10 New Year’s Resolutions for Entrepreneurs: How to Be the Leader You Need in 2024

As business owners, we constantly focus on how we can generate more revenue, build our client base, and take our organizations to the next level. With everyone talking about their New Year’s Resolutions, the start of 2024 is a great time for us entrepreneurs to evaluate the business goals and milestones we want to hit this year - and we SHOULD!

However, to become the LEADER that your company needs, you also need to place just as much emphasis on your growth as a PERSON. In order to foster success and profitability in your business, you must maintain balance, practice discipline, and build successful habits to be your BEST self. Below are 10 New Year’s Resolutions that will make 2024 the year you become the AWESOME entrepreneur that you SHOULD be. (Coming later this month: How to make sure you ACTUALLY KEEP your resolutions).

1. Build Your Fitness
2. Use Food as Fuel
3. Connect Spiritually
4. Read, Read, Read
5. Learn a New Business Skill
6. Spend More Time with People You Love
7. Practice Gratitude
8. Hold Yourself Accountable
9. Have FUN!
10. Find a Life Coach

1. Build Your Fitness

Find a physical activity that you ENJOY doing, then actually go DO it. Lots of people abandon or avoid fitness goals because they say they don’t have the time, that they don’t know how to build a workout plan, or that they are scared to start. If that’s where you’re at, keep it SIMPLE! Even just walking for 15 minutes a day is PROVEN to increase your productivity, mindset, and confidence, both inside and outside of the workplace. Start creating small workout habits, then BUILD from there. It’s always better to do SOMETHING than NOTHING when it comes to working out. Remember: EVERYONE has started right where you are. 

If you’re further along in your fitness journey, keep PUSHING yourself. Find the next benchmark you want to hit, then make a plan to get there. Whether it’s hitting a personal record on bench press, running a half-marathon, or increasing the frequency of your yoga sessions, maintaining consistency and setting new goals keeps your BODY in a PHYSICAL state of improvement - your MIND and capacity for LEADERSHIP will follow.

2. Use Food as Fuel

Many people and entrepreneurs make resolutions about eating better, but few really understand the IMPACT it can have on their lives. Outside of the obvious physical benefits it provides - looking a certain way, improving health, etc. - eating better can also MASSIVELY improve your mental game. Not only does the brain scientifically function at a higher level when it’s fully nourished, but your overall OUTLOOK on yourself completely changes. We are what we eat, but more importantly, what we eat shows how much we VALUE and RESPECT ourselves. Food is FUEL for you to take on your day, your entrepreneurial goals, and the rest of your life. 

There’s nothing wrong with having a dessert or splurging here and there. But overall, once you see food as a TOOL for achieving the mindset, health, and business that you seek, your perspective on everything else will change too. Consider your eating habits in your 2024 New Year’s Resolutions.

3. Connect Spiritually

Spiritual connection looks different for everyone, and it’s important that you find something that works for YOU. Whether you participate in an organized religion, practice meditation, or follow astrology, finding a sense of STILLNESS in the chaos of your life as an entrepreneur is ESSENTIAL to your long-term success and personal balance. This can include things like praying, meditating, doing yoga, joining spiritual groups, connecting with nature, journaling, serving others, collecting healing crystals, doing guided readings, and more. Find something that allows you to SLOW DOWN, connect with the UNIVERSE, and get in touch with your INNER SELF. Having that self-confidence will give you a clear mind to take on 2024 as a strong entrepreneur and person.

4. Read, Read, Read

Reading is LIMITLESS. No matter what you’re interested in, what you’re in the mood for, or what you want to learn about, there’s a book for it. Reading is arguably the BEST outlet for entrepreneurs and people to develop skills, grow personally, or take a break from the real world. It provides us the opportunity to engage with others’ ideas in a way that changes us from the INSIDE out.

For entrepreneurs specifically, there are ENDLESS learning opportunities in books. You can learn how to develop a strategic plan, generate revenue, or market your business. You can take notes on how Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Phil Knight, or other successful entrepreneurs became innovative giants in our generation. Books are a window to both personal and professional success, and you’d be wise to include reading in your 2024 resolutions.

5. Learn a New Business Skill

Take a look at your business and how it functions. Think of EVERYTHING that goes into planning, building, and executing your mission (and anything additional that needs to happen to achieve your vision for the future). Take note of the things that you don’t know much about, pick one or two, and make a 2024 resolution to LEARN THEM! Do you know how to use Photoshop? How does your CFO value your capital and assets? How does your accountant keep the books? Are your transportation logistics functioning as efficiently as possible? Find learning materials and study these components of your business. You can dedicate one of your 2024 New Year’s Resolutions to growing your entrepreneurial expertise using books, videos, podcasts, audiobooks, or even employees who are willing to coach you. 

