Next year won’t be different (unless you are)

Every December, we sit down with our spreadsheets and fresh notebooks, feeling a mix of exhaustion and hope.

“Next year will be different,” we tell ourselves.

Next year we’ll be aligned. No more weekends. The team will step up. We map out revenue targets and key initiatives. It feels good. It feels like control.

But here is the hard truth: January 1st is just another Tuesday—the calendar changes, but the problems usually don’t.

Why? Because we drag the same habits, fears, and “stinking thinking” right into the new year.

The trap of “achievement” goals

We usually set goals based on what we want to have—revenue, profit margins, a new website.

These describe the destination, not the driver.

If you want to double your company but remain the bottleneck for every decision, the goal won’t matter. You’ll just burn out hustling with the same old behaviors.

You can’t build a $10M company while leading like a $2M founder.

Flipping the script: Be, Do, Have

Most of us operate on the “Have-Do-Be” model: “Once I have the team, I’ll do the strategy, and be the visionary.”

It doesn’t work that way. You have to start with the Be.

Who do I need to be to make those outcomes inevitable?

When you change who you are being, your actions (the Do) naturally shift, and the results (the Have) follow.

Let’s look at a few examples:

If your goal is Stability: You crave a business without fires, but are you addicted to the adrenaline of firefighting? To get stability, you might need to be a leader who plans rather than rescues. Let a fire burn for a minute so you can build a system to extinguish it forever.

If your goal is Growth: You want to scale but fear quality slipping. To get growth, be a leader who trusts the team to fail small so they can win big. Value progress over perfection.

If your goal is Freedom: You want off the treadmill but believe “if I don’t do it, it won’t get done right.” To get freedom, be a leader comfortable with ambiguity. Define the “what” and “why,” but let go of the “how.”

Don’t just change the numbers

Before finalizing your plan, I have an invitation.

Look at your top goal, then look in the mirror. What part of your leadership style is the biggest obstacle?

• Your need to be liked?
• Fear of conflict?
• Addiction to being the “hero”?

Pick one identity shift for the year. Write it down next to your revenue goal.

• “I am a leader who asks questions instead of giving answers.”
• “I am a leader who prioritizes rest so I can think clearly.”
• “I am a leader who has difficult conversations early.”

Business growth is personal growth in disguise. Ensure the “you” showing up in January is aligned with where you want to go.

What is the one shift in being that would change everything next year? What’s the smallest change you can make this week to move toward that?