Michael Hyatt

whatever point in time we determine to make a change and improve one or more areas of our life, our goals reflect many of our most important desires and aspirations. Consider some common resolutions people set:

Lose weight, eat healthier
Be a better person
Spend less, save more
Deepen relationship with God
Spend more time with family/friends
Exercise more often
Learn something new
Do more good deeds for others
Find the love of my life
Find a better job

when people like you reach their full potential, the world has more happy marriages, kids have their moms and
dads at night, businesses have leaders worth admiring and emulating, and you have the health and vitality necessary to fuel your dreams. One intentional choice at a time, you make the world around you better.

that’s exactly why we need a far better plan. Dreams like these are too important to entrust to a faulty system.

I want you to consider instead what a truly breakthrough year might look like for you. Imagine it’s twelve months from now, and you’ve accomplished your top goals in all of life’s domains. Think about your health. How does it feel to be in the best shape of your life? How does it feel to have the stamina to play for hours with your kids, pursue your favorite hobbies, and have energy to spare?

Stick with me. Whatever has happened in your past—good or bad—it is truly possible to make this your best year ever, even in those areas where you’ve suffered serious setbacks. I’m going to show you how. Consider this book an invitation to make the next twelve months the most meaningful and significant you’ve experienced in your life so far.

Your Best Year Ever is based on five key assumptions. First, real life is multifaceted. Our lives are more than our work. They are even more than our families. The way I see it, our lives consist of ten interrelated domains:

Spiritual: Your connection to God
Intellectual: Your engagement with significant ideas
Emotional: Your psychological health
Physical: Your bodily health
Marital: Your spouse or significant other
Parental: Your children if you have any
Social: Your friends and associates
Vocational: Your profession
Avocational: Your hobbies and pastime
Financial: Your personal or family finances

Second, every domain matters. Why? Because each one affects all the others. For example, your physical condition impacts your work. And stress at work impacts life at home. All this interplay means you’ve got to give each domain the appropriate attention if you want to experience progress in life.

Third, progress starts only when you get clear on where you are right now. Maybe you have a vague sense things are off track in your career but haven’t come to grips with the truth of your situation. Or maybe you sense your marriage has become dead or routine, but you haven’t had the courage to just admit you’re stuck.

Fourth, you can improve any life domain. No matter what’s going on in the world or how off track and frustrated you feel, you don’t have to settle for what is. Progress and significant personal growth are truly possible.

And that takes me to the fifth and final assumption: confidence, happiness, and life satisfaction are byproducts of personal growth. One of the best ways to overcome all the uncertainty we experience in the world and make progress on your most important goals is to become fully aware of how much agency and control you actually have. It’s far more than you think.

effective goals are specific and measurable. Goals poorly formulated are goals easily forgotten.

our habits of thinking tend to produce consistent results

Even if your habits of thinking are already serving you well, you can experience transformative personal improvement in all areas of your life by upgrading your beliefs.