Issa Rae shares the simple exercise she uses twice a year to set herself up for success—it includes pens, lists and a 'superpower day'

Issa Rae has a tried-and-true method to setting herself up for success, she says.

The 41-year-old writer, actor, producer and entrepreneur categorically organizes her goals and ideas in a notebook at the beginning of the year, and revisits them six months later to check her progress, she tells CNBC Make It.

Rae is often a busy woman. She co-created, co-wrote and starred in the HBO series “Insecure,” which premiered in 2016 and ended in 2021. She’s acted in several movies, produced other films and TV shows, and launched several businesses, including production company Hoorae Media, Viarae Prosecco, haircare brand Sienna Naturals and Hilltop Coffee and Kitchen, a California-based coffee shop chain.

New Year’s Day is “my superpower day,” says Rae, who’s set to additionally appear in a commercial for TurboTax during Super Bowl 60 on Sunday. “That’s when everything feels possible. Everything will get done. I look at the [old] notebooks, compile the ideas that I wrote down and decide what’s attainable and what’s achievable, and I will set those goals.”

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