How to Have a Focused & Fulfilling New Year

Life moves fast. Work moves even faster. 

Without a plan, you will go through the entire year working toward everyone else’s projects and needs, but not your own. Your boss, chair, mentees, partner, kids, parents, and everyone else will be served, but you will find yourself depleted and unfulfilled. 

My mission is to help high achievers like you build well, lead well and live well. I firmly believe in Whole Life Success as an approach to living a life that’s holistically balanced, impactful, and fulfilling. Here are four keys to help you jumpstart a focused and fulfilling new year. 

1. Guiding Word of the Year

Choose a word that describes how you want to experience the year. Your guiding word is an easy-to-remember reference that brings focus when life and work get hectic, like right now at the end of the year. It’s a quick guide for decision-making when you are uncertain whether to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to unexpected requests and opportunities. 

Last year my word was ‘ownership.’ I wanted to take greater ownership of my career, my finances, and my time. When planning for the year, my guiding word became the focus for setting my goals. My guiding word, ownership, helped me get in the driver’s seat and take ownership of my life and my results in all areas of the Life Domains.  

One Genius Retreat attendee chose ‘paced’ as her word for the year. She’d recently begun a new executive-level position and wanted to stop the habit of overscheduling her workday, saying yes to nearly all pop-up requests, and downplaying her progress toward long-term goals. 

High achievers like her have it tough – many responsibilities, lots of great ideas, and heavy demands for her time and expertise. ‘Paced’ was the perfect word to help her holistically build well, lead well, and live well.   

How can you choose your guiding word for the year? Ask yourself these questions. 

• What word would help me focus on my strategic goals?

• How do I want to experience the year? 

• What area do I want to grow or strengthen?

2. Passion Projects, Meaningful Milestones

Choose three main projects or milestones you’ll achieve this year. These are the big passion projects or meaningful milestones that will advance your life and career in the upcoming year. That’s right, these are your big ideas, not the little tasks that are needed to get them done. Stretch yourself and get specific when you decide upon your three main projects or milestones. 

Last year, I had a few goals that motivated me and challenged me, yet brought so much fulfillment on the other side of completion. One was to relocate to a city with a warmer, sunnier climate and a thriving entrepreneurial community. I knew I would approach life and work better with a change of scenery and a greater connection to an entrepreneurial community. It took research, planning, budgeting, and organizing my work in ways that would support my goal. I made it!! I’m typing this message from my new home in sunny Atlanta, Georgia. 

My meaningful goal was to launch an annual program to help high achievers plan for their success in life and work, especially as the demands of leadership increase.  This fall we launched our first cohort of the Faculty Productivity Program with 27 faculty members and administrators from St. Mary’s College of California and the University of Massachusetts - Amherst. I have the honor of teaching key leadership skills of planning, prioritization, goal setting, communication, and personal advocacy for these accomplished professionals. 

Set your goals in each area of the life domains to achieve whole-life success and fulfillment. You can learn more about the life domains for Whole Life Success in the Professional Pathways Planner. 

3. Vacations, Conferences, Events 

Look ahead to identify and block off vacations and major personal and professional events. Based on your vision for yourself this year, when and how do you want to rest? What events or conferences can help you gain the skills to grow personally and professionally? 

Vacations can be brief 3-4 day pauses throughout the year or fewer lengthier vacations. The important thing is to build in rest and replenishment into your annual calendar, especially just after or before peak seasons at work or home that tend to take a lot out of you. Consider your peak seasons at work. Will you break before them or after, and for how long? How do you want to experience that break? You may decide that you desire solitude and contemplation for one vacation, but a big family adventure for the other vacation. You do not have to plan all the details at the moment, just block off your calendar to make the commitment to yourself to own your time and to rest and play. 

After vacations, consider conferences or events you want to attend to fuel your personal growth or professional growth. What annual conferences, events, or trainings do you typically attend? Are there any conferences or events you missed this year, and want to prioritize this upcoming year? Given your goals for this year, you may find that you will not attend all your typical conferences, but rather focus on the one or two that are most productive for you. For leaders, this is a great time to decide if you delegate attendance to a team member or direct report. Your decision to step back may provide them an opportunity to grow their professional and leadership skills. 

4. Contribution

How will you improve the life of someone other than yourself or your family and friends this year? 

This year I began volunteering at Literacy Action, an Atlanta-based literacy organization that teaches reading and other foundational workforce skills to adults. I made a big personal move from New Jersey to Atlanta, Georgia earlier that year, and really wanted to connect to my local community and get to know my neighbors and city. I was learning the city through my favorite social outings like art gallery exhibits, live concerts, and nature walks, but all of those activities are focused on my joy, my consumption, and my needs, not on my contribution. 

Fulfillment comes through contribution, not merely consumption. 

Don’t let a busy schedule keep you from getting involved.  Some of my fellow volunteers serve on a weekly basis. However, given my work and travel schedule, I am able to volunteer once a quarter for all-day student enrollment drives and periodically for short-term ESL conversation series. Find a rhythm that works for you.