What do you think is the relationship between success and happiness? Is it causal and if so, which is the chicken and which is the egg? Does success lead to happiness? Or does happiness lead to success? Or perhaps it’s a more nuanced relationship, more co-linear or part of a richer stew of life?

While it may be a largely American concept, many people think that the primary objective of our lives, or at least our working lives, is to journey toward “station happiness” as the ultimate...

A client once responded to one of my questions by saying, “Oh Greg, I am too busy living to think about life!” His off-the-cuff comment named a trap all of us fall into sometimes. In just one example, it is easy to become so consumed in our careers we fail to really think about our careers.

To avoid this trap, I suggest carving out a couple of hours over the holiday break to follow these simple steps for reflecting on your career.

Step 1: Review the last 12 months. Review the year, month by...

1. Use only a few well-defined categories. For most people, strategic plans top their list of “most boring documents to read.” If you hand your employees 20 pages of text, they are unlikely to read it. If they do, they are not likely to retain it. Instead, clearly define a small number of categories to provide a framework that is easily remembered and relevant to your employees’ daily activities.

2. Make a clear differentiation between you and your competition. Your strategic plan should set...