As we enter the New Year, many of us are reflecting on how to make 2025 a year of greater clarity, success, and satisfaction. If you’re in the process of setting your personal vision, goals, and action plan, I’d like to share an approach that I’ve practiced consistently for over a decade. This method has had a profound impact on my own quality of life, and I believe it can do the same for you.

The Big Idea

The foundation of this approach is rooted in the principles of Organizational Physics—specifically, the concept of identifying and eliminating entropy. Entropy, in this context, refers to energy-draining activities, systems, or relationships that don’t provide a positive return.

The key insight is simple: to experience more success, flow, and fulfillment, you must systematically reduce or neutralize the elements that sap your time and energy. While this may sound straightforward in theory, it can be challenging in practice, especially if your current life structure no longer aligns with your goals. However, from personal experience, I can tell you that letting go of old, unproductive patterns is not only possible—it’s liberating.

What to Do

I’ve created two free, interactive exercises to help you identify entropy and design a life that energizes and inspires you. To get the most out of this process, follow the exercises in sequence. Set aside two to four hours of uninterrupted time, and if it’s your first time going through them, take breaks between sections—ideally, spend some time in nature to recharge.

Exercise 1: Discover Your Genius Zone

This exercise, Discover Your Genius Zone, will help you clarify what you’re truly exceptional at and what activities energize you. It also allows you to take an honest look at how you’re currently spending your time and where shifts might be needed.

Think of building the life you want as climbing a ladder. This exercise helps ensure your ladder is leaning against the right wall while encouraging you to release old baggage that’s slowing your climb.

Exercise 2: Your Vision & Action Plan

Building on the insights from the first exercise, this step, Your Vision & Action Plan, clarifies your long-term vision, annual goals, and new quarterly growth habits. The core idea is that your outputs—your vision and goals—are a reflection of your inputs: the habits and skills you cultivate daily, weekly, and monthly.

By the end of this exercise, you’ll have a clear picture of your desired future state and a roadmap of habits to develop now to get there. The emphasis here is on actionable inputs—what you do daily to create the outcomes you want. When you focus on building the right inputs, the desired results follow naturally.

What to Do Next

After completing these exercises, you’ll have a roadmap to guide you toward the life you truly want. Here’s how I integrate this process into my daily/weekly/monthly routine:

Transfer the categories from your Vision & Action Plan into your task management system. Review your progress against your quarterly growth habits at the end of each month.
This simple discipline of tracking your progress against your goals keeps you aligned and allows for reflection and adjustment. Remember, progress, not perfection, is the goal.

Why Am I Offering This?

I’ve personally experienced the transformative impact of this approach and witnessed its effectiveness with hundreds of CEOs that I’ve coached in the past. While I no longer coach on this topic, I want to share these tools because they are so impactful.

There’s no cost or solicitation here—just an opportunity for me to contribute in my own way and offer something that has made a profound difference in my life. If you’re ready to reduce entropy and create a life of greater energy, clarity, and flow, these exercises are here for you.

Here’s to making 2025 your most fulfilling year yet! 😊