be the enemy of progress . Identify the potential distractions and do whatever you can to avoid them . I'm noticing some spelling mistakes as I'm reading this Put strategies in place , and so a few things that I've put in place is activate do not disturb on your phone or computer while working . Another thing is have a small private room to work in . So that has been game changing , to be honest , out of all the things that I do right now . For those of you who know me well , you'll know that my phone is always on do not disturb and I'll just check my messages or return phone calls when I feel like it , rather than having people interrupt , and that works well for me . It may not work well for you . You've got to do what works for you .

Speaker 1 20:47

As I said , people , you can figure that out for yourself , but it's been absolutely game changing . Having the small private room removes a lot of the distractions , so one people aren't coming in and annoying me , but also being able to look right across the room and see a book and go oh , maybe I should read . Or look at my guitar and go , maybe I should play , and you're constantly talking yourself out of doing the main thing . Right , and it's very easy to do . And to add to that is like dedicate time for the emails , for the social media and for the distractions and you can go back to managing your time properly and that works really well . So I find , using the Pomodoro I don't even know how to pronounce that , but it's like 25 minutes on , five minutes off and you can do that on your Apple computer or your phone . Just set that up but it creates that sense of urgency , even with tasks .

Speaker 1 21:37

Okay , consistency is king and it's better to do a little bit every day than try and do everything at once . Set a routine and stick to it . For example , I've committed to engaging with my audience at the same time every day . I'm training at the same time every day . It removes overwhelm and keeps me more consistent . Okay , so I want you to track progress to see what's working and what's not working .

Speaker 1 22:05

Use tools like Apple Notes . I'm going to do some more videos at some point around how I've integrated . I was on Microsoft Teams but now I'm moving over Apple just because I like Apple a lot more . It's a lot easier to use To write your keynotes or create templates for things like systems and emails . So all my outreach emails etc are labeled there and they're put into the notes section . So it'll work really well with that .

Speaker 1 22:31

Use the Apple calendar to schedule your time and reminders to prompt you for those important daily tasks . It's been absolutely game-changing Reminders keep you focused on the key tasks , set reminders for the daily action and other to-do lists . For example , you can set a reminder to reach out to new potential customers every day , to go exercise every day , whatever it is . I essentially just idiot-proofed my process . I get distracted , I lose focus and I fail goals all the time . So having that there to focus on the task has massively improved my outcomes .

Speaker 1 23:04

The final main step is to be accountable . So I'm always investing in new coaches for a number of reasons right , the accountability they have , the results that I desire , or their network . I want to meet the people that they are connected with . And recently I recognized that you can't outsource your accountability To achieve your goal . You must own it . You must accept responsibility . Coach can be used as a reminder , but it doesn't impact them . If you're not doing what you said you would do , right , it falls back onto you . So you can have them there to prompt a reminder , but you're still the one who has to be getting up and doing the thing that you know you need to do every single day , as you can tell by this episode and also social media , et cetera .

Speaker 1 23:51

I document a lot of what I do . It helps me build the memories , to look back on for one , see where I was to where I'm at . That's a great way to be grateful and practice gratitude , but it also puts my goals out to the public . As a man who likes to keep his word , this puts an incredible amount of pressure on me to do the things that I said I would do . But I love that , and not only do I share it with social media , but I share it with some of my closest mates , so I want people to know what I'm working on . It allows people to check in on me and ask questions that keep me focused on the task at hand , and by following this approach over the years , I've drastically changed my life . 10 years ago , I had under $800 to my name , I was in a job that I hated and I had just been broken up with . Today , I own multiple six figures , travel the world and am happily married . So I still use this 12-week game plan today , as I said , I'm starting one on Monday . If you're hearing this today , there's still 24 hours before the intake starts . Thank you , guys , for reading this week or listening on YouTube wherever you're listening . If you did get value from the newsletter , make sure you drop me a note on social media or emails and share this , because sharing these ones , a voice , sharing these ones will help other men who are looking to improve their quality of life get value from this as well .

Speaker 1 25:19

So just a quick update personal progress 19th of June to the 27th of June what happened ? So , personally started learning . I had some help by Post Malone and Morgan Wallen on guitar workshop . We've got three spots remaining for the August workshop . Running last week was around 52 kilometers , which was cool , and have made massive progress on the Focus success system . What's coming up ? As I said , batching all the podcasts for the next 15 weeks , which is going to be awesome . Give me some downtime to really once again focus on doing the main things that I need to do to achieve the goal that I've shared with you guys here . As I said , we're going on that cruise as well . That's next Thursday , so really pumped about heading to Miami , bahamas , dominican Republic , of course to do all those things . Once again , thank you guys for tuning in . If you got value , make sure you share it with someone who will also get value .