As this year is coming to an end I’m sure you’re already looking ahead, setting goals for the next year and talking about all the things you’re going to do and accomplish.

Today’s episode is meant to encourage you to slow down a little bit. Slow down from that frame of thinking and spend a little bit more time thinking about who you want to be, and how you want to feel in this time that is fleeting. Turn off the “doing” for a second.

Do not get me wrong – I love New year, the new energy and the gift of a new beginning as much as anyone but sometimes this serves as a crutch for people, one that ultimately sets them back. I have a habit of dreaming about what’s next and how this year is going to be different, what my goals are going to be and just with the shifting of the calendar, I’m reinvigorated and reinspired. But the purpose of this episode is to help you realize that just setting goals isn’t going to get you there, you have to slow down and become who you need to be in this next year in order to achieve your next level. 

New Year = New Identity 

A new year just brings hope, it just brings this new energy. But usually, that initial inspiration is not quite enough to keep that fire burning. Maybe I set new goals or maybe I set some kind of solemn promise to myself to do it differently this year and then I end up wondering where the time went, where I went wrong, where I fell short. And this is certainly not exclusive to me, I’m sure you can relate to this.

So, what if this year instead of chasing a New Year’s resolution, we actually do differently for ourselves, our businesses and our families? What if this year we took on a new identity? If I’ve learned anything from decades of making this mistake myself and over 10 years of coaching other people in leadership in business, it’s this – 

It is not the resolution that makes the goal come to fruition, it is us and who we are. 

The problem is that we’re trying to do new things as the person of yesteryear, after we already fell short on those things before. And it makes sense that it doesn’t work out because we haven’t yet developed the skills, the habits or or the belief, we haven’t yet become the person required to carry that mission forward. But what if we tried for new things as the version of ourselves we know that’s required for us to get there? And we actually plan for that, and we work towards that? What kind of gift would that be to ourselves and our families? 

Who Are You? 

This is how dreams become reality. Not resolutions or goals on paper, but who we need to become to achieve these goals and dreams.

So, let’s dig into the important work of taking on the right identity long before those new year goals begin! I’d also like to encourage you to bring these ideas and thoughts I’m about to share with you to your family – how as a group or as a team, do you want to live in the next year? How do you want to be? How do you want to feel? Instead of going straight into action mode, do this first. And I promise it’s going to make all the difference. 

Who am I? Have you ever stopped to really think about that question? Who are you? When we clearly know the answer to the question, we’re able to be an example for others and impact the people around us. 

Identifying characteristics you want to embody is going to help you make those tough choices and decisions. 

This is going to quickly set you apart from so many of your peers who are just trying to fit in. So, instead of asking the question – what do you want to do, this year we’re asking – who do you want to be?

If you need a bank of character traits and additional guided questions for this, you can head on over to luminaryleadershipco.com/truenorth and download our free life changing values exercise for entrepreneurial parents and their families that will allow you to pull inspiration from this big bank of the traits that you want to embody.

When I was walking through a really challenging season, in life in general, where it just felt like there was a weight over everything, I was in the mode of doing whatever was under my nose. I had to get to this place where I asked myself – what do I want? What version of me would have to exist, that doesn’t exist in how I’m operating today in order to get up out of this, to grow to a new level? And one of the things that kept striking me was I have to be a visionary again. I had let go of looking into the future, believing in that future and having the courage to work towards that future. So, first I had to become that visionary again, and then my habits and my actions each day needed to change to a point where I could easily see if I was working towards that goal or not.

A Season to Envision 

In just one week of adopting that mindset and living by that truth, things started to shift in a positive direction. I felt different, I was energized by what I was working towards. My family was inspired because they saw an inspired version of me. My team became inspired because they were getting up out of the weeds and looking towards that vision again. 

You have to determine who you need to be to carry your mission forward. Not just what you need to do. Can you see the difference in starting with who you want to be and those characteristics that are molding you and making you into who you have to become in order to carry out the goals you want to have versus just setting goals and resolutions? Can you see the difference between the two and the outcome that can come from it? 

It’s not that you don’t set the goals, but set the goals as the person who can actually hit them. 

Take the time to get this down. This season is such a beautiful time to envision, not just to craft resolutions. And I think you’ll see that changing your focus can change everything. You might just enter into the new year as a new person equipped to handle those big goals and dreams instead of the other way around.

I hope today’s episode helps you change your focus so that you can enter into the new year as the person you are meant to be, a person you need to become in order to carry your mission forward.

I’d love to hear how you apply The True North Framework to get success, impact, and legacy!

RESOURCES:

• True North Workbook: https://luminaryleadershipco.com/truenorth
• Get on our email list and keep up-to-date with what I am doing! https://luminaryleadershipco.com/insider