The Power Of Process Goals & Rewind 2022
Happy Friday, everyone.
I'm back with the last issue for this year.
As we approach the quieter time of the year and many people take time to reflect and plan, this issue is also full of ideas and recommendations to make the most of the year ahead.
But first, some housekeeping: I moved my newsletter from Revue to Substack. For you, nothing changes. You can find all previous issues on my new Substack page. If you didn’t receive my last email, have a look at The One Thing #11 which was my best-rated issue so far.
Today At A Glance:
🎯 Process Goals > Outcome Goals
🍥 Rewind 2022
🤔 Yearly Review
On My Mind: Process Goals > Outcome Goals
I recently stumbled upon an interesting post from Mehdi Yacoubi. In this post, Mehdi summarizes the finding from a fascinating paper in which researchers conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis that analyzed the effects of goal setting on task performance.
They found that process goals had the greatest effect on performance compared to performance goals and outcome goals.
In addition, no significant difference in performance was found between specific and nonspecific goals.
This may be counterintuitive since the prevailing wisdom is that goals are best achieved by setting specific, actionable goals. Well, seems this is not true.
In one of his articles, James clear argues winners and losers have the same goals. Goals are good for setting a direction, but the difference is that winners create systems that help them to make progress.
My Experience: 2022 was the first year I didn't really set outcome goals, but focused on some habits and trusted that would lead to good results. It was a very productive year that allowed me to experiment and try new projects (the newsletter was one of them) instead of just chasing an “somehow arbitrary” goal.
I will continue setting process goals in 2023 and will post them on Twitter again early next year.
Rewind 2022
I've recommended a lot of content in this newsletter, and here are my favorites from 2022:
📚 Books
Richer, Wiser, Happier (Thanks, David, for the great gift)
The Three-Body Problem (Finally managed to read more sci-fi this year)
🎞 Movies/ Shows
Kleo (Netflix)
🎥 Documentaries
🎧 Podcast Episodes
Ray Kurzweil: Singularity, Superintelligence, and Immortality – Lex Fridman Podcast
How mission and capital can co-exist as sports is becoming a compelling alternative investment – Alt Goes Mainstream Podcast
🕵️ Other Findings
Most interesting newsletter: Neckar’s Mind & Markets
Most useful new product: Raycast
Most thought-provoking article: Choose Good Quests
Best Purchase < €100: A subscription to the Founders podcast
The only podcast interview I did this year: PMF Café about Product-Market Fit
One More Thing: Yearly Review
Last year, I published my yearly review template, which I have been using for years. I received a lot of positive feedback, which made me happy. 🙏
I have updated the template slightly based on the feedback. The updated template is simpler and takes less time to complete.
So if you want to review your year and make plans for next year, you should try this template. You can download or duplicate it for free: Yearly Review Template.
That’s it for this issue of The One Thing. Subscribe to receive fresh ideas and curated content.
Happy Holidays and until next time, friends. Keep learning!