Making resolutions is as much a tradition for ringing in a new year as fireworks, the ball drop in New York City’s Times Square, college football bowl games and trying to figure out the meaning of “Auld Lang Syne.” (As Harry Albright pondered, “‘Should old acquaintance be forgot.‘ Does that mean that we should forget old acquaintances? Or does it mean that if we happened to forget them, we should remember them, which is not possible because we already forgot them?”)
Of course, some might suggest that debating the value of New Year’s resolutions is among such traditions as well, particularly given the historic challenge of holding to them over time.
Maybe a “resolution” isn’t exactly what you have in mind for your business or a career search as we enter 2024. And that’s understandable—after all, some reports say only 9% of people actually keep their resolutions. But what if you could be among that small number, outpacing the other 91%? Right there in that number is a challenge and an opportunity worth considering.
Resolutions can be a powerful driver if you think of them simply as a well-formed plan. Focused and actionable with targets and milestones and metrics to gauge progress, and of course a tangible result at the end. Maybe you just need a little nudge.
With that in mind, we turned to the minds of noted leaders in business, politics and philosophy (in some cases, all rolled into one) to create a Top 10 list of favorite quotes and words of wisdom to inspire change and evolution in 2024. And since we are always looking to go above and beyond (and since we have a few fans of Spinal Tap in our midst), we considered taking this one to 11. But then we thought of the reigning TIME Person of the Year, so we went with 13…
“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.”—Tony Robbins
“Set goals that make you want to jump out of bed in the morning and conquer the world.”—Richard Branson
“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.”—Franklin D. Roosevelt
“In business, as in life, it’s not about finding yourself, it’s about creating yourself.”—George Bernard Shaw
“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go, they merely determine where you start.”—Nido Qubein
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”—Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.”—Winston Churchill
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.”—Steve Jobs
“Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”—John D. Rockefeller
“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”—Zig Ziglar
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”—Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The secret to change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”—Socrates
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.”—Peter Drucker
Here’s to a successful 2024 for us all!
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