Prepping for the New Year in 3 Simple Steps

It’s every leader’s favorite time of year (or maybe just mine?)—when we unwrap that fresh new planner, sit down with an uninterrupted block of time, and map out goals and plans for the new year at hand. I love taking time at the end of the year to reflect on the past and plan for the future.

As we wrap 2024 and welcome 2025, it’s important for us as leaders to be proactive in how we start the new year and intentional about our own development. And I think there are three things we can do to effectively prepare ourselves to achieve our goals:

1. TAKE AN HONEST ASSESSMENT.

Start with a series of questions that you honestly reflect on and answer. Don’t answer with what you wish the answer was; answer with the truth. It might hurt in some cases (been there!), but it’s an important place to start. Ask yourself these questions to start, and give yourself time to dive deeper if you need to:

• What worked last year that I should do more of?
• What should I do less of or quit altogether?
• What am I going to do better next year?
• What do I desire, and does that future look possible for me?

2. SET YOURSELF UP FOR FUTURE SUCCESS.

You’ll probably notice that it’s hard to remember what you ate for lunch last week, let alone what things worked and didn’t back in February or March. But that’s okay—it just means it’s one of the places you can honestly admit that maybe you’re not setting aside proactive planning time on a regular basis. If that’s the case, plan now to set aside blocks of time in your planner to reflect on how the past week or month went from a productivity perspective. Was that trip a good use of my time? Should I have delegated that task to someone else? Did I spend enough time building relationships with my team? Doing this regularly will not only make your leadership more effective in the short term, but it also sets you up for success in the long term as well.

3. BE WHERE YOUR FEET ARE.

I know it sounds a little woo-woo, but stay with me here. We hear a lot about finding work-life balance, and we all know it’s easier said than done. There might never be an equal balance between our personal and professional lives. But you can be where your feet are; when you’re at work, be all-in at work. When you’re with family, be focused and present with your family. I have a friend who started a new job that required a lot of travel, which was new for him. He ended up being gone a lot. After some time, his wife sat him down and said, “I don’t mind you working a lot, and your travel doesn’t bother me at all. The only thing I ask is that when you’re home, be home.” First of all, kudos to her for vocalizing that. But second, it helped him realize that while he loves his work, it could potentially create personal problems where they don’t currently exist if it goes unchecked. Smartly, he listened to her and works hard to be present and focused on home when he’s home.

There are undoubtedly a hundred more things we could do to start off 2025 on the right foot. But I think by starting with these three things, we’re laying the greatest foundation for a full and wonderful year both at home and at work.

What would you add to this list?

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