I don’t observe holidays in any formal religious sense, but I always spend the time around the New Year considering whether or not I’ve been the person I want to be this year and what I should change in the next year.

This isn’t my time for making resolutions or starting diets. Instead I consider my character and quality of life.

What can I do to be a better dad, husband, friend, worker, author, …?

A couple of years ago I decided that I wasn’t spending enough time with friends. I started meeting regularly with folks at coffee shops and reconnected with people I was losing touch with. I mostly work from home so this meant leaving work for a couple of hours at a time. Even so, my productivity went up. I was better off in my personal life from spending more time with friends and my business life benefitted as well.

You don’t even have to be Jewish to play along.

Consider your relationships with other people. Think about how you spend your time. What would you like to do more of this coming year? What might you like to do less of?

Write these things down somewhere to remind yourself who you want to become in this next year.

Next year check back to consider if those goals are still relevant to you and if they are, how have you done in your efforts to achieve them?

Rinse and repeat.