If you are starting to think of your annual goal for next year, have you considered what cramming a year into 12 weeks might look like?
One of the real gifts poker has given me is that it has been a great jumping-off point to learn things from other disciplines like economics, AI, psychology and Game Theory. So here is a series of articles where I bring some of the most interesting things I have learned from other subjects outside of poker which are applicable to this game we know and love.
The year is coming to a close and most of us have one eye on our goals for 2025. This year I came across an idea that I feel will be life-changing in this regard – The 12 Week Year.
This is the name of a book by Brian Moran and Michael Lennington. The bold claim is that you can do in 12 weeks what others do in a year, which I think is a big exaggeration. However, it is a novel idea I believe most of us would still benefit from.
The problem with annualised goals is that they take too long. Inevitably we start off really well, full of enthusiasm. We also tend to end the year really well, as we have a sense of urgency in our last-ditch effort to achieve them.
The middle part between March and October is the problem. We lose focus, put our goals on the back burner, and tell ourselves we have plenty of time to achieve what we want.
A constant sense of urgency
The 12 Week Year states that we would be better off if, instead of yearly goals, we set goals in periods of 12 weeks. The benefit of this is we have that enthusiastic burst of energy at the start and immediately segue into a sense of urgency as the deadline looms. We do not get caught in the vague period in the middle where we lose focus.
I don’t think most people will get more things done in 12 weeks than in 12 months, but I do think they would get a lot more done in a calendar year with this approach.
My 2024 goal was to personally review 365 poker hands, essentially one a day. I started off strong, faltered in the middle of the year, and picked it up last month to achieve the goal.
Since picking up this book I have set two 12 week year goals instead, to review 120 hands in 12 weeks (which is a 40% increase on the last goal, per day) and to get eight 1-1 coaching sessions with a poker coach.
It has only been two weeks since I set the goal but I have already reviewed 30 hands and had three coaching sessions. There is no doubt some beginner enthusiasm involved, but I feel like it has already focussed my mind more than previous annual goals.
Big caveat, this is an untested theory for me, but if annual goals have been a struggle for you, consider making your year 12 weeks instead.
What theories from outside of poker have helped your game? Let us know in the comments.