Keys – ElPropósito4 min de lectura

Reflections for the year ahead

Every year arrives loaded with hopes and dreams. One trait that sets us apart as human beings is the ability to imagine the future we long for. Taken to extremes, overthinking what might happen can feed anxiety. Even so, starting a year with some clarity about what lies ahead is encouraging and healthy. How do we hold on, day after day, to the excitement we feel when we picture ourselves having achieved something we really want? How can we feel sure we will actually get there? Here are a few ideas before 2024 begins.

Few, but clear. Many people talk about New Year’s resolutions, which in Spanish we call "propósitos," the same word we use for purpose. Purpose, though, is one and only one. Objectives and goals can be many, and they work differently. An objective tries to state as clearly as possible what we will achieve within a certain time and, above all, how we will measure it. To give the year a steady cadence and keep it under control, we have to guard against the temptation to set too many. In my case, this is the first year of my life I devoted to a single objective, and I am very grateful for it. In other years I have had as many as ten (several of which I missed), and in my experience what works for me is three at most, four in an extreme case.

What is in our hands. Perhaps the hardest part of reaching an objective is being unclear about what we actually control. We control what is in our hands to do, and that is where we can act. Everything else is worry or confusion. Sometimes an objective depends on knowing how to ask for help or having a good support network, as usually happens with team objectives. Other times it depends entirely on us, like losing weight, living a healthy life or saving money. On knowing what lies within our control, I love reading the Stoics, especially Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius and Seneca, great exponents of that fundamental principle, the dichotomy of control.

Discipline. What is discipline? A habit? A way of life? A state of mind? Discipline is about doing. Making things happen takes a process that literally forces us to act even when we don’t feel like it. Discipline demands repetition, which is why I tie it so closely to willpower. We can have few objectives and know exactly what is in our hands, and without discipline every one of them will stay on paper forever. Discipline has proven to be the star ingredient in teams that execute their strategy. The best teams show it by doing things when they have to be done, whether they feel like it or not.

Lessons learned. One year is closing and another is about to begin, and it is time to pause. A simple but meaningful pause, one that doesn’t drag on forever. The aim is to answer three questions: What did we do well? What did we do poorly? What can we do better? A good lessons-learned session gives us, as the name says, lessons for the year ahead, and above all it brings to light the strategies that worked for us and could serve us again in 2024.

Alignment with purpose. Last but not least, the biggest challenge is aligning everything we want for 2024 with a purpose. Once our objectives are written, the key is knowing how well they line up with the objective of all objectives, our reason for being in this world. The greatest opportunity of 2024 lies in our objectives, and also in knowing our purpose and keeping the two in tune.

All that is left is to close the last post of 2023 by thanking God and the Blessed Virgin Mary for all the blessings of this year. From the heart, I wish everyone a 2024 full of health, work and every blessing, and may this new year be the best of our lives.

With appreciation,

Rodrigo Baccaro

P.S. I dedicate this post to all the clients I had the chance to meet and accompany in 2023. May God bless you, and may your paths always be full of excellent coaching on this journey of life, where sooner or later we all need to know whom to ask for help. Thank you from the heart for your trust. A big hug and all the best to you and your beloved families

P.S. I also dedicate it to my wife and my children, the heart of my life purpose and my inspiration to do things when they have to be done, whether I feel like it or not. May 2024 bring us every blessing. I love you

Author: Rodrigo Baccaro

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