That’s what I’ve observed makes the biggest difference.

Better…

—Relationships

—Experiences

—Growth

—Impact

In our culture, “more” tends to be the driver. The most aggressive among us tend to be spread so thin that coping with that reality becomes a challenge.

But “better” is where you make a real difference. Tackle your three top challenges instead of 10 or 12 that are easier (but less important) to solve. Invest your time in the relationships that you treasure. Focus on the type and depth of impact you want to make.

The concept isn’t hard. It’s execution that’s tough. You need to set up your year to focus on better, not more. This isn’t a weekly scheduling challenge; instead, think one to three years ahead.

For example, one CEO/founder knew he was stuck being both the “visionary” as and the “integrator”, but his business could not yet support hiring a top quality integrator (e.g., COO). He made getting there a top priority, and spent two years defining the new role, expanding the business on his own—sometimes pushing himself and his team hard to accelerate growth—and using his network to identify possible candidates.

At the end of this period, he hired a fantastic COO and then spent six months reorienting his employees as well as his own habits so that operational issues he previously handled now landed with the COO.

Last year far exceeded their business goals and equally importantly, the CEO is now enjoying leading the company significantly more than even before.