Start Strong, Ship Often: Three Powerful Lessons from a Productive November
We’re past mid-December, and I’m finally sharing my November progress update!
We’re past mid-December, and I’m finally sharing my November progress update! The reason for this delay is also the reason I accomplished so much in November. I’ll get into that shortly, but first, Let’s look at my progress scorecard.
If you're just joining us, here's a quick recap: The Year End Sprint (YES) is about flipping the script on New Year's resolutions. Instead of waiting for January 1st to start changing your life, we're using December 31st as our DEADLINE to make those changes happen.
Where We Stand: The 67% Milestone
Imagine you're reading this on December 1st. At this point, we’re about 67% through our Year End Sprint (YES) challenge, which means we should ideally be around +67% towards our goals.
As always, if you haven’t reached that, don’t stress; progress isn’t always linear, and there’s still time to accelerate your efforts in the coming weeks. Although November is typically a busy month, it turned out to be quite productive for me, and I hope it was for you as well.
My November Scorecard:
Health: 48% Progress (↑ 17% increase from October)
Current weight: 67.1 kg (147.9 lb for my American friends)
Reached 65.9 kg (145 lb) on Nov 11th, but gained a bit weight later 😢
New achievement: Crossed a 100+ days exercise streak 🔥
Fun: 17% Progress (no change)
I watched The Gladiator II in the cinema, though.
Business: 61% Progress (↑ 48% increase)
Startup OS 2.0: 5% progress (no change)
New secret projectFramerIcons: 56% complete (shipped 🚀)Tried a new work style, and it worked perfectly!
Financial: 13% Progress (↑ 7% increase)
Increased my business revenue by an extra 7% this month, which is 13% progress towards my new financial goal
Small gains, but heading in the right direction
Personal: 1% Progress (no change)
Currently at 374 followers towards 3k goal on X
It’s elections month so 🤷♂️
As you can see, I'm not on track with my top priority, reaching my ideal body weight. And I’m almost on track with my business goals, mainly the exciting new project I added last month. I've managed to boost my business revenue by an additional 7%, bringing me to 13% of my new financial target. While it's not great, it’s still a step in the right direction.
Unlike October, where I had a more balanced approach, I was locked in in November. This may explain why I didn’t make any progress on my Fun and Personal goals and why I didn’t publish this update sooner. I intend to change that in the remaining weeks of December.
Overall, I still believe I’m on the right path because I’m confident that I picked my goals wisely. Progress in one area should naturally lead to improvements in others it’s just a matter of time.
For instance, allocating an hour each day to focus on my health might seem like it takes away from my business goals. However, I’ve noticed significant improvements in my productivity and energy levels throughout the day, which ultimately benefits my business goals.
One adjustment I made this month was updating my ideal body weight goal from 62 kg (136 lb) to 64 kg (141 lb). This change reflects a more realistic timeline for achieving my goal, considering that a healthy rate of weight loss is roughly 1 kg (2.2 lb) every two weeks.
Therefore, realistically, I could aim to lose about 6 kg (13.2 lb) in three months.
It’s okay; we all make mistakes. This serves as a reminder that our goals are not set in stone we can always make adjustments as needed.
That’s my status check for November. Now, here are three insights I’ve learned during this period.
Start Strong, End Strong, Every Day
In November, I created a simple but powerful daily routine: finish at least one important task every day. I discovered that the best way to keep making progress was to start each day strong and end it with a sense of accomplishment. This created a physiological momentum that kept me moving forward, even with many tasks and responsibilities on my plate.
You can achieve this momentum in two steps:
Start your day with a challenging physical activity.
Do one thing that when you finish, you can call the day a win.
Each night before bed, ask yourself a simple question: "What's the most important thing I need to do tomorrow?" This could be something like sending an important email, submitting a job application or doing something nice for your partner. Pick a task that, once done, will make you feel satisfied with your day when you go to bed.
When each morning arrives, start your day with a challenging physical activity. This could be a 30-minute run, completing x sets of pushups, sit-ups, and squats (as I do), or simply waking up early. Choose something you need to push yourself to do, even if it’s just a little bit.
This isn’t an easy thing to do, but if you begin and end each day with a win, it’s only a matter of time before you start feeling like a winner, unstoppable, and capable of achieving anything you set your mind to.
You’ll find that difficult tasks start to feel easier, not because they have changed, but because you’ve become stronger and more confident in your ability to tackle them.
