Pragma #14 — How to Review Your Year
"The world rewards starters, not waiters." — Shane Parrish
2024 is coming to an end. At this time of the year I like to look back on what happened and reflect to make the most out of the next year. One of my new year resolutions for 2024 was posting every week on this newsletter, and I’m happy to have achieved that. Thank you for being there along the journey. I hope you’ve learned and enjoyed as much as I have.
The Theory: Annual Reviews
If you don’t review it, you can’t improve it. The most successful people do annual reviews to find gaps in their performance and improve on them in the next year.
This requires thinking like a business.
Choosing KPIs, setting up criteria for success, and striving for efficiency in execution. It doesn’t apply to wealth building alone, but to any goal. Establishing relationships, improving a skill, or traveling the world.
The Practice
I stumbled on a great annual review framework by Shane Parrish, from Farnam Street.
It’s useful because it gives you a framework to plan your next year, not to review the year that just went by.
Here’s the summary.
Strive for clarity: if you know what you want, you’re halfway through.
Set up success metrics: imagine a world-class CEO took over your life. What metrics would they look at to gauge success? (wealth, free time, number of meaningful relationships…)
Maximise focus: list 10 goals for the next year. Then circle the 3 most important ones. You should avoid the remaining 7 at all costs.
Create momentum: list 3 things you’re procrastinating on and identify the smallest step you can take today to get started. Then ruthlessly execute.
Avoid your weaknesses: ask people about 3 things they think you’re weak at. Then create a plan to completely avoid them. For example, if you’re a tech founder that doesn’t like marketing, outsource distribution and focus on building the product.
Audit your relationships: make a systematic analysis of the people you spend the most time with. Are they a positive influence? Are they heading towards the same goals? You can find a template in the full review framework.
Play on easy mode: list 3 areas of your life where you’re making things harder than they are. For example: rushing every morning to work is hard mode; packing your bag the previous night is easy mode.
Establish rules: list 3 positive rules that would help you move towards your goals. For example, one of my rules is working out at least three times per week. I observe this rule even when I don’t feel like it.
Plan for execution: Break down your goals into clear 30-60-90-day markers with specific metrics and accountabilities.
You can find the Notion template here.
Top Recommendations This Year
A Retail Trader’s Repository
Trading from a retail trader perspective. A treasure trove of resources to make the most out of the markets.
The Curious Contrarian
This is not a discovery from 2024, but it’s still one of my favourite newsletters.
is an original thinker and his writing oozes wit and authenticity.
Geopolitics Explained
Getting Better
The High Performer Trader
Happy new year everyone. I wish you all have love, health, and wealth.
Honoured to be mentioned Alejandro. Thank you for your kind words and a great post, and I hope 2025 treats you well!
likewise Alejandro. thank you for the shoutout. ive been struggling with my writing lately but you just gave me a much needed boost!