Here are 10 and a half ideas to consider. They just might make your 2023 better than your 2022.
One of my good habits is reviewing sources of wisdom and insight to find ways to improve. The suggestions below are based on reviewing my notes from Warren Bennis’ On Becoming a Leader and Gordon McDonald’s Ordering Your Private World. Both books have inspired and stretched me repeatedly and these themes seem relevant for next year.
Called people serve for the benefit of others. Driven people have a compulsive need to achieve, yet the result may be great sound and fury… signifying nothing. Serve others more this year.
Guard your heart. Our affections and desires lead most of us more than we recognize. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be. We all allocate time and other resources to maximize what we value most, whether it’s trivia, significant, or eternal. Allocate your time, talent, and treasure to your core values this year.
Impactful people deliberately seek out different perspectives, even from unlikely sources, looking for slivers of truth or inspiration. Seek out different perspectives this year.
Life is about options, not about limits. Concentrate on your choices and move forward this year.
Wisdom comes from reflecting on experiences and comparing them to our expectations. Most of us learn more from our mistakes than from our victories. Everyone makes mistakes. Few redeem wisdom from their mistakes. Find the lessons in your mistakes this year.
Leadership, love, life, and even investing, are learned by doing. Sure, you will make mistakes. But as Marva Collins said, “If you can’t make a mistake, you can’t make anything.” For most of the important things in life, knowing isn’t doing. Dive in and learn things by doing this year.
Desire for worthwhile results overcomes the fear of failure. Excellence is achieved by doing what the average person won’t do. Masters love even the grind of their craft or calling. Master mundane routines that lead to success this year.
Reflection and writing seem to be disproportionately correlated to substantial impact. Mother Theresa and Jesus appear to be exceptions, but most other high-impact people wrote, which clarified their thinking, and made it easier for others to follow. Put more of your thoughts on paper this year.
Real friends care enough to tell us the truth and ask deep questions. Actively seek that feedback and those questions. Confronting and overcoming our blind spots enables transformation. It will be uncomfortable. Cultivate friendships that help you become the person you were created to be this year.
Impactful people develop others. Our legacy is what happens after we leave the stage, and it is done by those we have influenced. Spend more time helping others grow and develop this year.
If you’re counting, you know we’ve reached ten. What about the half? Here’s an observation with no suggestion.
Leaders create strategic alliances and partnerships with unexpected people.
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Those are my suggestions for a better year.
As always, here is the invitation for your feedback. What would you add or take out? What do you understand that is not on this list?
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Terry Moore, CCIM, is the author of Building Legacy Wealth: How to Build Wealth and Live a Life Worth Imitating. Read his “Welcome to My Blog.”