Jean Accius is senior vice president for AARP Global Thought Leadership in Washington, DC. Read his full biography.
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Just as businesses press the reset button on January 1, I’m a big believer in setting personal goals for the new year. I set aside time every November and December to set the compass for how I want to show up in the world moving forward. Some may argue that calendars are arbitrary measures of time and that we can define goals at any point, and they’re right. Still, the business and financial world operate on fiscal and calendar years, and as someone who leads a team at work and co-leads my family at home, the new year is my time for getting clear about my intentions, plans and resolutions.
How I’m thinking about 2023 has been strongly influenced by a year-long project at AARP centered on rethinking longevity (called The Longevity Catch Up) if living to 100 becomes more of a reality. Throughout the year, influencers from the music, sports and entertainment industries shared their struggles and breakthroughs as well as their insights and learnings on health, earning money and living longer.
We’ve learned so much in the past three years about humankind, and the one thing I think we’re all clear on is that we need and want to realign how we show up for ourselves and for others. So, how do we make that happen in 2023 and beyond?
Reinvestment And Reinvention
First, we should reinvest in ourselves. We should make a commitment to have a new kind of growth mindset—one that goes beyond putting our own oxygen mask on first so that we can help others. To be fulfilled, content and successful at home and at work, we have to change our mindsets and reinvest resources of time and money for the long term in our own personal well-being. That looks different for everyone but should include how we fuel our bodies, minds and souls. We can’t deliver the world-changing work we want to do if our tank is empty. This will feel hard to do at first because we’ve spent the past three years shouldering some of the heaviest burdens we, our families and our society have shouldered in our lifetime. But, we should focus on healing and strengthening ourselves.
We should also reinvest in others. Businesses should reinvest in people because people deliver the programs, product and services that change society and strengthen the economy. Just as companies invest in their systems and operations, they should prioritize investing in people.
The second thing we need to think about is reinvention. Reinvestment in ourselves and others will put us in a position to change things so much they become completely new. Maybe we reinvent our careers or our workplaces. Perhaps we reinvent systems and structures that for too long have kept people down and prevented them from changing the world. Reinvention can take many different shapes and forms, and business leaders should make space for this to happen.
Reinvestment and reinvention are my guiding tenets for 2023. By this time next year, I hope not only that I will have refilled my emotional, spiritual and professional tank, but I hope that I will have helped spark or lead revolutionary change that allows us all to live longer, healthier lives with equal access to opportunity and resources.
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