My Learn + Grow Plan for 2024 🗺️
Issue #73: My Growth habits, trips, books, areas and milestones of 2024. My annual planning + review template. Learning is not productive until...
In my last issue, I shared my learn + growth report of 2023, which has a few key notes from my 2023 annual review: books, courses, habits, health, money, impact, and favorites of 2023.
Now, I’ll share a little bit about my annual goal-setting and planning process. I’ll also share my:
Growth Habits: Regular habits that fuel personal and professional development.
Growth Trips: Purposeful trips designed to acquire new skills, read books, or create something incredible. [Learn More]
Growth Experiences: Things from my bucket list, thrilling experiences, and fun adventure trips.
Growth Area: Topics and skills for learning; book and courses.
Growth Milestones: Substantial milestones to achieve and celebrate.
🎓 Learn
Growth Habits
“Stop Building Hobbies. Build Habits.”
I kick off my annual planning by focusing on my daily habits, which I consider as the small building blocks of my journey towards peaceful growth.
This year, I’ve transformed most of my habits, shifting them from a few days a week to a daily routine. Example: Do Yoga 3x a Week → Do Yoga Daily.
The primary reason for this change is to eliminate any room for self-negotiation.
We’re often our own worst negotiators.
When there's leeway for discussion with myself, I'm more likely to choose short-term pleasure over long-term gain. For example, I might convince myself not to do yoga today or skip waking up at 5 AM, promising to do it another day.
This alteration has enabled me to maintain an unbroken streak of following all my habits for 89 consecutive days.
I’m committed to my morning routine, which has all my EMPOWER habits:
Early: Start your day strong by waking up early.
Meditate: Practice meditation or breathwork.
Podcast: Tune in to podcasts or audiobooks while taking a refreshing outdoor walk.
Yoga: Practice 15 mins of yoga for flexibility and stretch.
Write: Journal, Blog, Lessons.
Exercise: Pushups, dumbbells, stairs, strength.
Read: Books, blogs, affirmations, and prayers.
Three other new habits I have added:
Strength workouts: I’ve also added more strength workouts because: “Yoga people should do more strength. And Strength people should do more Yoga”.
Spanish Language Learning: Being able to speak multiple languages is an incredibly valuable skill (plus, it's pretty cool). So, in 2024, I'm committed to practicing on the Duolingo app for 5-10 minutes per day. I've already built an impressive streak, and the best part is I can do it during my 'poop time,' making me quite a ‘shitty learner’. 😁
Daily Affirmation: I had experimented with affirmations in the past but struggled to stick with them. However, taking inspiration from the book 'The Miracle Morning,' I've reintroduced this habit for 2024. I've incorporated my goals and a few reminders into my daily affirmations this year.
( If you want to master habit-building, read this guide )
Growth Trips
I love my growth trips; they're my favorite kind of break/vacation.
I recently discovered that even Bill Gates has a version called 'Think Week,' where he escapes with a bag full of books for contemplation and learning. These trips are particularly invigorating for introverts, leaving you both educated and recharged.
Here's how it works:
Purpose: pick a topic you want to learn + grow. Example: Spirituality.
Place: choose a hotel, Airbnb, program, or retreat center where you can concentrate on this objective and also feel genuinely excited about the place.
Preparations: If it’s a reading trip, pack a few books related to your chosen topic. You can also sign up for a course or learn on your computer during this trip.
Growth Experiences
“What’s on your bucket list?”
I'm certain that you've been asked this question a lot.
A bucket list is a collection of things you aspire to do before your time on this Earth is up.
I personally refer to them as 'Soul Goals.' These desires inspired by your awareness of mortality represent something profoundly original and essential to your soul. Throughout the year, I continually add things to my Soul Goals.
Around this time of the year, I select a few items from that list that I can do in the this year. The objective is to check these experiences off before life catches you off guard, as death doesn’t ask for RSVP.
Here's my Growth Experience List for 2024:
Attend Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Meeting.
Visit Yellowstone National Park.
Get a New Tattoo: This will be my fourth tattoo, which reads Sat. Chit. Anand. This phrase encapsulates the true essence of spirituality and the ultimate goal, translating to 'Divine Truth. Divine Consciousness. Divine Bliss.' It will also be my first Sanskrit tattoo.
Growth Area
These are the topics and skills I want to learn in this year. Once I pick the topics and areas to learn + grow, then I find courses, books, blogs (newsletter), people, and podcasts that can accelerate my growth on these topics.
Growth Milestones
I like to focus on action/process rather than goals. However, I still give myself some milestones to reach at the end of each year to celebrate my efforts and results. Here are a few such milestones:
Grow 500+ subscriptions of Multicollab plugin.
Grow 5000+ subscribers of the Learn + Grow newsletter. (Please support me on this goal by sharing and recommending this newsletter to others ❤️)
Grow Dotstore business 2x.
Buy/invest in 1 business.
🚀 Growth Tip
I'm excited to share My Free Annual Review + Planning Template! It's designed to help you reflect on 2023 and plan a fantastic 2024.
Here's what you'll get:
✍️ 10 Powerful Reflection Prompts for 2023: Dive deep into your past year's journey. Understand what worked and what didn't, and cherish your wins!
✅ Simple Habit Planner + Tracker: Bring positive change with daily habits. My easy-to-use planner helps you stay consistent and track your progress!
🚀 10 Powerful Planning Prompts for 2024: Set clear, achievable goals. My prompts guide you to meaningful goals.
🤩 Inspiration
Once you learn something new: write, share, teach, and apply.
Wish you all a very peaceful, successful, and joyful 2024. 🎉
May the Peaceful Growth be with you! 🪴
P.S. If you want to continue learning and growing, I would suggest subscribing and listening to my podcast, Peaceful Growth. It’s free, just like this newsletter.