𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐛𝐮𝐭...

𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

✅𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲.

❌𝐎𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬… 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭.

Individual motivation is highest at the start of the year, yet it’s quickly lost when companies delay approving yearly goals, priorities, and performance expectations. 

Many organizations don’t finalize their annual direction until late Q1 — sometimes even Q2.

By then, the momentum employees started the year is gone, because they can’t guess and focus on the right work.

Projects stall. Priorities shift. New initiatives appear and disappear. All because executive leadership or boards haven’t aligned on the upcoming year’s goals before the year begins.

From a coaching and organizational psychology perspective, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫.

Here are three questions I use with executives and founders to keep motivation alive:

1️⃣ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐰 — 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡?

2️⃣ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐩𝐬?

3️⃣ 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭, 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫?

Three tips until the goals are set:

1️⃣A new year doesn’t magically reset everything. If new goals aren’t set yet, 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫’𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤.

I surprised leadership, because my team refreshed last year’s goals, updated them and added them in early Q1 (not rocket science). 

2️⃣ 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲. If things must slow down or change, clearly explain why — so you don’t discourage energized teams. No one wants to feel their time was wasted due to shifting direction.

3️⃣If many 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐲. Ensure your senior leadership is aware of the ask, so they can help ensure you're not on someone’s pet project that will soon get cancelled. No one wants to waste hard work for nothing, this kills morale.

🏃‍♀️‍➡️🏃‍♂️‍➡️Employees begin the year ready to run and work hard.

💥It’s on leadership’s job to ensure the goals are correct, communicated and the path is clear.

𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐞𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬?

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 2026?