The start of the year is presented as a chance to take greater leadership over one’s life and career, drawing on reflection, purpose, and scientific research that explains how they shape decisions.
Like every 1st of January, I like to take some time to reflect on the year that just ended. And this year was no exception. The last sunset of the year over Lake Valle de Bravo provided the perfect backdrop for my annual ritual: a self-evaluation of the seven most important spheres of life for 2025.
As the colors faded, I reflected on Physical Health, Finances, Career, Social Relationships, Family, Spirituality, and Intellectual Recreation. In this start-of-the-year season, many of us sift through the good, the bad, and the ugly of the past twelve months. It’s the perfect time to recalibrate our priorities and build a life full of meaning.
While I was looking up at people in paragliders in the sky, I was wondering whether this year you gave yourself the most transformative gift of all. Not something wrapped in a box, but something that will reshape your future: the gift of taking leadership of your own life and career.
It might sound ambitious, but I’m reminded of Vincent van Gogh’s idea that:
“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”
I would add that it requires self-discipline and self-awareness.
De la crisis a la cooperación, ¿qué pueden aprender los líderes de los anestesiólogos?
From my spot on the poolside couch, I listened to a Victor Strecher podcast while typing on my laptop. The episode titled “What Should You Do with Your Life? Strecher’s daughter passed away while she was in college, and since this life-changing event, he has focused his research on purpose and passion. His work underscores a vital truth: taking leadership of your own life and career means living on purpose. This idea is powerfully supported by science.
Research shows that a load framed as purposeful is literally perceived as less daunting. Scholars who study spatial perception debate the effect of a heavy backpack on perception.
Researchers Emily Balcetis and David Dunning argue that factors like fatigue, age, or carrying a heavy load can lead people to perceive hills as steeper and distances as farther. In one experiment, participants fitted with a heavy backpack (approximately 20 lbs) stood at the base of a hill and estimated its incline.
Crucially, they were divided into two groups: one was told the backpack was merely dead weight, while the other was told it contained important safety equipment for the task. Participants who believed the backpack had a purpose estimated the hill to be significantly less steep than those who saw it as a burden. In fact, their perception was like that of people not carrying a backpack at all. This study shows that when you have a sense of purpose and a motivated perception of your needs, the meaning we assign to a situation directly shapes our basic perceptual experience of the world.
While I was waiting for the check, my phone buzzed. It was a calendar reminder of the very first meeting of the year flashing like a tiny, digital summons to get back to reality. Leadership of your own life is the quiet decision to stop being a passive character in your own story. Victor Strecher’s research resonated because it highlights that purpose isn’t a vague feeling; it’s a cognitive framework—a goal for your very being. But having such a goal—which is what purpose is—helps you organize the important goals in your life. It helps you really direct your inner resources, your energy toward that.
Just as the backpack study shows, the objective weight doesn’t change. But a clear purpose acts as a powerful filter. Suddenly, you know which meetings to take, which skills to cultivate, and where to say “no,” because every decision is evaluated against your central aim.
So, this start-of-the-year season, wrap a gift for yourself beautifully. It’s the commitment to define that central goal. Write down your hill. Name your backpack. Then, begin. The first small, purposeful action—aligned with your organized priorities—is the spark.
Leadership is built in this series of directed, conscious choices, brought together with self-awareness. It’s the gift that reshapes not just your year, but your very perception of what is possible and where your energy should flow. Just as Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi said in his book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience:
“Control of consciousness determines the quality of life.”
Happy new start-of-the-year season, my friends!
Best,
Nayana
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Nayana Guerrero
Directora Asociada del Departamento de Gestión y Liderazgo en el Tec de Monterrey Especialista en liderazgo femenino, género, Inteligencia Artificial y negocios, promueve un liderazgo inclusivo e innovación ética. Doctora en Ciencias Administrativas por la UNAM, con estudios en Sciences Po Paris y American University; es profesora en la FCA-UNAM. Con más de 90 conferencias internacionales y 10,000 personas capacitadas, combina academia y acción para impulsar la igualdad de género y la ética en los negocios. Su trabajo conecta investigación, docencia y divulgación, promoviendo organizaciones sostenibles e inclusivas con perspectiva de género.y recibe contenido exclusivo
