As the year comes to an end, I want to share an experiment I ran this year. As you know, I’m not a fan of New Year’s resolutions. But I am a fan of finite, project-based goals. So, I thought—why not apply the same logic to yearly goal setting? I was already indirectly doing it whenever setting goals that required multiple sprints of work to achieve. So I knew it was possible. And thus, the experiment began.
I set one big, finite, project-based goal for each of my two businesses. For my camping business, the goal was to build an affiliate program. For the Monthly Method, I aimed to publish a series of YouTube videos covering fundamental Agile and Scrum rituals. Now, having gone through the year with these goals in mind, I can confidently say this approach worked for me.
Here’s why:
- Simplicity
It was just one thing to focus on for the entire year. No mental clutter, no competing priorities. - Flexibility of execution intensity
I could adjust my effort based on the sprint capacity of each sprint. For example, during the busy summer season, I made little progress on these projects. But in the off-season, my efforts ramped up significantly. What mattered was that, by the end of the year, I achieved both goals.
Traditional New Year’s resolutions often expect us to spread our effort evenly throughout the year—which wouldn’t have worked for me. - Constant learning and refinement
If you’d asked me on January 1, 2024, how I planned to achieve these goals, my answer would’ve been very different from what actually worked. Skill development played a big role—my YouTube editing skills improved with practice, and my sales pitch to potential affiliates became more refined as I learned what resonated with them.
I also stumbled upon some accidental lessons that transformed my affiliate strategy—like discovering a surprising subset of affiliates who drove the most sales.
I consider this “One Big Project per Year” experiment a success and plan to continue it. I’ve already set my 2025 project-based goals for both businesses and have even started working on them because I like the advantages of being asynchronous with the masses.
I’m sticking with one big goal per business to keep it simple and achievable. These goals are finite—I know when I’ll be done with them. Of course, I’ll work on other goals during my sprints, but having one big goal keeps things exciting and challenging.
If you want to set One Big Goal for yourself and use Agile principles to achieve it, come join me inside the Focus Room.
It’s a space where we do group sprints together.
It’s designed to make showing up for your goals easier.
