13 Actions to Thrive in 2023

The Stoic philosopher Seneca once said, “life is long if you know how to use it”. This also means that a single year can transform our life trajectory - if we know how to use it.

Here are 13 practices I’m taking to make 2023 the best year yet, categorized into Productivity and Reflection.

Before we begin, it’s important not to overwhelm yourself. Similar to my 2-week sprints, focus on three to four areas at a time. Once those practices are established, move on to the next one. The goal is to set yourself up for success by creating momentum.

PRODUCTIVITY

1) Identify what’s most important to you.

Hopes and goals are useless if our actions don’t reflect them. I use the  Priorities Mind Map  to 1) identify what’s important to me and 2) my actions are aligned with those priorities. If they’re not, then I either need to decrease my goals or increase my effort. Ultimately my priorities represent the intentions behind my actions.

2) Identify what your ideal day looks like.

Daily routines contribute immensely to my success because they bake in good habits that give me energy, feed my mind, and keep me positive and productive. However, coming with good routines is hard when you don’t know what your perfect day looks like. So take a few minutes to make a  Perfect Day Mind Map !

3) Map out the areas of your life that you’re ready to transform.

The key word is READY. These could be things you’re frustrated with or what you really want to achieve. Either way, use the  Personal Transformation Mind Map  to get it all out of your head so you can begin to break down and define what it looks like.

4) Make an  Annual Planning Mind Map .

Once you have a better idea of your intentions, look for recurring patterns and synthesize them into 3-4 overarching themes. This will make it less overwhelming and more manageable to take action. These themes will form the basis for your goals.

5) Craft a 2-Week Sprint.

Chunking up my big annual ambitions into  Sprints  is responsible for rebooting my YouTube channel after an 8-month hiatus, moving to San Francisco, and creating Mind Map Nation. It’s so effective because it’s less intimidating to go hard at something for two weeks rather than trying to tackle everything from day one. The key is to only take on three to four focus areas and keep your goals simple to achieve at first to build momentum and confidence. These areas should map to your Annual Planning Mind Map. For an end-to-end walkthrough,  check out this video. 

6) Use Pomodoros to get and keep focused.

I’m a devoted user of the Pomodoro Method (25 minute work blocks + 5 minute break) to kick myself into deep work and keep me there. This  is my particular way  of using it together with the 2-Week Sprint system. I’ve also built a  custom Notion tracker  that you can copy.

The key is to not break the blocks! If you start to feel distracted, finish at least the current block. Don’t jump around, instead try to structure all your related blocks in one sitting - aka batch processing. If you’re in the flow, don’t stop - update the tracker and keep going. Finally note and celebrate your streaks.

 Here’s an example  of how I put everything together.

7) Schedule deep work.

Pomodoro batching may be difficult if your work environment requires ad hoc tasks. That’s understandable, as team work often necessitates it. I suggest signaling to others that you should not be disturbed for at least one hour each day, so you can enter a state of flow and focus on tasks that require concentration and deep work.

Block it off on your calendar, turn off notifications and argue that it’s ultimately beneficial to the team if you’re able to produce higher quality work (not to mention preventing burnout). If you can’t get away with an hour a day, then start with 2 hours a week. The positive results will quickly become apparent.

REFLECTION

8) Prioritize stillness.

Just as the body heals and strengthens between hard gym days, creating space in daily life to slow down is essential for maintaining your productivity and mental health. As the composer Debussy wrote, “music is the space between the notes”.

Therefore, without stillness, our life becomes one long string of noise. The following actions will give you a sense of what to do with this valuable resource.

9) Schedule reflection.

Steve Jobs famously observed that creative people are able to connect the dots because they *“either had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people*.”

That’s why I use my mornings before work for  journaling  and mind mapping, as these activities help me to appreciate and  fully digest all the lessons  that life offers.

If you’ve signed up to my newsletter, then you’re likely already reading a lot of books or listening to podcasts. But what many people don’t appreciate is that reflection is learning.

10) Map out what you’re grateful for.

Gratitude is like a force field that prevents our ambitions and hopes (two sides of the same coin) from overtaking our contentment and wellbeing. It reinforces our values, what we stand for and what matters to us. It’s a line in the sand that reminds us that we have enough - simply because outside of it, the world of “more” is endless.

This is such an important practice that I’ve made both  videos  and  written  about it.

11) Lock up your phone.

My phone is the ultimate distraction machine. I did a  digital detox  for a week and saw my productivity, focus, creativity and happiness shoot through the roof. Now, I lock my phone in a box after 8pm and keep it out of sight when I’m working.

Wean off the reliance (addiction?) by leaving your phone at home while taking a walk around your neighborhood for just 15 minutes a day. It’s a familiar enough environment that’ll get you used to not having that brick in your pocket.

12) Get sunlight every day.

This tip is from Stanford neuroscientist  Andrew Huberman  who recommends getting 10-15 minutes of sunlight upon the first hour of waking to kickstart a cascade of biochemical reactions in our brain and body to enhance alertness.

It works really well and feels like I had an extra cup of coffee. If you live somewhere dreary most of the year, get a  Philips Wake-up Lamp  or cheap  full spectrum grow light  and you’re set.

13) Find accountability and likeminded people to be inspired by and grow alongside with.

In order to succeed in anything, we need 3 things:  Incentives, System and Accountability. 

If you’re reading this, the Incentive is already there. Everything we’ve covered so far is part of the System. Accountability is about finding the right people who are either walking a similar path or at the level that you want to achieve.

For me that’s the Mind Map Nation community whose members constantly support and challenge me to grow and think in new ways.

Go Crush this Year

The key to building momentum towards our aspirations lies in the interplay between productivity and reflection just as our physical movement is propelled by tension and relaxation. I hope you’ll be able to incorporate some of these practices to explode out the gate this year with intention, focus and determination.

I’d love to hear from you:

• What is your one big aspiration for this year?

• Which of these practices do you plan to adopt this month to make progress towards it?

Tweet or DM at me on Twitter/Instagram @shengsilver.

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