How to Win the Day, Crush Your Goals, and Make 2024 the Best Ever with MJ DeMarco

[MJ DeMarco]

Want 2024 to be the best year of your life? With many more to come?​

The year everything changed??​

The year Fastlane transformed from fantasy to reality?​

Sometime in the mid-90s, I did something that unexpectedly changed my life: I spent 20 minutes visualizing my future and wrote it down in a journal. Years later, I stumbled upon that old visualization in a dusty crate while moving to a new home. You can read the entire story here.



Now it's your turn to transform your most ambitious dreams into reality.

Over the next few days, I will give you a complete online tutorial for making it happen. 2024 will be your year—the year everything changes.

Part 1: Start with a Bold Vision and Then Plan It Down to the Week. Then the Day.​

"A fantastic dream without a fantastic plan is a fantastic fantasy." - MJ

In The Great Rat Race Escape , I emphasized the importance of outlining your future to make good decisions.

Visualize it.
Reverse-engineer it.
Then task it daily.

Win the day. Win the week. And you'll win the year, followed by life.

In other words, start with the end in mind.

Suppose you're skeptical and think this is just fluff. Your loss.

Visualization and backwardization of goal-planning is endorsed by many iconic leaders and authors, myself included.

• In "The Great Rat Race Escape ," by MJ DeMarco (me!) I describe this engineering process as a 1/5/10 Strategy.
• In James Clear's "Atomic Habits," he talks about identity shifts: transforming from who you think you are to who you will become.
• In an extensive interview here, Sahil Bloom reflected on this "backwards" approach to setting and achieving goals.
• Here's another article on the backwardization of goal planning...
• In Maxwell Martz's "Psycho-Cybernetics," he emphasizes visualizing and redefining your self-image as the crucial foundation for life changes.
• In Stephen Covey's "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," he advocates for Starting with the End in Mind, which is Habit #2. This book has sold gazillions.

These last two books have withstood the test of time. Clear's book has sold gazillions. There's meat on the bone here that THIS STUFF WORKS.

Moreover, setting a grander vision for the future can be transformative in these 3 key ways:

1. Backwardization of goals gifts you a decision-making framework.
In this forum, I often address decision-making questions with the same advice: Choose TODAY what aligns with your long-term vision TOMORROW and where you see yourself in 5 or 10 years.

2. Backwardization of goals reshapes your identity and self-image.
Envisioning your future self ensures that your current self makes choices in alignment with that vision, a concept echoed in both James Clear's and Maxwell Martz's works.

3. Backwardization of goals fuels grit and determination and fires your feedback loop.
Aligning your decisions with a greater purpose transforms tough choices into steps toward your ultimate goal. What might seem like thankless, challenging tasks today are actually integral parts of your journey. I was hired for a lot of shitty jobs. My future vision made these jobs tolerable and part of the process. They weren't failures, but steps.

So, how do you start planning for the future you dream of?

It begins with your system. As James Clear aptly put it, "You do not rise to the level of your goals; you rise to the level of your systems."

Dream it. Plan it. Task it. Habit it. Motivate it.



Here's how:

First, grab a free trial (no credit card needed) at GoalSumo.com.com. Yes, I'm pushing the system I use myself and co-founded. But don't worry— if you're more inclined towards traditional methods, you can download my 1/5/10 Planner for FREE.

Either way, you can follow along.

Second, watch the video posted above and follow the instructions for making your first goal.

Third, WATCH this thread as will update it continually.

Follow along and by next year you won't recognize yourself from last year. ​

And even better, the IDEA of even having a "New Years Resolution" will sound utterly stupid.​

~ MJ DeMarco​

 

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[The One]

Honestly MJ. Nothing but VALUE.

I know this thread is going to be seen by a lot of youngsters, as well as me being a youngster - let me tell ya this.

What MJ is saying is nothing but pure facts. This is where your execution relies on. It doesn't rely on that stupid quotes app, that poster on your wall, the affirmations you tell yourself, your future, your past, your stupid business plan.

THE EXECUTION IS WHAT ONLY MATTERS.

Trust me - I've wasted a year on doing stupid so called "self-improvement" - like do F*cking meditation, take a breath in till you knock out unconscious - obv meditation is all good. But, you are doing meaningless shit that makes you feel good.

