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Designing Your Best Year Yet: From Goals to Systems

Inner Propaganda

Hi there,

What’s the Story?

This is the time of year when we all make big promises to ourselves.

Next year, I’ll finally get in shape.

Next year, I’ll write the book.

Next year, I’ll fix my finances/career/business/relationships.

And then… life happens.

This week on the Changing Minds podcast, I walked through a practical way to design the next 12 months so they don’t just “happen” to you.

We cover goals, priorities, obstacles, skills, knowledge, resources, habits, systems, and strategies—and how they all fit together into a simple plan you can actually follow. You can listen to the full episode here.

In this newsletter, I’m turning that into a step-by-step guide to help you make next year the best year of your life on purpose.

__________________

Designing Your Best Year Yet: From Goals to Systems

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes 13 seconds

The idea of a “best year ever” can be both exciting and slightly intimidating.

We feel the fresh-start energy in January… and we’ve also seen it fade by February.

The problem usually isn’t a lack of ambition. It’s a lack of structure. We have vague hopes, half-formed goals, and zero real plan for dealing with the realities of our actual lives: time, energy, kids, work, money, health, curveballs, etc.

So instead of just setting more New Year’s resolutions, let’s build something more solid.

In this guide, we’ll walk through nine elements that, together, create a powerful blueprint for the year ahead:

Goals
Priorities
Obstacles
Skills
Knowledge
Resources
Habits
Systems
Strategies

Think of this as building the architecture of your next 12 months.

1. Goals and Priorities: What Do You Actually Want?

Start with goals.

A goal is something you want to achieve or be doing:

A result (lose 10kg, save €10k, launch a podcast)
Or a recurring behavior (work out three times a week, write daily, meditate)

Let’s distinguish between two types:

Achievement goals – clear endpoints with deadlines.
“Run a 10K by October.”
Habit goals – behaviors you want baked into your life.
“Lift weights three times a week.”

Good goals are:

Clear – you know exactly what “done” looks like
Challenging – a stretch, but not absurd
Compelling – they genuinely excite you
Concrete – measurable or clearly observable
Controllable – mostly within your control or strong influence

Write down 10 goals for the year, mixing achievement and habit goals. Then comes the key step most people skip: prioritization.

Priorities are the goals that matter most.

Ask:

“If I could only achieve three of these this year, which would I choose?”
“Which goals support the others?”
“Is there a logical sequence here?”

Maybe losing weight helps your running time.

Maybe building a writing habit comes before finishing a book.

You’re not throwing anything away yet.

You’re simply deciding what deserves prime real estate in your attention and calendar.

2. Obstacles: What Will Get in the Way?

Once you’re clear on your priority goals, don’t jump straight to motivation. Jump to reality.

Ask:

“What might stop me from achieving this?”

Obstacles might include:

Beliefs: “I never stick with things.”
Lack of knowledge: you don’t know how yet.
Lack of skills: you know what to do, but can’t do it well.
Time constraints: work, family, existing commitments.
Energy constraints: health, sleep, burnout.
Money: investment you don’t yet have.
People: unsupportive environments, or simply other people’s needs.
Conflicting priorities: too many important things competing.

Don’t be afraid of this list. You’re finding out where the friction will be so you can plan for it.

3. Skills and Knowledge: What Do You Need to Learn?

Every meaningful goal demands some combination of:

Knowledge – information: what to do
Skills – ability: how to do it well

Once you’ve listed your obstacles, ask:

“What skills would make this easier?”
“What knowledge would remove some of these obstacles?”

For example:

If your goal is to improve your finances, skills might include budgeting, negotiation, or basic investing. Knowledge might include understanding your pension, taxes, or debt.
If your goal is health-related, skills might include planning meals, managing cravings, and lifting with good form. Knowledge might include understanding sleep, macros, or training principles.

Some skills you don’t have at all yet. Others you have, but need to improve or even master.

Write a short skills/knowledge list under each priority goal. This becomes a learning roadmap for the year.

4. Resources: What Will Support You?

Next, look at resources. These can be:

Physical (equipment, apps, books, tools)
Time (blocked-out hours, protected mornings)
Money (budget to invest in learning or support)
People (mentors, trainers, friends, communities)
Internal (mindsets and emotional support)

Ask:

“What resources would help me do this better or faster?”
“What do I already have that I’m not using properly?”
“What do I need to acquire, find, or ask for?”

Sometimes it’s as simple as a calendar and a timer.

Sometimes it’s a coach.

Sometimes it’s a conversation with your partner to renegotiate time or responsibilities.

Resources make progress more likely.

5. Habits and Systems: How Will You Live This, Weekly?

Goals are won or lost at the level of habits.

For each priority goal, ask:

“If I had already achieved this, what habits would I probably have?”

Write those down. That’s your behavioral blueprint.

Then get specific:

What exactly will you do?
On which days?
At what time?
For how long?

Now zoom out one level to systems.

A system is a set of steps you follow regularly in a particular area of life or work.

For example:

A weekly system for working on your side business (specific tasks every Tuesday and Thursday evening).
A Sunday planning system to map your week and check progress on your goals.
A health system: food shop, batch cooking, training sessions, sleep routines.

Systems remove decision fatigue. You’re running the same playbook and adjusting as needed.

6. Strategies: How Will You Reach Each Finish Line?

If habits and systems are about what you do repeatedly, strategy is about what you do step-by-step to reach a specific achievement goal.

For any big one-off outcome, ask:

“What are the major steps from here to there?”

That becomes your strategy:

Step A → Step B → Step C → Step D.

Writing a book? Your strategy might include: outline, draft, edit, get feedback, revise, and publish.

You can (and should) combine strategies with systems:

Strategy: the map from start to finish.
Systems + habits: how you keep walking the path week after week.

Bringing It All Together

Here’s how to practically design your year:

List 10 goals (achievement + habit).
Filter them: clear, compelling, challenging, concrete, controllable.
Prioritize them: which truly matter most, and in what sequence?
Identify obstacles for your top 3–5 goals.
List skills, knowledge, and resources needed to overcome those obstacles.
Define habits that would naturally lead to each goal.
Build systems to make those habits automatic and reliable.
Map strategies for the major achievement goals.

You won’t execute perfectly. Life will interfere. You’ll have to adapt, pivot, and use your agency and anti-fragile mindset when things don’t go to plan. But with this structure, you’re giving yourself the best advantage you can get.

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The Brain Prompt

Take 20 minutes with a notebook (or document) and do this today:

Write 10 goals for next year (mix achievement and habit goals).
Circle your top 3 priorities.
Under each, list:
- 3 likely obstacles
- 2 skills/knowledge you’ll need
- 1 habit that would make success almost inevitable