Michael Hyatt

Stick with me. Whatever has happened in your past—good or bad—it is truly possible to make this your best year ever, even in those areas where you’ve suffered serious setbacks. I’m going to show you how. Consider this book an invitation to make the next twelve months the most meaningful and significant you’ve experienced in your life so far.

Your Best Year Ever is based on five key assumptions. First, real life is multifaceted. Our lives are more than our work. They are even more than our families. The way I see it, our lives consist of ten interrelated domains:

Spiritual: Your connection to God
Intellectual: Your engagement with significant ideas
Emotional: Your psychological health
Physical: Your bodily health
Marital: Your spouse or significant other
Parental: Your children if you have any
Social: Your friends and associates
Vocational: Your profession
Avocational: Your hobbies and pastime
Financial: Your personal or family finances

Second, every domain matters. Why? Because each one affects all the others. For example, your physical condition impacts your work. And stress at work impacts life at home. All this interplay means you’ve got to give each domain the appropriate attention if you want to experience progress in life.

Third, progress starts only when you get clear on where you are right now. Maybe you have a vague sense things are off track in your career but haven’t come to grips with the truth of your situation. Or maybe you sense your marriage has become dead or routine, but you haven’t had the courage to just admit you’re stuck.

Fourth, you can improve any life domain. No matter what’s going on in the world or how off track and frustrated you feel, you don’t have to settle for what is. Progress and significant personal growth are truly possible.

And that takes me to the fifth and final assumption: confidence, happiness, and life satisfaction are byproducts of personal growth. One of the best ways to overcome all the uncertainty we experience in the world and make progress on your most important goals is to become fully aware of how much agency and control you actually have. It’s far more than you think.