7 simple steps to 'strategize your life' and set yourself up for success in 2024

Regardless of what New Years resolutions you set at the beginning of the year, whether it be to learn a new language or read more, the underlying goal is probably that you want to spend your time better.

To help you do that, Rainer Strack, senior partner emeritus at Boston Consulting Group, Susanne Dyrchs, associate director at BCG, and Allison Bailey, senior partner and managing director at BCG, created a 7-step plan that will help you strategize your life. 

"Time is the only asset that we can't multiply," Strack tells CNBC Make It. "Time is limited here on Earth. It's a scarce resource, and therefore, you have to understand what you want to do with this kind of resource, concretely."

The framework mirrors a corporate strategy, Strack says. In the same way a company creates a plan for their future, so can you.

Each step is guided by a question and is meant to help you make the most of your days, months, and years.

Many people work toward a goal they believe they are supposed to have, like making more money or buying a home, without thinking about what would actually make them happy.

"A great life has to be defined personally, you can't just take a framework and say, 'This is a great life,"' Strack says.

To define your own great life, Strack recommends using the acronym PERMA-V:

• Positive emotions, or frequent feelings of pleasure and contentment
• Engagement, or being in the flow, losing track of time
• Relationships, mutual feelings of caring, support, and love
• Meaning, or contributing to making the world a better place
• Achievement, or striving for success or mastery, reaching goals
• Vitality, or being healthy and energetic

Rate each of these factors from 1 to 10 based on how important they are to you. This will give you an idea of how you should spend your energy.

To find your purpose Strack suggests asking yourself two questions: What are my strengths and what does the world need?

"Usually your purpose lies in the intersection of both where your strengths are, and what kind of human problem can you take on," he says.

When deciding what skills you excel at, it might be helpful to ask friends and family, he says.

Then, write down a purpose statement. This will serve as a "north star" when you make choices throughout your life.

Imagine a few priorities or goals with loose deadlines. 

"It could be three, four, or five bullet points and say, 'These might be some visionary elements that I would like to pursue over the next three years, five years, up to 10 years,'" Strack says. 

He offers up a few "trigger questions" that can help you "broaden your visionary horizon": 

• What would I do if money was not an issue? 
• What does the 80-year-old me not want to have missed in life? 

Picturing these answers can guide you to make decisions that move you toward your goals. 

"Number four is so important, because here everything becomes concrete," Strack says.

A week has 168 hours. Write down how you are spending those hours and compare that to what you believe makes a good life.

If you say maintaining relationships is important to you but only spend one hour a week with friends, maybe you should plan to send some texts.

In the same way a start-up might look to a years-old company for best practices, you can do this with people.

Ask yourself, "Who do I admire?" and then analyze what makes them admirable to you. Is it the way they balance their work life and social life? Or maybe it's how organized they are.

Use the positive examples in your life to inform how you live.

"Here all the first five steps come together," Strack says.

You named what is important to you and evaluated how you want to spend your time. Now, you need to decide what elements of your life you want to change, adjust, eliminate, or continue.

"Out of this long list of ideas you commit to a handful of strategic choices," he says.

Maybe you like how much time you spend at social outings, but don't feel dedicated enough to work. Or perhaps you feel like your romantic relationship is taking time away from your friendships, and you want to dedicate more time to people who aren't your partner.

"A lot of people have some good ideas for 2024, but a lot of people will fail," Strack says.

To give yourself a shot at making a change, share your plan with friends, or ask them to join you on your journey. Check up on each other's progress.

"It's known that if you make your plan public there is a much higher likelihood that you put this into practice," he says.

You can also define a "costly consequence," Strack says, if you don't work toward your goals. The consequence doesn't have to be negative, but it should incentivize you.

For example, if your goal is to spend more time reading but you don't make time to read one week, maybe your "consequence" is that you must donate to a charitable organization.

Lastly, put a recurring 15-minute window on your calendar every week and assess how well you are carrying out your life plan.

"In these 15 minutes think about your strategy, your life, what has worked well in the last week, what has not worked, and where you have to make adjustments," Strack says.

These seven steps can hopefully help you keep your resolutions, make better long-term decisions, and increase your happiness.

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