January 7, 2020 4 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

The new year has begun. But what if we avoided more lame resolutions, instead aspiring toward real, actionable results. Here are 10 top tips for a terrific 2020 for you and your business, based on my experience as a motivational speaker and executive coach.

1. Aim big.

Stop thinking so small. I often coach executives, and one point I make is they need to expand their thinking. I was once coaching a senior director and asked about her long-term career goal and she said, “I want to be a vice president in this company.” I paused and asked her, “Why not CEO?” We then had a long conversation about expanding her thinking. How about you? As T. Harv Eker once said: “The biggest obstacle to wealth is fear. People are afraid to think big, but if you think small, you’ll only achieve small things.”

2. Have goals in writing.

Too few people have concrete goals, and an even smaller percentage write them down. Create goals for every area of your life, and this year, make sure to put them in writing. Research has shown that goals are much more effective when they are written down, so make that effort to finally put pen to paper.

3. Learn something new.

Think about this coming year and identify three things you want to learn, be it personally or professionally. Find the resources and sign up. You can hire an executive coach, take an online course, go to a live class or read a few books on the topic. When you are constantly learning, you will be reinvigorated, excited and fired up.

Related: 4 New Year’s Resolutions Your Business Should Make

4. Give back.

Work with a charity, volunteer at an animal shelter or Habitat for Humanity, or maybe become a Big Brother or Big Sister. When you give back, you help others, but also help yourself by feeling good about how you can change a life.

5. Practice stress management.

When you think about the term stress management, it implies that stress can be managed, and guess what? You are the stress manager. Make a list of all the activities you can use to de-stress in everyday life. Maybe it’s meditating, gardening or working out. Experiment with what works best for you.

6. Start or join a mastermind.

A mastermind is a group of five or six people who are all interested in growth and development for each member. You get together once a month and discuss ideas and how you can help each other. I was in a mastermind for a few years and found it to be an extremely powerful experience. As Will Rogers said, “A man only learns in two ways: one by reading, and the other by association with smarter people.”

7. Limit negative content.

To have the right mindset, you need to be very careful about consuming negative content. Avoid negative TV, negative news and most of all negative people. I decided years ago not to have any more negative friends. It was transformational. If you have any super-negative friends, stop associating with them in the new year. Be careful, because they will pull you down with them into the abyss.

8. Stay connected to loved ones.

Your family loves you unconditionally, and you need to show that you love them back. One way is to make sure you call, email, text, visit and connect with your family regularly. Call your mom, your grandfather, your daughter, etc. Take your spouse out on a date. You get the idea. Connect.

Related: 5 Ways to Seize the New Year, According to Entrepreneur’s Editor-in-Chief

9. Find a new hobby.  

Hobbies are a great way to get you to stop thinking about work. Create a bonsai tree, take up sailing, start oil painting, write the next great American novel. It doesn’t matter what the hobby is, so long as you enjoy it. I play the drums and find beating something with sticks to be very therapeutic.

10. Vacate.

The biggest mistake many of my clients make is they never take time off. They are always “on,” which leads to burnout and less productivity. Commit to taking a vacation this year. Here is a new idea: Pick somewhere to go you have never been to. The novelty of new places and experiences can be very refreshing. Secondly, make sure when your employees are on vacation, they don’t work.

As Gretchen Bleiler once said: “With the new year comes a refueled motivation to improve on the past one.” Happy New Year. You can do this.