This week marks the end of Financial Year 2023 and the beginning of FY2024. Happy New Year!

As leaders, we often find ourselves juggling multiple responsibilities and struggling to strike a healthy balance between work and personal life.

The New Year creates an opportunity for reflection, growth, and setting intentions for the upcoming year.

The traditional way of beginning a new year is to set a New Year’s Resolution. Do you feel the weight of yet another commitment – something more to do?

Research (and probably your own experience) suggests that we rarely maintain New Year’s Resolutions. A summary from Ohio State University* tells us that less than 10% of Americans who make resolutions see them through, and 23% of people quit their commitment by the end of the first week!

How about a New Year’s Dissolution? What could you solve, drop, or end that would bring more ease into your life?

What could you gain by letting go of certain habits, beliefs, or activities, to create more space for yourself, others and things that matter to you?

Here are a few examples:

• Dissolve the habit of always being available. Constant availability can lead to a lack of personal time and boundaries.
• End feeling guilty when you travel for work and miss a home activity. Make a decision and then go with it – enjoy what you can do when you are there.
• Let go of micromanaging. Trust your team members and delegate, allowing them to take ownership and develop their skills. Resist the urge to oversee every detail and instead focus on providing guidance and support when needed.
• Dissolve a ‘friendship’ that drains you, freeing up energy for relationships that you value.
• Stop your contribution to the culture of overworking. As a leader, promote work-life balance and well-being within your team. One small step could be to stop looking at email after 8 PM.
• Drop that fortnightly meeting that was begun for the right reasons and now adds little value.

How would you and others around you benefit from embracing a New Year’s Dissolution mindset? The invitation is to make a thoughtful choice that will bring more ease and fulfillment to your life, inside and outside work.

Go Fearlessly – Corrinne