Quarterly Goal Setting for Software Engineers: Q1 Retrospective | The 12 Week Year Method

Join Bethany, Brittany, and Jonathan as they reflect on their first quarter using the 12 Week Year goal-setting framework. This candid retrospective reveals what actually works (and what doesn't) when trying to balance ambitious career goals with the demanding life of a software engineer.Inspired by Brian Moran's "The 12 Week Year" and Ali Abdaal's productivity strategies, the hosts formed an accountability group to track quarterly goals—from newsletter writing and conference talk submissions to fitness and reading habits. Now, three months in, they're sharing their wins, failures, and lessons learned.What you'll learn:How to apply the 12 Week Year methodology to tech career goalsWhy quarterly goal setting works better than annual resolutions for developersCreating accountability groups that actually stickBalancing personal development with demanding engineering rolesHow to reframe "failure" when you don't hit your targetsThe value of setting goals even when you over-commitQuarterly highlights discussed:Publishing The Balanced Engineer newsletter weekly (Brittany's journey)Submitting conference talks to GopherConReading goals (including Gödel, Escher, Bach)Building consistent workout and stretching habitsLearning design fundamentals as a backend engineerWriting technical blog postsBonus segment: The hosts share app ideas they'll never have time to build, including Friend OS (a CRM for personal relationships), a customizable standing desk timer, and alternatives to Facebook Events for casual event planning.Whether you're crushing your goals or struggling to start, this episode offers honest insights into sustainable personal growth for busy engineers.Join Bethany, Brittany, and Jonathan as they reflect on their first quarter using the 12 Week Year goal-setting framework. This candid retrospective reveals what actually works (and what doesn't) when trying to balance ambitious career goals with the demanding life of a software engineer.Inspired by Brian Moran's "The 12 Week Year" and Ali Abdaal's productivity strategies, the hosts formed an accountability group to track quarterly goals—from newsletter writing and conference talk submissions to fitness and reading habits. Now, three months in, they're sharing their wins, failures, and lessons learned.What you'll learn:How to apply the 12 Week Year methodology to tech career goalsWhy quarterly goal setting works better than annual resolutions for developersCreating accountability groups that actually stickBalancing personal development with demanding engineering rolesHow to reframe "failure" when you don't hit your targetsThe value of setting goals even when you over-commitQuarterly highlights discussed:Publishing The Balanced Engineer newsletter weekly (Brittany's journey)Submitting conference talks to GopherConReading goals (including Gödel, Escher, Bach)Building consistent workout and stretching habitsLearning design fundamentals as a backend engineerWriting technical blog postsBonus segment: The hosts share app ideas they'll never have time to build, including Friend OS (a CRM for personal relationships), a customizable standing desk timer, and alternatives to Facebook Events for casual event planning.Whether you're crushing your goals or struggling to start, this episode offers honest insights into sustainable personal growth for busy engineers.Links12 week yearAtomic habitsHabit kitObsidian templateGodel Escher BockThinking in SystemsPartifulHostsBethany Janos: https://github.com/bethanyj28Brittany Ellich: https://brittanyellich.comJonathan Tamsut: https://jtamsut.substack.com