For example, Akiki, the person who inspired me to embark on this journey, starts every morning with 2,040 push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. To many, this may seem incredibly challenging, perhaps even impossible. However, for him, it has become natural. After a 400-day winning streak, these exercises feel easier because he has grown stronger.
I can’t stress enough how winning each morning is the most important thing you can do. This single habit will have the biggest impact on your productivity for the rest of the day.
Now, combine that with a daily win by completing one important task, and you will create a physiological momentum that’s difficult to break, positioning you to achieve anything.
Do Two Activities at Once (When It Makes Sense)
This is my workout stats for November, what you might notice is that I did 4k+ pushups, etc. But to me, the other equally important stat is the total duration of 8h 11m, averaging 15 minutes of exercise each day.
The reason why it’s equally important to me is that I wasn't just exercising; I was also consuming valuable content and learning new ideas from Chris Williamson, Dan Koe, Mark Manson, and others.
Every day, for 15+ minutes, I was nurturing my mind while simultaneously strengthening my body, and the combination worked perfectly well. In fact, I’ve noticed a significant improvement in my alertness to the content I engage with, and it also enhances my physical performance and keeps me motivated.
I want you to consider the following points:
How just 15 minutes a day may seem insignificant, but it adds up to 7.5 hours a month.
How those 7.5 hours can effectively double to 15 hours by combining two activities.
For example, during a 20-minute walk, you could listen to a podcast on a topic you want to learn about or simply use that time to reflect and enhance your mental clarity.
Look for similar opportunities to combine activities; you'll discover that mundane tasks like driving to work or washing dishes become more meaningful, impactful, or even tolerable when paired with learning or entertainment.
I’m not suggesting this applies universally. For instance, it can be challenging to recall information from valuable content if you're watching while eating. That’s why I combine mealtime with 20 minutes of entertaining content, letting me enjoy myself while eating, all during a relaxing break.
Another example of this concept in action is when I combine fun with physical activity, such as playing football (soccer). It’s an enjoyable activity, and my body rewards me for doing it, how cool!
One thing to keep in mind when you’re combining activities or goals is that it can very quickly deplete your energy if you do it too often or if you’re combining the wrong activities. If you do it too much, you’ll start to feel like a robot, and life will lose its joy.
To know if you're on the right track, pay attention to your feelings: If at any point you find it stressful, you’re likely approaching it incorrectly. It’s time to take a break and unwind. Sometimes, life is more enjoyable at a slower pace.
Focus on One Project at a Time
An idea I embraced in November was to abandon multitasking. Instead of juggling projects based on external factors like my feelings, instead, I relied on the discipline I gained from winning 90 days straight and focused on one project at a time before moving on to the next, and it worked!
I found this to be a more effective approach, as multitasking doesn’t truly apply to meaningful work. You may have noticed that I haven’t made any progress on shipping Startup OS 2.0 since November; this was because my full attention was devoted to FramerIcons.
I'm proud to say we began work on this project in mid-October and shipped it just 1.5 months later. While it took a bit longer than I initially expected, it’s shipped nonetheless.
This shift in thinking stemmed from my experience with the Year End Sprint ritual. I realized my life was filled with “almost finished” projects and goals. I wanted to become an effective finisher, not just an enthusiastic starter.
I want to clarify that I’m not against multitasking. If you can effectively manage multiple projects at once, that’s fantastic. However, for me, mastering the ability to finish projects comes first before developing multitasking skills.
If you find yourself struggling to complete a project without being distracted by another shiny idea, consider working on projects sequentially for a while. It’s similar to how winning the morning makes you win the day, achieving enough shipped victories builds the discipline needed for greater success.
Shipping smaller projects can pave the way for shipping larger ones. If you do this enough times, you’ll find finishing projects becomes way easier because you will become efficient.
Bonus: The most enjoyable video I watched in November
Previously, I mentioned that I consumed 8+ hours worth of content during November, the one piece of content I enjoyed the most and found very insightful was Life Lessons from Living Four Years in Solitude by Mark Manson. Go ahead and watch it, I hope you’ll find it as enjoyable as I did.
That wraps up my progress and insights from November. I hope you found it useful.
What about you? I look forward to hearing about your experience with the Year End Sprint Ritual so far. Feel free to share your progress, thoughts, and learning, I’d be delighted to feature the success stories of other participants in the next update.
Until January,
Ali