An Intentional, Expanded View of Your Goals for this New Year

The art of setting goals, planning for success, and step-by-step of achieving them can take place at any point in the year, but it is very common to set them as the new year begins.  I invite you to take a broader view of your goals and possible New Year’s resolutions to help ensure 2024 is even better than you expect today.

What are you most looking forward to this year?  How do you make those a priority and make the very most of those times?  Who do you plan to spend time with this year?  

It is easy for things we are looking forward to either drift or at times have a feeling of less than fulfilled as they came up quickly or didn’t have the preparation we expected to put into them.  The routines and demanding schedules also make it harder to make changes to the schedule quickly.  Writing down these key events, describing what it will be like, what you want from it, and listing the people you plan to spend time with this year all help make sure you are prioritizing your time.  

The following is a brief excerpt from my book, Life Lived Well, that calls out the need for us to be focused on our whole selves to be at our best.

In today’s American culture, it is easy to think of things you will do.  I noticed I had mostly listed things I wanted to do, but as I focused more on health and gained insights on mindfulness and purpose, I realized that I also wanted to spend more time figuring out what type of human being I wanted to be.  I wanted to be more patient, more loving, more grateful, more committed to excellence, more curious, more present, more helpful, and more encouraging/supportive.  

As a human being, who are you?  What words come to mind that describe how you live and what you would like to see more of, and maybe less of?  This can be an exciting time, and many powerful feelings may come to you.  It should, however, be noted that changes in some of these areas may take a lot of intentional effort, as they are culture, innate in your personality, and likely have been part of your personal story for many years.  

Leadership is a journey. It is important for us to keep evolving as well.  A favorite quote of mine is by Muhammad Ali.  “The [person] who views the world at fifty the same as [they] did at twenty has wasted thirty years of [their] life.  I challenge you to quickly rate a few categories on a 1-10 scale with 10 being your best self.  

• Living Your Best Life
• Joy
• Health
• Body
• Mind
• Spirit
• Use of Time
• Use of Your Financial Resources
• Relationships
• Helping Others/Service
• Learning and Creativity
• Work
• Mentoring and Teaching
• Your Passions
• Other items that come to mind

The purpose of the scale is not to try to make every one of them a 10 and expect it will be the greatest day ever, but rather to serve as a guide for areas that may be calling out to you where you desire to make changes.  Look at your numbers for each of the items.  Do a few call out to you with a spark for change?  Spend some time thinking about it and what it would take to make it significantly better for yourself.  Do you need a coach or outside help?  What would be the first step you can take?

As executives, we are fortunate to be entrusted with significant responsibilities and work collaboratively with our teams.  I encourage you think about what you can do this year to be an even better teacher and mentor to help honor those teachers and mentors that set each of us up for success.

These goals are challenging and will not happen without intentional focus.  I do encourage you to have them written down, tell people about them, and find a time each week to reflect on your progress and re-balance where necessary.  This time can feel selfish at first, but taking the best care of ourselves helps us be at our best to help others. 

Written by Jeremy Zoch.

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