Join me on a journey to reinvent our lives to start 2025 on the best foot possible.
You have a vision for your life—something you want to do, somewhere you want to get to, someone you want to become.
But life gets in the way.
A whisper in the back of your mind leads you down a rabbit hole, sinking hours into playing games or scrolling on social media.
“I should just check my messages real quick…”
“I wonder what’s new over here…”
“Maybe just one quick game since I have the time…”
Our internal world can be downright deceptive, playing both the tempter and the judge of our “bad” actions.
Not to mention, we have to participate in the outside world too. Balancing the demands of others—pleasing a client or a boss—while our minds are in disarray from the responsibilities of adulthood, just so we can pay to exist with a roof over our heads and not live like a slob.
So, in the cracks between responding to urgent emails and cleaning the kitchen (again), we reach for a little escape, a slight relief—a moment in our day where we can be free from thinking about the stressors of the world. To turn your brain off to some silly videos.
But in actuality, it’s all just avoidance. We end up taking the reins and steering away from the vision for our life, that person we so desperately say we want to be.
It’s not entirely your fault. This is how your brain is wired, and just how the world is.
However, you can take responsibility. You can act and become the person you want to be, and achieve the things you care about.
A 3 month plan to reinvent your life
Last year, I listened to a podcast by Cal Newport talking about how you can use the last four months of the year to set your life back on the right track. Screw New Year’s resolutions—you can start now.
I didn’t do anything about it last year, but I wanted this year to be different. Struggling with exactly what the intro to this post describes, I decided it was time.
Except, September’s already over.
And I have a thing for the aesthetics of starting dates.
So, we’re changing this to a 3-month plan, starting on October 1st. Same results in less time, if all goes well.
The plan
I’ll be diving deeper into each of these before each month starts, right on Substack. But if you’re interested in what the overall plan looks like, here it is.
Month 1: Discipline
Discipline only takes up two weeks in Cal’s plan, but we’ve doubled it, even though we’re down a month to begin with. What gives?
Cal doesn’t call for it, but I think having a digital and dopaminergic reset will pay dividends in the long run.
Here’s what we’ll focus on:
- Set up a core place for your reset and documents.
- Start three keystone habits:
- Choose habits in the sweet spot of difficulty—something you have to work at but is totally doable for your current situation.
- Digital and dopaminergic reset:
- Remove or control unnecessary digital use.
Month 2: Values & Control
In Cal’s plan, you do the Discipline step for two weeks, then move on to four weeks each for Values and Control. Given our time frame, it feels better to split each of these in half, giving two weeks to each during Month 2.
Values (2 weeks):
- Reconnect with moral intuition.
- Revisit content that inspires you.
- Build rituals that align with your values.
- Write a first draft of your personal code.
Control (2 weeks):
- Multiscale planning, including household tasks (aka adulting).
- Automate and eliminate unnecessary tasks.
Month 3: Vision
Cal allocates six weeks to this part at the end, but I think taking four weeks to build a solid foundation that can propel us into the new year will be wonderful.
In this section, he talks about designing for remarkability, recommending that you take two projects or areas of your life that you want to overhaul.
- Small Project (ex. a hobby or interest):
- Develop a vision for remarkability.
- Outline a series of steps you need to take or projects to start.
- Establish habits and systems to lead you to your vision.
- Large Project (ex. professional growth or big life change):
- Develop a vision for remarkability.
- Outline a series of steps you need to take or projects to start.
- Establish habits and systems to lead you to your vision.
The invitation
I’ll be documenting my journey through this challenge along the way and sending more in-depth emails at the start of each month, including:
- Quick updates on how the previous month went.
- More details about how to tackle the challenges of the month.
- Specifics on my personal plan (and any examples or recommendations I can find).
If you’re here reading this before the start of October, please join me! Drop a comment on this post if you’ll be joining me on this journey. If there’s enough interest, I can also set up a small group for checking in on how things are going.
I’ll see you next week for the start of a month 1! In the mean time, give a listen to the OG inspiration for this challenge to get an idea of whats to come.