How to make 2016 your best year ever

This article is part of the Contemporary leadership series

To make resolutions that matter, don't look forward. Look back.

By February, half of all New Year's resolutions are broken, a thing of the past, a distant, abandoned memory. You know this. So, why not take the time now to visit your goals and think about what you really want to change. If you do, you will make 2016 your best year ever.

Wondering how to start? Try this exercise. It is one of my favorites and I teach it in most of my classes. First, take a deep breath. Now take a deeper breath. Imagine you're 95 years old, on your deathbed. Before taking your last breath you're given a great gift: the ability to travel back in time – the ability to talk to the person who is reading this column, the ability to help this person, you, be a better professional and, more importantly, lead a better life.

In November 2015 Dr. Marshall Goldsmith was recognized as the #1 Leadership Thinker in the World and the top 5 Management Thinker at the Thinkers50 Award Ceremony in London. He was also selected as the #1 Executive Coach in the World by GlobalGurus.org, and one of the 10 Most Influential Management Thinkers in the World by Thinkers50 in both 2011 and 2013. In 2011 he was chosen as the World's Most Influential Leadership Thinker. Marshall was the highest rated executive coach on the Thinkers50 List in both 2011 and 2013. What Got You Here Won't Get You There was listed as a top ten business bestseller for 2013 by INC Magazine / 800 CEO Read (for the seventh consecutive year). Marshall's exciting new research on engagement is published in his newest book Triggers (Crown, 2015).