Note - self improvement is the way to go ahead - no doubt. However, do not let it action fake you.

As MJ calls it "Action faking". That is what you are doing.

Now, doing what MJ mentioned above is NOT hard. You WILL overthink and that is okay. You probably never have done this before. You are used to TAKING ORDERS, you probably never have done something that YOU WANTED TO DO.

As MJ mentions you want to literally F*cking convert from CONSUMERS to PRODUCERS.

It's NOT hard. You will only overthink it. I promise you. It is NOT hard.

Peace be upon you all.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I used the free trial version of this app and I have to say...

It is the BEST productivity tool that exists out there.

Because this thing GENUINELY helps you reverse engineer your goals down to the day.

Thanks a lot, MJ.

Thank you, I wouldn't be pushing it if I didn't think it was effective, if not life changing.

This newer system has improved my life in so many ways that I'm now incredibly passionate about it. I can honestly say that this thing has probably added a few years to my life. (I hope I don't jinx myself, I have a dental surgery scheduled today and will go under anesthesia).

Here's how you continually improve your life.

This is how my day starts without having to do a thing...

4 Health Habits chained to a Value (Better health)
1 Business Habit chained to a Big Goal (A new book)
I will manually add a few tasks today that chain to bigger goals.
And some life minutiae tasks not linked to any goal.

• The piano improves my cognitive function as well as relieves stress -- can confirm.
• The exertion function ensures I'm moving all day (standing treadmill instead of a desk) -- can confirm as I've put on muscle and lost body-fat.
• The stretching has helped me stay in the gym and put on more muscle in my 50s, than in my 30s -- can confirm.
• And progress on the new book has been steady. I shouldn't take me 4 years to write it like every other book that I've written.

When I used my pen/paper version of this, the Habits always fell off, and many times I was too busy to rewrite the goals in the sidebar.

Focus, productivity, and results has been 10X'd.

 

[Dean Irwin]

Idk where I heard it, maybe it was an interview or podcast where the other co founder of GoalSumo.com claimed that making an app was a top priority.

Edit: Nvm I am not able to find it now so I might be false recalling stuff.

Have you thought of making this into an App @MJ DeMarco ?

Hi there! I am the person from the podcast and the developer of GoalSumo.com. : )

At the time of this podcast (9 months ago), we were prioritizing the app very high up on our list of things to do. While we want to have a mobile app in our lineup just as much as everyone else, it can't be our top-most priority.

Here's why:

Early on in a business, you need to prioritize adaptability above all else. You have to be able to modify and follow the features that are the most requested, and do so quickly.

GoalSumo today looks nothing close to what it looked like when we released a little bit over a year ago. If we had to do backwards-compatible updates with mobile/native app versions, we would have a problem where development of new features would slow to a crawl, because now we have to push updates via app stores, get approvals every time we push new software, etc.

Basically, while we figure out exactly what GoalSumo is (and isn't), we can't create technical debt of a native app at the same time.

We want to build a mobile app, but we want to make sure that when we build the app, it's a great one.

There are other things in that podcast interview that I mentioned that we were prioritizing at the time, but when we looked at how people were actually using our app, and what they needed from us to be successful, we prioritized different tools and shifted directions a bit.

I think this is fundamental to always stay alert to the needs of the market, and prioritize what delivers the most value, even if it requires a shift from what was originally planned.



In case you're curious, this is the technical difference between a web-app and a mobile app...
On our web platform, we have built custom tooling to give you folks a new version of GoalSumo within minutes of it being available. We can even refresh the page with a new version automatically, and your clients will update within 2 minutes of release. This is almost unheard of in the mobile app space. (Yes, apps can have over-the-air updates, and our tech stack will embrace this when the time comes, but it's no where near as flexible as a web app)

 

[MJ DeMarco]

You are the CEO of your life.

This video explains why you need to be proactively strategic about your life, like a corporation is strategic with its own assets and strategy.

If you're not thinking about this stuff, someone else will do the thinking for you.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbiNhAZlXZk

 

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[socaldude]

Visualize it.
Reverse-engineer it.
Then task it daily.

I don’t like sharing personal details like this, but I have had high-caliber spiritual visions/experiences. The difficult part is interpreting and translating it into the correct language, words, meaning and syntax.

Likewise, you can inspire a vision by writing down language that comes from your true nature.

