If you’ve got big goals for 2018—higher grades, more patient parenting, better performance at work, etc.—you may already have the blueprint to make those changes.
Think back to those times when you did the very things you’ve resolved to do. That time you got the A on the big test you studied so hard for. That time your own parenting made you proud. That time you made more progress or a bigger impact at work than you ever had in recent memory.
What was different about those days? What did you do—and just as importantly not do—that contributed to that result? And how can you copy that success again in the future?
Did you ease the stress by starting earlier? Did you get more sleep than you usually do? Did you ask for help, take meetings off your calendar, or lean into the project that actually excited you?
Yes, you can learn from what doesn’t work. But that just tells you what not to do again. Learning from things that worked, and copying that success, is a plan for what to do next.