Book SummaryYour Best Year Ever, by Michael Hyatt

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Your Best Year Ever

A new year starts, and we have our resolutions, vision boards, and brand-new planners ready to go. But 12 months later, how many of us have accomplished our goals and resolutions? Not many. But we’re not doomed to fail; according to Michael Hyatt, we just need a system that works. His five-step process for setting and pursuing goals can help you break the spell of elusive New Year’s resolutions and set you up for your best year yet.

Michael Hyatt is a New York Times best-selling author, speaker, and business coach who served as chairman and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, the world’s largest Christian publisher, for over a decade before founding Michael Hyatt & Company, a leadership development firm. In addition to Your Best Year Ever, Hyatt has authored a number of leadership and self-improvement books, including...

Your Best Year Ever Summary Part 1: Hyatt’s Philosophy for Success

This can be your best year yet—you just need the right strategy. You’ve likely tried different methods for setting and pursuing goals, but ran into problems that made you quit or tone down your ambitions. But according to Hyatt, you can achieve all your goals for this year one at a time, if you follow an approach that accounts for the common challenges we all encounter. This section explains why traditional goal-setting approaches fail and outlines the three assumptions that form the basis of Hyatt’s approach.

Why Other Goal-Setting Approaches Fail

Hyatt writes that most New Year’s resolutions fail. But, he argues that if that’s been your experience, it isn’t a personal failing but a systems failure. Traditional goal-setting approaches often overlook the challenges that hinder progress, including psychological barriers, past baggage that weighs you down, and unreliable motivation. These approaches don’t provide any safeguards against the typical pitfalls that appear as you pursue your goals.

Hyatt’s system addresses these challenges by tackling five interconnected issues: limiting beliefs, unresolved past experiences, poorly designed goals, weak motivation,...

Your Best Year Ever Summary Part 2: Hyatt’s Method for Success

Now that you understand Hyatt’s philosophy for success, you can get to work. Hyatt presents a five-step system for setting and achieving goals that addresses common challenges that arise. This section will cover the five steps: Fix your beliefs, get closure, plan your year, leap into action, and sustain your efforts.

Step 1: Fix Your Beliefs

Hyatt explains that your beliefs shape your reality: They influence your perceptions, which drive your actions, which create your outcomes. This isn’t magical thinking—it’s a well-documented aspect of psychology. If you believe you can’t be successful in an area of life, you’ll see obstacles as confirmations of that belief, instead of as challenges to overcome. As a result, you’ll put in less effort, you won’t seek help when you need it, and you’ll give up quickly when you face setbacks. These actions will determine your outcomes, turning your negative beliefs into self-fulfilling prophecies.

The flipside of this self-reinforcing cycle is that when you have empowering beliefs, you take empowered actions. This produces better results because you’re more resourceful and resilient, and your positive results reinforce your...

Shortform Exercise: Fix Your Beliefs

The first step for having your best year ever is to set up a foundation of empowering beliefs.

What limiting beliefs are holding you back? Do you engage in black-and-white thinking, personalizing, catastrophizing, or universalizing? Write down one or two limiting beliefs below.