Reflections on my conversation with Thomas Curran on last week’s episode of The Courage Effect, where he talks about his book, shares personal stories about how perfectionism impacted his life, and his larger research on the topic.

I invite you to join me in not only celebrating new beginnings, but conclusions. Set aside the time to look back at 2023 to ponder what was great, the painful, and the unexpected. What gifts did it render? What are we ready to leave behind? In turn, we then shift to develop a clearer vision of what’s next.

Looking back on this past year, I’m reflecting on where I – and my clients – took chances and reaped measurable rewards.

It strikes me that singing the passagio is similar to other transformations we experience: the ways we move through discomfort by testing ourselves and trying new things. This liminal space – the “messy middle” – is where we adopt different techniques, construct hacks, and disrupt what’s in our regular rotation to achieve the goal of creating a smoother experience.

Ultimately it’s up to us as leaders – regardless of where we sit in an organization – to recognize systematic forces, identify where they encourage both beneficial and detrimental behaviors, and take steps to create positive tides of change.

Over the past few weeks, one of my morning rituals has changed: I’ve found myself going into my closet and selecting clothes that I haven’t worn for a year.

As someone whose work revolves around change, I am fascinated by people and how we react to our evolving world. So it's not surprising that 2020 is giving me a lot to observe and learn from.

I've had a number of conversations in the first 2 weeks of 2020 with friends and clients who have come to the conclusion they are bored at work.