By Esther Vargas
By the time this blog post reaches the cloud, we will be about two weeks shy of bidding farewell to 2022. As an entrepreneur and business owner, you may be experiencing mounting stress to get as much done before the year ends. Yet, there will always be more tasks to complete, more to accomplish, and more to stress about.
Wouldn’t it be nice to start 2023 with a clean and focused slate?
With a renewed sense of purpose and vision for your business and life? “But how?”, you may ask, “when in the midst of all the pending business and personal tasks remaining to close out 2022, I don’t have the luxury of embracing setting new year’s resolutions and goals.”
I get it. I’ve been there. And for a results-driven and typically thorough year-end goal-setter like me, I am excited to share that I have found an equally effective method that works – at a fraction of the time and effort! I accidentally stumbled upon this alternate approach, when one year, life got in the way and I simply did not have the time, energy, or clarity to populate my usual color-coded, multi-category spreadsheet with annual goals, strategies, objectives, and tactics (which had previously yielded me much success).
Instead, all I could muster up as that year’s countdown rapidly approached was one overarching goal for the upcoming year. It took all of five minutes for my heart to fixate on this one simple value-driven thematic goal comprised of only four words. Stepping outside of my comfort zone, I wrote my theme on a 3×3 sticky note and resolutely committed to it as my intention for the new year.
Little did I know then that this simple act of intention and commitment would naturally engulf most of my professional and personal activities for the year (and years) to come. Due to its effectiveness and outcomes, it became the start of my ongoing year-end theme-setting practice (I am now 10 years in), which I also often recommend to some of the clients I have the privilege of working with.
Amid the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I invite you to take at least 5 minutes to set a theme, an intention, a thematic goal…call it what you may…for the new year. The simpler, the better. It could be a phrase. It could be just one word. Something that you know would make a difference in your business and/or life if you were to make it a central focus of your attention. Then, commit to letting it be your mantra and your compass for 2023…and watch the magic happen.
🥂Here’s to a joyous holiday season for all and may 2023 be your best year yet!🥂
