Now I’m not one to usually write dramatic headlines like “the secret to” this or that, but I really do think that what I’m about to share with you is so little known it’s practically a secret. I haven’t ever come across anything as remotely powerful as this with respect to sharing New Year’s resolutions. Because of this one thing, I actually did keep my New Year’s resolution for 2013!! Giddy up!!

Now I’m sure you’ve all heard statistics about the fact that most people break their New Year’s resolution within the first few weeks or months of the year. And what sort of resolutions do we normally make? Often times it is losing weight, making more money, spending more time with family, helping others, doing a better job with our study or career, or being more environmentally aware. All of these are great things, but there is one thing you need to consider before you even think about what you want to achieve…. So here goes…………

It is always a mistake to decide on what you want to accomplish before you have determined who you want to be.

I don’t know about you, but I take a lot of context away from that statement. Everything you want to achieve will be affected by who you want to be. Let’s say for example that you are university student and that you have decided that who you want to be is a future leader in your profession or industry. Don’t you think you will then set goals that are very different within that context as opposed to just making a goal of “I want to do well at uni in 2014?” If you have truly decided that you want to be a future leader in your profession or industry, this will impact every goal you make, and every decision you make will be measured against the yardstick “will this take me closer to my goal of being a leader in my profession/industry?” If the answer is yes, then do it. If the answer is no, you need to decline and walk away.

Your goal might be nothing at all to do with your career. But ultimately, who you are will show up in what you do. Who you are will show up in every area of your life, including your career.

So what could happen if you set goals on what you want to accomplish before you have decided who you want to be? There may come a time where your success gets beyond your ability to handle the rewards of that success. I mean look around – how many sports stars, politicians, actors and musicians have events in their lives which seem to unravel everything they have worked for? The scandals, the cover-ups, the stories that make headlines in the newspapers. We are constantly being bombarded with stories about celebrities whose lives become like a train wreck!  I believe that this is because their success becomes bigger than them. Bigger than their character, bigger than who they are.

So instead of asking yourself what your New Year’s resolution should be for 2014, what you should really be asking yourself is who do you want to be in 2014 and beyond?