Jan 03 Follow My Leadership Success Resolution to Not Make Any
Here’s a an easy but highly effective New Year’s resolution for you. Start the year off without making any. While many people will begin 2019 with New Year’s resolutions, I gave up making those years ago. Did you know that 80% of the ones people make are broken within the first month? That leaves them feeling like a failure and possibly burdened by guilt, frustration, or disappointment in themselves. That’s no way to start the year.
Instead, I recommend that you follow the same process that I suggest to my clients. Begin your journey into the New Year with a renewed perspective and fresh vision. Discard whatever isn’t nourishing you in a positive, energy-giving way. Launch into 2019 feeling more self-assured and confident, with a mindset focused on solutions and possibilities, not problems and shortcomings.
Start with a Year-End Review
Pause and reflect. Take an inventory of all that you accomplished over the past 12 months. While everyone is ringing in 2019 with excitement and anticipation, I want you to be sure to celebrate what preceded it. Were there setbacks? Sure, there always are. But you survived them. Give yourself credit for the big successes but also those small, easily overlooked professional achievements and personal wins.
A Revolutionary Diet Plan
Lots of people are making resolutions about their food diet, and I applaud anyone who is determined to get healthier. But here’s a diet for leaders. Look back over 2018 and ponder all the times you bit off more than you could chew. Maybe you agreed to work too many hours when you should have invested that time by spending it with family. Did you say yes to every request a colleague made for help with their project, when you should have sometimes said no? How many times did you fail to delegate responsibility as a leader? By looking back you’ll find valuable insight into how to maintain healthier, smarter boundaries in the coming year.
Did You Indulge Enough?
Another big focus of New Year’s resolutions is to cut back on the indulgence. I’m going to suggest that you indulge…but in more strategic and savvy ways. Thinking back, ask yourself if you gave yourself a chance to seize every opportunity that came your way. Did you spend ample time developing new marketable skills? How much did you indulge in your all-important leadership development? Imagine where you might be today if you had. Then head into the year with a bolder blueprint that includes an ample amount of treating yourself to what you need to achieve more predictable promotion® and success.
Visualize the Year (and the you) You Want
Maybe you need to get more sleep so that your cognition is sharper and your energy is electric. That’s nothing to take lightly. Give yourself the quality time you need to be the best version of yourself. That will inspire you to be at the top of your game. Picture new ways that you can be a supportive leader to your team members. Can you be more inclusive? Is there responsibility they’ve earned you need to give? What about accountability and honest feedback? How can you ensure that their careers flourish in 2019? If they experience grand success, you’ll be perceived as an absolute rock star.
Year-End Homework
I would like for you to extract from 2018 the one big idea that defined 2018 for you.
- What was the most extraordinary accomplishment, or the most difficult test?
- What lessons have you learned from that experience that can help you in the coming year?
- If it was a challenge, can one of the ideas I just shared help you overcome a similar hurdle?
- If it was a triumph, can these ideas help you replicate that in 2019?
Happy New Year – and cheers to your ongoing success!
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Sarah Hathorn, CEO of Hathorn Consulting Group, is the go-to-expert in working with leaders and companies to create successful corporate DNA. As an executive coach, consultant and speaker she collaborates globally with clients and brands such as Deloitte, McKesson, Kimberly-Clark, Sherwin-Williams, Home Depot and other leading organizations.
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