Keep, Add, Delete: An Exercise for Ongoing Success.

• Author: Aldisert, Lisa
• Position: Brief Article - Column

The beginning of a year is a great time to assess what is working in our lives. While some of us may have already made--and broken--New Year's resolutions, we can still try working on a variation of this approach. What I'm referring to is an exercise in which we decide what we want to keep, what we want to add and what we want to eliminate in our lives.

When we set goals, we tend to think about two huge areas, our professional and personal lives. While these typically encompass most of our waking hours, why not take a deeper look and embrace a more holistic view? Consider categorizing your life into different areas--such as professional, family, self, leisure, life-long learning, financial, spiritual and community. Understand that all of these areas interweave. The emphasis on each will change based on what is going on in your life.

Professional. Work consumes most of our waking hours, so our satisfaction in this area often takes on a life of its own. Consider the usual questions related to job and career satisfaction, but put your responses in the context of the other areas. Make sure you evaluate quality of life intangibles in the context of what you want to keep, add or delete professionally.

Family. Think about your relationships with each of the key family members. Are you doing what you want in your various roles of parent, spouse, aunt or uncle, daughter or son, etc? Each of these roles takes different amounts of time and attention, and only you know if you are fulfilling to a realistic level of expectations.

Leisure. When people are working hard, this area often gets neglected. Are you pursuing your hobbies and other outside interests? Think about last year: Did you forego any special leisure, travel or social activities because of work? Make sure you plan for and include these outside activities this year.

Life-long learning. This is essential for personal and professional growth. To stay challenged and stimulated, select one or more areas to work on. This can be as simple as taking a course in an adult education program at your community college or putting together a reading list of books that...