Hello Friends.

It's been 250+ days since I last sent an email your way, so this one is going to be a bit longer than usual - and different in substance.

Let's get into it.

Where has the Year Gone? (How I wasted 6+ months).

The fact that I haven't sent an email in 250+ days should have made it clear: I've been doing nothing.

To the extent, that I genuinely don't know where the time went. Sure - I've been chipping away at a few things, made some minor lifestyle changes, and learned a few things - but overall: basically nothing. In many ways, I have been enduring those metaphorical dog days.

Looking back (more on this later in the email) I figured out that what I was missing was direction. I had no goals, no personal development projects, nothing really. I was just bouncing between work and Uni for the most part. The first 6 months of a year - besides a few highlights - feel basically like a black hole that swallowed up a bunch of my time.

Set some goals. (How I got back on track).

Knowing that I was at risk of losing the whole year, I found my way into some motivational content. I have always liked Jim Rohn, so I found myself watching YT videos of him.

I started to listen to more Jim Rohn, which led to me reading a book of his 7 Strategies for Wealth and Happiness. In it, there was plenty of different lessons but the one that hit home the most for me was goal-setting. I woke up early one morning and followed his exercise.

The goal-setting method is simple:

You set a timer for 15 minutes, grab a piece of paper, and brainstorm 50 goals. Write a brief word for each. What do you want to have, be, do, see, etc. Then break them into groups: 1 year, 3 year, 5 year, or 10 year goals. Select 4 from each group. Expand on them in detail (exactly what you want and why you want it). Transfer the 16 goals to a piece of paper, fold it up, carry it with you at all times.

With my new goals, carried at all times in my wallet, I felt like I was back on track. I started to think about how I could hit them. I started reading more. I started journaling more.

Although the progress was at a snail's pace, it was in the right direction.

This constant thought and reflection led to me writing and brainstorming a lot. I ended up finishing my 10th journal...

Start a Journal (The Greatest Life Hack I have ever found).

I don't want to exaggerate the effect of this - but finishing my 10th journal may have been my inflection point. I pulled out all my journals, took a photo of the stack, and then had an idea. What if I read them?

I started to skim through each journal, first to last, and as the pages went on, I began to recognise the same patterns. I recognised the same thoughts - months apart. I saw the same problems.

I realised that I might be onto something. About a week later, I finally found the time to sit down with my journals for serious study. I stacked them up, grabbed a pad of legal paper and a pen, and sat down with it as my only focus.

I figured, worst case, I'd be out a few hours and have got to relive my life from 13 to 21. Best case - well, I thought i'd get a handful of actionable ideas or notes.

I ended up taking 13 pages of notes. Notes of what? Patterns I noticed. The causes of my biggest wins and losses. Abandoned ideas. Successful strategies and solutions. Tons of different things that had escaped me.

This simple act of sitting down with the journals helped me create a personal instruction manual.

Feeling pessimistic, short-tempered, and unproductive? I needed to check my sleep schedule.

Got a paper due? Write it in three stages. Do pomodoro sessions. Start early in the morning.

These surface level observations would have been enough - but the bit that most excited me was my best periods. I liked seeing what had caused me to be productive, happy, excited and optimistic. I wanted to know what allowed me to make large strides of progress.

A key common theme: Working on a Personal Development challenge.

Zachariah 2.0 (How I'm going to push myself to massive success).

The Zachariah 2.0 100 Day Personal Development Plan (mouthful, right?) is the result of all my insights forged into one plan.

I have 100 days to achieve 20 objectives. (These range from Goals to Income to Learning to Martial Arts. The exact objectives I will lay out to every one in a blog post later this week.) The plan is largely inspired by my two most productive periods - both of which were built off the book, Motivation Hacker by Nik Winter.

I'm excited and I look forward to sharing all the things that I learn.

What does this have to do with you? (The section you can skip to.)

So, what can you learn?

First, please start a Journal. At the very least, keep one for 30 days. Track your emotions, progress, and thoughts.

You'll be able to 80/20 these findings - and can use those insights for the rest of your life. What 20% of things causes 80% of your happiness and achievement? What 20% of things causes 80% of your negative emotions and wasted time?

Second, make sure to set goals.

If you don't know what direction you're heading in - no winds are favourable. Without goals, you're not even treading water. You're surging downstream, away from the things that you want.

Goals help motivate you and they help you prioritise.

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I'll be back in your inbox next week. It will be back to the regular programming of insights, book notes, self-experiments and things you can use. I'll be including a small section on the progress of the plan.