Anyways, the point is, by visualizing your goals or self. You can access a..different kind of intelligence or terminal realm.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Have you thought of making this into an App @MJ DeMarco ?

Yes, an APP is roadmapped. Our primary objective is nailing the web-based version, then we will worry about the App stores.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Here is how my GoalSumo.com account is setup for HABITS.

Every morning I wake up and this is what I see. (It is automatic, no need for rentry)

About 2 hours are dedicated to habits that move the meter on my life, from health to business.



All of these are habits that I do daily.

This is how I win my week.

And this is how I win my month.

And the year.

And life.

Notice, I'm not focused on some esoteric goal next year.

I'm focused on the day and the week.

It's not rocket science.

Do what needs to be done, and the rest falls into place.

 

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[Dean Irwin]

New Feature Drop!

We spent this week building a suggestion algorithm that can suggest a relevant goal template within seconds! No more need to search through our template library (unless you want to).

Watch how easy we've made it to get a pre-filled goal template for "buying a new car"!

Keep crushing your goals!

This feature is experimental, so we would love to get feedback on it. We've also added a setting to disable this feature just in case you don't want to see suggestions on your editor . Not all goals will match to a template, which means a suggestion will not be shown.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Part 2: Back-Up Your Big Plans with Daily Habits
The Super-Simple Way to Create and Build Habits ... and Win the Day.
And Ultimately, the Year.

View: https://youtu.be/TC-hGZR4ycM

I'm already using it to crush my 10 years goal. Nothing to say, Dean and MJ have made something incredibly useful.

Looking forward to see how the project will evolve in the future.

Great jobs guys!

Thanks for sticking with us! It's only gonna get better, and more effective!

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Hey, Dean. I'm trying to understand how GoalSumo helps supports the 1/5/10 year framework.

It's based on the entire concept, but a bit more granular and segmented.

1. Set a big goal of any size or length.
2. Blueprint, or segment that big goal into smaller, bite-sized goals, right down to small, weekly goals.
3. Chain most of your daily tasks to any weekly goal. Accomplishing that small weekly goal cascades up into the chain, to the larger goal.

When one attacks a weekly goal on a daily to do list, you're actually attacking the big goal.

Of course, chaining any daily task to a goal or value is optional, but kinda defeats the purpose of thinking big, but acting small.

Win one day. Win one week. And so forth...

It gets people to think big, plan accordingly, but focus on the details of the day.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Should I better prioritize all these goals and sort them through?

Deploy a template to see how it should be done.

Your mid-term goals should not be distracting you, not sure why you are having issues there.

The only goals that matter are the weekly ones (which optimally chain up to larger goals)

Distraction occurs when you focus on goals outside of the weekly time frame, which is why you can only chain tasks to weekly goals.

Also, our next update will prioritize a "Weekly Goal Focus" so each week, you only focus on 1 weekly goal, until completion.

 

[Dean Irwin]

Hi folks, We've recently released a brand new feature! You can now quickly add from a library of over 70 bucket list templates and 30 Kaizen Values! Weren't sure what to add to your lists? Go ahead and try out a few templates and get up and running quickly!

 

[Arjun Uphale]

Want 2024 to be the best year of your life? With many more to come?​

The year everything changed??​

The year Fastlane transformed from fantasy to reality?​

Sometime in the mid-90s, I did something that unexpectedly changed my life: I spent 20 minutes visualizing my future and wrote it down in a journal. Years later, I stumbled upon that old visualization in a dusty crate while moving to a new home. You can read the entire story here.

View attachment 53305

Now it's your turn to transform your most ambitious dreams into reality.

Over the next few days, I will give you a complete online tutorial for making it happen. 2024 will be your year—the year everything changes.

Start with a Bold Vision​

In The Great Rat Race Escape , I emphasized the importance of outlining your future to make good decisions.

Visualize it.
Reverse-engineer it.
Then task it daily.

Win the day. Win the week. And you'll win the year, followed by life.

In other words, start with the end in mind.

Suppose you're skeptical and think this is just fluff. Your loss.

Visualization and backwardization of goal-planning is endorsed by many iconic leaders and authors, myself included.

