In a world that relentlessly pushes the narrative of goal-setting, vision crafting, and benchmarking as the ultimate roadmap to success, there's an essential, yet often overlooked, component that distinguishes the truly successful from those perpetually chasing their tails. Yes, having goals and objectives is crucial—they give us direction and make our aspirations tangible. However, there’s a nuanced layer beneath the surface that can significantly influence our ability to build and achieve these goals and sustain high levels of performance over time.

At a time when AI converses with us like friends, augmented reality changes how we see the world around us and computer-generated content blurs the line between fiction and reality, what can be trusted? The very senses we rely on to interpret and navigate our surroundings are under siege by technologies that can mimic, manipulate, and manufacture realities seemingly indistinguishable from the truth. We need to understand what’s real in our work and our lives to be able to take the right actions.

Reasons may be valid. But they don’t have to be an excuse for why we don’t have the results we want. Of course there are always reasons why things are the way they are, but it’s actually not the reasons that matter alone. It’s our response to them. Only once we take the wheel back from circumstances driving us can we steer towards our real goals.

We’ve all struggled, but that capacity to struggle can be the defining factor of success and growth. Typically, we often opt for the easy route. Asking easy questions that usually yield comfortable, but superficial and impact-less answers. It turns out, that it’s the deeper, harder, more challenging questions – and our response to the struggle they entail – that truly catalyzes growth and learning. Up to 450% improvements in one case…

There are magical rubber duckies. You heard me right – they’re little yellow rubber duckies that have continued to magically show up – in the hundreds in every shape and size you could imagine – around my nieces. Big yellow ones, small pink ones, halloween ducks, and New Year ducks, ducks with mohawks and ducks dressed as other animals…

Imagine that within each of us lies an innate force, a compelling essence that naturally pulls us to ascend to great heights and the best versions of ourselves. What would that be like?It might sound like a philosophical dream, but it’s more reality than we often realize.

We all have gaps – gaps in our skill set, gaps in our performance, gaps in our relationships. They might be easier to see now that we’re rolling in 2024. Gaps that are the distance between where we are and where we want to be. Easily said and easily understood maybe, but in practice it’s anything but easy. It can be a profound and challenging process that takes one thing to begin.

The ball has dropped, the New Year is here and you might feel like you’re the hare racing the tortoise – off and running into 2024! Maybe you have new standards in place, new goals to work towards and exciting things on deck. You’re blazing off the starting line and I’m right there with you… But, before you really get running, I (and boatloads of research) suggest: you start here…

It’s time to reframe goal setting as we sit on the edge of 2024. You already know that only a few percent of New Year resolution goals are achieved. But those low numbers don’t leave me in the anti-resolution camp. I think we can use the energy and momentum around us in the New Year to progress. But instead of only thinking about goals, let’s shift to establishing standards – #NoMatterWhat standards – that will inherently guide us toward our aspirations…

Completion proceeds creation. And as we start thinking about 2024 and all the goals, dreams and aspirations to come, stepping into that future requires completing the past. Cleaning out the closets, literal and proverbial, and letting go of what no longer serves us: unfinished tasks, outdated beliefs and unnecessary baggage. Reflecting and decluttering creates space to approach the new year with clarity, focus and renewed energy to set a strong foundation for personal and professional growth in the upcoming year. Here are three questions I’ve used with myself and clients to complete the year and powerfully create what’s next…

2023 has been exhilarating and challenging. A year where each of us, in our own ways, have navigated the complexities of a rapidly changing world – from global instability to economic uncertainty; from AI breakthroughs to post-pandemic breakdowns. No doubt we’ll have more in the year to come, but I’ve been taking a moment to reflect on what this year has been about. For me and for all of us…

Have you ever noticed yourself repeating patterns? Time and again encountering similar challenges? Or, no matter how hard you focus on certain areas, results are about the same? The people change, details shift and circumstances are different – but at the core – it feels oh so similar? Me too. What’s required is to do some cycle breaking before you can do any real change making.

Gratitude is a fashionable gesture this time of year – a seasonal trend adorned like a festive accessory. It’s easy and even expected to feel thankful amidst the warmth of family gatherings, the abundance of a festive meal or the cheer of holiday tradition, at least in the US. It’s beyond these moments of conventional thankfulness that I think the power of true gratitude lies.

Ticking off “the boxes” must be one of the most alluring paths for leaders, and one of the biggest pitfalls. It’s so alluring because it promises a systematic approach to predictability, safety and control – but that promise is empty. The real work, the kind that actually sustains and accelerates growth, lies beyond the comfort of checklists and conventional wisdom. It starts with setting aside the way that may look right and instead doing what’s right: asking the hard questions, the uncomfortable questions, the questions that may not have “right” answers at all.

Words have weight. As easy as they may come, they really do mean something. And every word you choose impacts you directly, your team's morale, stakeholder relationships, and ultimately, your organization's success. That said, there are some words that aren’t serving you and those around you, diminishing your message and weakening your impact. Here are 6 words to erase from your vocabulary for greater growth.

You want the jobs done, the goals hit and the objectives accomplished – but might you be thinking too small to get there? And it’s not a matter of taking a $1 million goal and making it $10 million or $100 million… Your goals might not be big enough in another way.