What Deserves Your Time This Year?

January has a way of showing up loudly. Fresh calendars. New goals. Full inboxes. Increased motivation. Before we have even found our footing, it can feel like the year is already asking more from us. It is no wonder January 12th is known as Quitters Day—the point when many people have already abandoned their New Year’s resolutions.

I have noticed this in my own life—and in conversations with leaders and teams every January. The instinct is to rush forward, fueled by motivation and good intentions, hoping this will be the year things finally fall into place.

But here’s a thought:

Clarity—not motivation—is the real advantage at the start of a new year.

Most people do not fall short because they lack discipline or drive. They fall short because they never slow down long enough to define what actually matters.

Without that clarity, everything feels important. And when everything feels important, progress becomes scattered.

In my work, I often come back to a simple distinction: the difference between the urgent and the important. Urgent things demand attention. Important things deserve it.

So rather than adding new goals or resolutions right away, here is a question worth sitting with this week:

If I could only make meaningful progress on one thing right now, what would it be?

Not ten things.
Not a perfectly balanced plan.
Just one.

Clarity has a way of simplifying what motivation complicates.

As the year begins, my hope for you is not a longer list—but a clearer one.