While reading a recent biography these words, No reserve, No retreat, No regrets, emerged as a wonderful summary of this person’s very full life. As we head towards the close of one year and the start of another, it can be helpful for us to reflect on what’s been happening and to set our sights on how to make the most of the coming year.

How would things be different in your work world, in your personal world, if come December 2010 -No reserve, No retreat, No regrets - captured the essence of the way you had led your team, managed your department or school and lived your life? What would it take for this to be true for you this coming year?

What would it take for you to work and live with No Reserve?

It is not uncommon for many of us to live and work holding things back. Somehow if we have not committed 100% to a task or project we protect ourselves if things don’t work out. Giving all we have to a project and then seeing it unravel is too much to contemplate.

What difference would it make though if you went for it with No Reserve this coming year? How much more impact would you have if you did this? How much more would you have to celebrate if you did this? What’s getting in the way of you doing this?

What would it take for you to work and live with No Retreat?

Sometimes we start well – with good intentions - but the obstacles make things messy and difficult. It all starts to get too hard so we pull back, perhaps modifying our goal to something easier or putting it off until later when circumstances will be more favourable. Now these may well be the right choices to make but all too often we retreat from our original plan through default rather than deliberate choice.

What would it look like if you pursued your goals with vigour and persistence? What could you contribute if you worked and lived fully engaged in every priority project and relationship? What would you enjoy most about every project and relationship if you had contributed in this way?

What would it take for you to work and live with No Regrets?

We are where we are - we are who we are as a result of a host of decisions we have made across our lifetimes. We constantly decide about study, about career, about relationships, about family and a myriad of other things. All of these choices take place in a given moment in time, all of them with future implications that we cannot entirely predict. So what would it take for you to get to the end of next year with no regrets, having confidently made the calls that will shape next year’s experiences?

2010: a year with no reserve, no retreat and no regrets. Imagine what it would like look like...

Now get started on making a great year happen.

John Campbell, Director