Hey, it's Rachel Cook, your modern mentor. I'm the founder of Lead Above Noise, a firm

specializing in helping leaders and organizations crack their activation codes, finding the simple

tweaks to enhance both performance and engagement. Well, here we are, New Year and all.

We, like the Royal We, have a bit of a love affair with the New Year, the clean slate,

that chance to start fresh down the path to success. And we, again, Royal, tend to default to the

New Year's resolution. Me, I let go with those a while back. They tend, in my experience

anyway, to rely on too many shoulds.

I should, weigh less, run more, read, meditate, delete Instagram, and on and on.

I'm kind of over the shoulds. I prefer to focus on what I want to achieve, what feels meaningful

to me, how I want to define a successful year for myself.

So today, I invite you to do the same. Set a resolution if you want, but none are required to

follow this plan. We're coming off an intense year, and many of us have been overwhelmingly

busy, running, balancing, and juggling, and we've kind of lost the thread of what we're

actually pursuing. Remember, modern mentor is about defining your version of success and achieving it

on your terms. So what does success look like for you this year? Not where should you be, but where do you

want to be this time next year?

In a new job, with a new skill, or doing similar work but with more balance.

Maybe newly certified or in a leadership role.

There are no right or wrong answers here.

But this is where you start.

This is your North Star.

So now let's talk about some levers you can pull to move in that direction, or at least the four I'll be focusing on this year.

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