nicolevdh

Goodbye OKRs, hello yearly theme (Patreon)

Published:

2024-01-05 11:13:18

Imported:

2026-06

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Happy 2024! I wanted the first video of the year to be about balance.

Last year, and the few years before that, I've made more and more specific objectives for the year. The OKR (Objectives and Key Results) approach is something I'm familiar with in my day job, so it felt natural to extend that to my personal life as well.

What I found out last year, quite dramatically, is that it was too much. Having objectives, even ones I set for myself, made me push a little too hard to achieve them, and feel a little too keenly the sense of failure when I didn't achieve every one.

Then I listened to this podcast episode by CGP Grey and Myke Hurley about their yearly themes, and something clicked. The concept of a yearly theme is not new to me, but I'd always thought it was a little too vague and unstructured. This year it hit different, probably because I'm feeling like my life could use a little less structure right now. So i'm steering into that!

This video is a bit about why I've decided to go for a yearly theme, and my super simple setup for it in Obsidian. Enjoy!

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Why not to make resolutions in 2024

I've done a lot of thinking about why not to make resolutions in 2024. In 2023, I went a little overboard with OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) and that just sent me spiralling into overwork and burnout. That's not something I want to see happen again this year, so instead, I'm doing a yearly theme: a one-word direction for the rest of the year that will act as a North Star rather than a strict set of rules. I'm hoping this will allow me to be productive, but also keep me happy. // TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Intro 01:45 What I'm doing instead 02:47 Obsidian setup // RELATED RESOURCES (podcast episode) 2024 Yearly Themes by @cortexFM : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXexYmOHkas (book) Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle: https://amzn.to/3S40x5g (book) Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation: https://amzn.to/3TLLm1P (book) Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less: https://amzn.to/3tv6ezT (book) Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most: https://amzn.to/3vscaKi (book) Romancing the Shadow: A Guide to Soul Work for a Vital, Authentic Life: https://amzn.to/47ft5Ny (podcast) Deep Questions with Cal Newport: https://www.thedeeplife.com/listen/ --- // ABOUT ME Site: https://nicolevanderhoeven.com Mastodon: https://pkm.social/@nicole My travel YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/c/luckydippers k6 YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/k6test // APPS I USE - Obsidian: https://obsidian.md - Readwise: https://readwise.io/nicole - Shortform: https://shortform.com/nicole - Reclaim: https://go.reclaim.ai/eg0tgbamp7cb - Snipd: https://link.snipd.com/Cx7S/nicole // GEAR https://nicolevanderhoeven.com/gear/ // WANT TO SUPPORT ME? ❤️ Join my Patreon and get my sample vault with templates: https://patreon.com/nicolevdh ☕ Buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/nicolevdh Note: Some of the links above are affiliate links, which means I may get a small percentage when you sign up using those links. To see how I decide what to promote in this way, check out my Ethics Statement: https://nicolevanderhoeven.com/ethics/