• In "The Great Rat Race Escape ," by MJ DeMarco (me!) I describe this engineering process as a 1/5/10 Strategy.
• In James Clear's "Atomic Habits," he talks about identity shifts: transforming from who you think you are to who you will become.
• In an extensive interview here, Sahil Bloom reflected on this "backwards" approach to setting and achieving goals.
• Here's another article on the backwardization of goal planning...
• In Maxwell Martz's "Psycho-Cybernetics," he emphasizes visualizing and redefining your self-image as the crucial foundation for life changes.
• In Stephen Covey's "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," he advocates for Starting with the End in Mind, which is Habit #2. This book has sold gazillions.

These last two books have withstood the test of time. Clear's book has sold gazillions. There's meat on the bone here that THIS STUFF WORKS.

Moreover, setting a grander vision for the future can be transformative in these 3 key ways:

1. Backwardization of goals gifts you a decision-making framework.
In this forum, I often address decision-making questions with the same advice: Choose TODAY what aligns with your long-term vision TOMORROW and where you see yourself in 5 or 10 years.

2. Backwardization of goals reshapes your identity and self-image.
Envisioning your future self ensures that your current self makes choices in alignment with that vision, a concept echoed in both James Clear's and Maxwell Martz's works.

3. Backwardization of goals fuels grit and determination and fires your feedback loop.
Aligning your decisions with a greater purpose transforms tough choices into steps toward your ultimate goal. What might seem like thankless, challenging tasks today are actually integral parts of your journey. I was hired for a lot of shitty jobs. My future vision made these jobs tolerable and part of the process. They weren't failures, but steps.

So, how do you start planning for the future you dream of?

It begins with your system. As James Clear aptly put it, "You do not rise to the level of your goals; you rise to the level of your systems."

Dream it. Plan it. Task it. Habit it. Motivate it.

View attachment 53309

Here's how:

First, grab a free trial (no credit card needed) at GoalSumo.com. Yes, I'm pushing the system I use myself and co-founded. But don't worry— if you're more inclined towards traditional methods, you can download my 1/5/10 Planner for FREE.

Either way, you can follow along.

Second, watch the video posted above and follow the instructions for making your first goal.

Third, WATCH this thread as will update it continually.

View attachment 53306

View attachment 53307

Follow along and by next year you won't recognize yourself from last year. ​

And even better, the IDEA of even having a "New Years Resolution" will sound utterly stupid.​

~ MJ DeMarco​

I used the free trial version of this app and I have to say...

It is the BEST productivity tool that exists out there.

Because this thing GENUINELY helps you reverse engineer your goals down to the day.

Thanks a lot, MJ.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Any advice on how I exactly define the 1-year goal then the 1-month goal then the 1week goal and daily tasks?

As you move further out it really doesn't matter.

What matters is TODAY and the WEEK.

The rest, ultimately, takes care of itself and is revealed to you as you progress.

The idea is to map out the general plan, and once you're engaged in the process, ACT, ASSES, and ADJUST.

Many goals will be added, others, dropped.

 

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[Dean Irwin]

Howdy GoalSumo fanatics! This will be a short, but important update: We've adjusted the logic on DailySumos in order to reduce confusion and streamline your goal-crushing.

Future DailySumos Now Hide Rollover Tasks​

The concept of task rollover was previously implemented in a way that made setting up and viewing your future DailySumos confusing. Future DailySumos will now hide all tasks that have been rolled-over from a previous day.

Viewing the DailySumo for today will still show all rollover tasks that have not been previously completed. This change will hopefully bring some much-needed clarity.

You will notice this change also makes the behavior surrounding Habit Tasks much more clear as well.

 

[Dean Irwin]

We introduced a new feature today to make habits a bit more exciting! You can now see how many times you have completed a specific habit on the habits overview page.

We're working on an archive view to see all deleted/cancelled habits (and how many times they were completed). This will be available soon!

 

[DW85014]

Have you thought of making this into an App @MJ DeMarco ?

 

[Dean Irwin]

Tossing this feature update on here. We've recently released Weekly Goal Focuses. This new feature guides you through the noise and distractions and brings you closer to what truly matters, crushing your goals!

In alignment with the ideas behind our "Power Tasks", we believe that focus starts with identifying a single important task, and knocking it out of the park. With this feature, we're hoping to improve foucs, prioritization skills, and motivation.

We also built in a fun animation to help you get that little dopamine hit each week as you crush it!

