I am not entirely sure what it is, but I simply love a “new year” – and it doesn’t need to be a calendar year. Some people dread the ritual of making New Year’s resolutions, and I actually look forward to it. In fact, I have more than one “New Year” every year. Some great times to refresh your goals and priorities are in the fall at back to school time (like right now), when beginning a new calendar year, on your birthday, and after a break (like a vacation). I always welcome the opportunity to take a step back, look at everything going on and make a plan for how to bring a fresh perspective to everything I’m working on.

As you get back into a routine this fall, here are a few things to think about when setting up your action plan:

• Do all your priorities still make sense? Whether it’s in your business life or your personal life, you’ve likely found yourself working on something and said “Why am I even doing this?”. Taking a step back will give you an opportunity to look at everything you have on your priority list and decide if there are some things that should just be scrapped.
• Are your priorities balanced? Great news – you look at your priority list and it’s clear that if you accomplish all you’ve set out to do, you’re going to be a rock star in your job or in your business. But, what about your health and fitness? Or a plan to strengthen relationships with family and friends? For those of you that know me, you know balance is a weakness of mine (which I’m continually working on) but if you don’t start to make a plan for balance, I’m confident it won’t just appear.
• Are you challenging yourself? If you look at your goals for the coming months or even the coming year and they look vaguely familiar, it could be because they were the same goals you had last year… and the year before… and maybe the year before that. In order to experience a new level of success, you’ll need to include on your priority list some goals that challenge you.  Things you haven’t done before, people you haven’t met, places you haven’t been. Step outside your comfort zone and include at least a few goals that make you say “I have no idea how I’m going to do that”. That’s what will help you stretch, grow and learn how to get to your next level.

As we head in to fall, I plan to revisit my personal and career objectives to make sure I’m focusing on the right areas, working towards better balance and am challenging myself every day. How about you?