Leigh Thomas Brown reflects on setting New Year's goals that measure personal growth while benefiting others. She argues against self-centered resolutions, suggesting instead you think about your legacy and plan your life like an organization plans its strategy.
So I gotta pick something I can work on that's going to make my life markedly better, that's going to be measurable so that I can see if I've made progress. And frankly, whatever I'm working on that's going to be good for my version of myself should also be good for the people that come in contact with me, because I am not the center of the universe. And I will be worm food before I know it, and my name will be forgotten. Question is, will I have left behind any good for anybody else? So if I'm looking at my New Year's goals for 2026, I have to ask myself, what am I doing that's going to be good? What will be salt and light if I'm really, really thoughtful about the way my life's going to go this year? And frankly, y'all, this is no different than looking at a strategic plan for an association. You start looking at it. What can we measure? What's going to make the organization better for itself, but, and also for the people that it comes in contact with.