Being knowledgeable about all aspects of your organization paints yourself as a LEADER who is DEDICATED to their employees and the company’s collective success. Plus, the added skills will allow you to make more strategic decisions and create new opportunities down the line.

(If you feel like you know most of your business, learn a new hobby! Pick up an instrument. Study a new language. Read a memoir from someone you’ve always wanted to know more about. Find something outside of the office to take pride in).

6. Spend More Time with People You Love

It’s easy to push aside obligations with family and friends because we often see them as “leisure” activities. What many entrepreneurs don’t realize is that spending time with loved ones is ESSENTIAL, and it is just as important as finishing a report, making a deadline, or being a good leader. In fact, spending quality time with family and friends is a key determinant of HOW successful you are in finishing that report, meeting that deadline, being a great leader, and achieving all of your professional goals. To be your BEST self at work, you need to carve out time to spend with your family and friends, and you need to treat that time with the same respect that you would any board meeting, project, or employee. Make a New Year’s Resolution to prioritize friends and family in 2024.

As an entrepreneur, it’s understandable if you have a hard time “turning it off.” Oftentimes, when people come home, they are physically present, but their mind is still reeling about upcoming meetings, decisions, or obstacles at work. You have to be intentional about BEING WHERE YOUR FEET ARE. Live in each moment; when you’re at work, worry about work. When you’re at home, be HOME. Make a New Year’s Resolution to find a tactic that allows your mind to switch gears after you leave the office. Listen to a fantasy audiobook on the way home to escape reality. Find a true crime podcast that captures your attention. Meditate in the car for 5 minutes before stepping in the house. Find something that helps you DISCONNECT from work, RECONNECT with yourself, and put you in a mindset where you’re ready to spend QUALITY TIME with your family and friends.

7. Practice Gratitude

We are constantly focused on what’s next. The next product offering, the next step in our business’s growth, or the next step in our personal journey. While having goals and a strong vision is ESSENTIAL to your success, you also need to remember to stop and smell the roses. Take a few minutes EVERY DAY to actively appreciate the people around you, the roof over your head, the memories you have, your health, your business, and the path ahead of you. Look at everything you’ve achieved today, this week, this year, and since you started your company.

Find a way to make your gratitude more tangible. Recognize the blessings you have in your life and say them out loud, write them down, or post them on your wall. This year, promise yourself that you will not only identify what you’re grateful for, but also EXPRESS it to those around you. Being constantly aware of and sharing your gratitude will change your personal and professional perspective for 2024 and beyond.

8. Hold Yourself Accountable

Setting goals and making resolutions is fun, but it takes DISCIPLINE and ACCOUNTABILITY to follow through. In order to realize the vision you have for your life and your business, you need to find a system for holding yourself accountable. Make a day-by-day plan for achieving your short- AND long-term goals. Design a habit tracker to measure your consistency in your new habits. Get a friend or two to check in and take the journey with you. To make the changes you want to see, you need to show up for YOURSELF the same way that you show up for your family, your employees, and your business. You don’t have to be perfect, but you need to hold yourself accountable to the promises you’ve made to yourself. Find a way to track that through all of next year.

9. Have FUN!

As children, we don’t need to make a conscious effort to enjoy ourselves. However, as we get older, it becomes harder to remember to HAVE FUN. What’s the use of putting so much time and effort into personal and professional development if you’re not enjoying your life? Relish in your journey at work. Laugh with your family. Appreciate the small moments in your life when you experience JOY, whether it’s listening to your favorite song or lighting a candle at the end of the day. Go out with friends, see that movie, go on a date. Try that new restaurant, play a board game, draw, or paint. Ask your employees about their lives, their families, and what they do outside of work. Get everyone out of the office for a team activity. This year, PRIORITIZE having FUN and bringing that fun to EVERYONE around you.

10. Find a Life Coach

Lastly, the BEST way to set yourself up for success in 2024 (whether they’re on this list or not) is to have a professional IN YOUR CORNER that SHARES YOUR ENTHUSIASM and UNDERSTANDS WHO YOU WANT TO BE. Find someone who GETS YOU and who will make a plan for you to achieve your goals, maintain daily discipline, provide resources and exercises to stay on track, and help you reach the BALANCE you need in order to succeed. As experts in self-improvement, professional development, goal-setting, and goal-REACHING, life coaches are able to push you past the obstacles that have held you back from becoming the BEST VERSION of yourself.

Now, Get Going!

There you have it. 10 New Year’s Resolutions that will KEEP or GET you on track to becoming the 2.0 Version of yourself. Remember: THERE’S ONLY ONE YOU, and you only get ONE LIFE to realize the best YOU there is. Don’t let any more time go by.

Happy New Year everybody. Cheers to all that 2024 has in store for YOU!