What Does It Take to Have Your Best Year Ever?

I found out, and 2024 may well be that year for me

Photo by Cristian Escobar on Unsplash

It was the last week of December 2023. Almost everyone I knew — from friends to coworkers — was on vacation, either holidaying somewhere exotic or simply chilling at home.

But me? I was up to what I had been doing at this time of the year recently — looking to set goals for the New Year.

Not for any event on New Year’s Eve (as I realized that’s what some people mean when they ask ‘So, what plans for the New Year’?), but actual goals for the coming year.

And I was super ambitious this time. Not only did I want to set meaningful goals, but I wanted to make 2024 my best year ever!

Fast forward to September 2024, and I believe 2024 is a good candidate for that “best year” title. Considering the progress I’ve made so far and especially the rough few years I have been having lately.

So how does a year become the best year ever?

Before setting my goals for 2024 in January this year, I’ll admit I was a bit lost.

I knew I wanted a good year, but I wasn’t sure how to make it happen.

There were questions in my mind. What does having a good year truly mean? Is it only about achieving goals? Or living a more balanced life? Or do I set a goal to live a more balanced life? And should travel ideas be considered goals?

To find out, I took out my laptop and searched “Best Year Ever 2024” or something like that. I went through some content online from familiar sources. But what caught my eye was this video on Ali Abdaal’s channel titled:

How to Make 2024 The Best Year of Your Life

Now, Ali Abdaal was someone whose content resonated with me. I always thought he gave sensible advice with a calm, gentle demeanor (unlike some online “hustle bros” out there, who, ironically, would do much better if they took a break from all those in-your-face lectures and one-size-fits-all nonsense they put out).

So, when I came across this video, I thought, ‘Ah, perfect!’ I hit the play button, curious to know what Ali had to say about this topic. Here’s the video if you want to hear it straight from him:

So, as he explained, you have the best year of your life by ensuring three things:

1. Growing towards the things that truly matter to you,
2. while not sacrificing one area of life for growth in another,
3. and enjoying each day on its own merit, not just as a means to an end.

That means having goals to progress on, maintaining a balance in key life areas, and having regular joy (separately or as part of pursuing goals).

And there you go, I found my answer.

I loved this framework as apart from the question of balance, it addressed something vital — the age-old question of “Do we enjoy the present moment” versus “Do we sacrifice and build for the future version of us”?

It’s a mix of both. As with most things in life, adopting a middle ground gives you the most bang for your buck.

Now, I wanted to do this process with more guidance and a community, so I signed up for the workshop he mentioned, pre-ordering his book (which I received a few days later). I’ll write about my experience of that workshop, how I arrived at my 2024 goals, and my takeaways from it in another article.

So, how did 2024 progress for me so far?

As I mentioned earlier, it’s going great.

I have three goals this year. The first (process-based goal) is 70% done, the second (outcome-based goal) is 50% done, and the third (process-based goal) is 60% done. That’s good progress for me.

The overall balance is good too. Initially, I followed the 9-part life wheel method from the video to assess my improvement areas and set goals. Later, I modified it somewhat.

And for joy? Oh yeah, I had plenty of that. Much better than the past two years. I met old friends, explored a new city, traveled to Thailand and 10+ European countries, and restarted reading fiction.

I also reminded myself to enjoy the journey to progressing my goals, although there were obstacles and frustrating moments. To be honest, enjoying and taking it slow is something I have to keep reminding myself every time an energy dip happens.

In this whole process, a key takeaway was that it’s okay to prioritize one area more than the other, depending on what you need the most now. As long as it doesn’t disrupt the overall balance, you’ll be fine. For example, I prioritized working on my identity and purpose this year (you could say Mind and Soul in the Life Wheel) and didn’t have any goals in the Relationships category, even though they needed improvement. You can’t juggle everything at once.

So, is 2024 my best year ever?

It may well be. Let’s wait till December for the final verdict.

And maybe this time, I’ll also plan for New Year’s Eve. To have that 12-month celebration, as Ali recommends.

Hope your 2024 is going well, too. If not, keep hanging in there. You’ve got this!