“Profit is the applause you get for taking care of your customers and creating a motivating environment for your people.” – Ken Blanchard and Dennis Carey

“Disciplined people who engage in disciplined thought and take disciplined action: this framework captures much of what separates greatness from mediocrity.” – Jim Collins

“We live by demands when we should live by priorities.” – Author Unknown

“Build time into every meeting, every project, and every day to reflect on what you’ve learned and how you can use that learning to do better next time.” – James Belasco

1. Think back over your year with regard to your work. What was a high point, a time when you felt most effective and engaged? Describe how you felt and what made this situation possible.
2. Without being humble, describe what you value most about yourself with regard to your work.
3. Without being humble, describe what you value most about yourself with regard to your personal life.
4. With regard to your work, what are your primary sources of pride and joy? What keeps you enthusiastic, renewed, engaged?
5. With regard to your personal life, what are your primary sources of pride and joy? What keeps you enthusiastic, renewed, engaged?
6. Describe three concrete wishes for the coming year (personal or professional).

You must engage in periodic strategic reflection. It is the only way to consistently increase your effectiveness. After all, you are the only one who lives your life, knows your experience, and is capable of truly changing yourself for the better. The end-of-the-year is the perfect time for strategic reflection. The calendar's conclusion is a natural time to look back.

Here are five simple and effective ways to make the most of December's end to improve your life and business:

1. Do a Day-by-day Review of the Year. I pull out my calendar for the past year and write down every engagement I had, listing them all on a single sheet of paper. For each I include (a) the length or date of the engagement, (b) my client's name, and (c) what I earned. Then, I look at the whole sheet and ask myself what I want to do more of and what I want to do less of. I put little pluses (+) next to those that represent what I want to do more of. This is part one of my New Year Strategy.

2. Identify A New Area You Want to Master. Two years ago it was writing for me. I found writing a challenge, difficult. My first 1400 word article ruined a perfectly good week-long vacation with my wife. I really struggled. But, I knew that writing was an important way to communicate and I determined that I would master it. Today I write 12 blog posts per week in less than 3 hours, keep a personal poetry journal, publish the FreelanceFortune newsletter twice per month, and I just finished the final edit of my first commercially published book, coming out this May. I wrote the book in 2 1/2 months of disciplined writing, about 90 minutes in the morning 5-6 days/week. It is not always easy. But, I have watched myself improve steadily. I am not yet where I want to be, but I have made real progress. What will you choose? Pick something that you want to master and make the commitment. This is part two of my New Year Strategy.

3. Identify Your Business Growth Intentions for the First Half of the Next Year. I like to work with a six-month timeline because I find it manageable. In order to achieve my goals I have 2-3 months to ramp up and 3-4 months to get results. In the second half of 2009 I focused on reaching two groups: association CEOs and Independent Consultants. I now have significant and growing penetration with both. What are your growth intentions for the first half of 2010? This is part three of my New Year Strategy.

4. Use Downtime over the Holidays to Reflect. I count on slow moments, naps, reading quietly, early morning walks, bird watching, and special times with family to bring me the distance and peaceful joy I need to take a wider view of life. I look forward to these personal experiences, knowing their power to be both immense and subtle.

5. On New Year's Day Create a 2-page Document that Pulls All This Together:

1. The one-page list of all your engagements 
2. A new area to master 
3. Business growth intentions for the next six months 
4. Personal reflections on life 

This short doc is a great reference for going forward. There is something powerful about the simple act of documenting your intentions. In fact, each of these five simple acts is profound in its impact and the synergy of the collection is extraordinary. Time to reflect and listen to your inner wisdom is irreplaceable - you must do it. To achieve an exceptional life, reflection is mandatory. The time when the end of one year meets the beginning of another is perfectly fitted for it.

This work is deep and elemental, with a quiet power. Draw on the natural rhythm of the calendar and use it to your benefit.

Winston Churchill said, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; and an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” 

You can’t have opportunity without opposition, whether it is internal or external.  Part of being successful in life is learning to pass the test of opposition. You’ve heard it said, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” But in reality, most just give up. The true test of a winner is how they handle the tough times.