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Another idea—or one would say challenging in the theater of big goal achievement— that is implicit within GoalSumo.

Win Your Boldest Goals Using the Goal Gradient Effect

Goals can be tricky. Learn how to use the Goal Gradient Effect to make your goals seem less daunting.

hulry.com

A great read, no matter if you use the service or not.

Apply it and manage the "messy middle."

 

[dipankar das]

As you move further out it really doesn't matter.

What matters is TODAY and the WEEK.

The rest, ultimately, takes care of itself and is revealed to you as you progress.

The idea is to map out the general plan, and once you're engaged in the process, ACT, ASSES, and ADJUST.

Many goals will be added, others, dropped.

Thank you, MJ for replying to my question. I always assumed how you came up with "$20M net worth in 10 years and then $3M in 5 years” As It might take 12-15 years to reach that goal or maybe 6-8 years for some. but you have answered my question. It's to start and do a rough estimate. When you start executing then you can see and nearest milestone and then act asses adjust accordingly.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Hi @Dean Irwin So how would we track a task we were unable to do on the previous day?

It still rolls over -- you see it when today = date.

However if you forward to, say next week, the rollover tasks are hidden. This prevents confusion.

 

[Fliese]

Want to say thank you for creating this awesome goal setting tool! The DailySumos help me a lot to get more structure in my daily doings. The ranking system and the analytics motivate me a lot.

 

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[Dushko]

Tool is getting better and better. Using it daily, goal chains, habits, etc all fall nicely into place. Big help, thanks for this.

 

[andyhaus44]

We introduced a new feature today to make habits a bit more exciting! You can now see how many times you have completed a specific habit on the habits overview page.

We're working on an archive view to see all deleted/cancelled habits (and how many times they were completed). This will be available soon!

We introduced a new feature today to make habits a bit more exciting! You can now see how many times you have completed a specific habit on the habits overview page.

We're working on an archive view to see all deleted/cancelled habits (and how many times they were completed). This will be available soon!

This is a great feature! Nice job!

 

[parabolic]

Signed up!

 

[SnowLava]

Have you thought of making this into an App @MJ DeMarco ?

Idk where I heard it, maybe it was an interview or podcast where the other co founder of goalsumo claimed that making an app was a top priority.

Edit: Nvm I am not able to find it now so I might be false recalling stuff.

 

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[BlackLands]

I'm already using it to crush my 10 years goal. Nothing to say, Dean and MJ have made something incredibly useful.

Looking forward to see how the project will evolve in the future.

Great jobs guys!

 

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[Jinzou]

Deploy a template to see how it should be done.

Your mid-term goals should not be distracting you, not sure why you are having issues there.

The only goals that matter are the weekly ones (which optimally chain up to larger goals)

Distraction occurs when you focus on goals outside of the weekly time frame, which is why you can only chain tasks to weekly goals.

Also, our next update will prioritize a "Weekly Goal Focus" so each week, you only focus on 1 weekly goal, until completion.

Thank you for your reply. I already started to look through the templates as examples, they're really helpful and provide a nice structure.

Your mid-term goals should not be distracting you, not sure why you are having issues there.

I think I didn't phrase that part concrete enough. There is no problem with GoalSumo's process or options, those are great.

I meant the process in my head, when I start thinking about all these goals and dreams. They mingle with one another in my mind and cause a good chunk of chaos as almost all of them are connected in one way or another. That's where I struggle to come up with realistic and plausible mid-term or sometimes steps, because I've never been closer to them. So in my head it's like "How the hell should I know what I have to do once I'm in 3 months from now on?"
Maybe these goals are so 'big' that my imagination fails to think up the realistic process to achieve them?

Hope that makes more sense now!

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

@MJ DeMarco Been using Goalsumo for 4 days now, enjoying it actually.
Question: I have chained Daily Tasks to Weekly Goals & chained that to Monthly Goals. Is it possible to view this specific progress anywhere? (want to track progress each day. Hope I'm not missing anything & using Goalsumo correctly).
Analytics only displays the overall progress.

PS - I will check and add to the public roadmap as well.

This was possible but right now it is offline due to the new goal system.

Our analytics section is road-mapped for revamping as it was a laggard with the rest of the system updates, so stay tuned for improvements there—I promise you we will get there.

 

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