Short Cycles, Long Game

Happy 2026!

I love new years. I love a fresh start.

In fact, I love it so much, I divide my year into 4 quarters. This way, I get a fresh start every 3 months, and it’s easier for me to make measurable short-term goals and long-term goals.

This is not something I came up with myself. (I did make modifications based off my personality, needs, and abilities.) I learned this Q1–Q2–Q3–Q4 system through reading The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months, by Brain P. Moran and Michael Lennington.

I read the book last year and thought, “Why not give it a try for a year as an experiment?” Looking back, I did make a lot of things happened in 2025. (*High-five!)

I don’t like to be measured by productivity. With that said, like most people, I have goals and things I would like to accomplish. I have no problem playing the long game, but I need to make sure I stay on path. Otherwise, I’ll be all over the place.

I used a calendar and block out time approximately.

“The critical first step to executing well is creating and maintaining a compelling vision of the future that you want even more than you desire your own short-term comfort, and then aligning your shorter term goals and plans, with that long-term vision.” ~The 12 Week Year

I did some self-reflections and realized dividing time like my college years (4 quarters a year, about 4-5 classes per quarter) was quite attainable. Last year, I assigned myself 4-5 projects per quarter. At the end of each quarter, I took a look at where I was on each project, and I made adjustments accordingly.

Please note that by 4-5 projects, I don’t mean working on 4-5 books per quarter. Some projects did involve books under contracts, but other projects were “updating my website”, “updating a school visit presentation”, “making a zine”, etc.

A graphic novel project could span up to 6 to 8 quarters, but each phase of the project took up different amount of time. By marking them on my calendar, I had a better understanding of how to juggle projects as a freelancer.

Some projects were non-work related upon first glance. One of my projects that lasted the entire 2025 was to “level up on competitive badminton”. But hey, maintaining good physical and mental health was also essential for me to play this long game of making comics and graphic novels.

Not everything in life is goal-oriented, but I do enjoy some parts of my life having both a sense of direction and measured via a set of self-made metrics (A business person would call this KPI).

In the end, life is complicating. Just because I planned something ahead of time doesn’t mean things won’t change. On the other hand, the ability to adapt to changes without spiraling into frustrations is also a valuable skill. Developing a system like this helps ground me and gives me clarity along the way.

I hope you can find some projects you enjoy this new year, and if you don’t know where to start, I recommend checking out The 12 Week Year and giving it a try.

Happy new year!

If you are interested in learning or leveling-up on your graphic novel skills, I will conduct a graphic novel workshop via the 2026 Virtual Winter Conference. Check out the details here.