When Intention Meets Discipline for Lasting Leadership Change

Every January, leaders are encouraged to think big.

New goals. New habits. New resolve.

And yet, by mid-month, many of those intentions quietly fade. Not because they weren’t sincere – but because intention alone is rarely enough to carry us forward.

Over the years, I’ve become less interested in when people decide to change and far more interested in how they sustain it.

January has an outsized reputation as a moment of reinvention, but the truth is that meaningful change rarely hinges on a date in the calendar. It hinges on discipline – small, consistent actions repeated over time – and on having the right structures in place to support them.

James Clear makes this point powerfully in the book Atomic Habits – that meaningful change doesn’t come from dramatic goals, but from small, repeatable actions supported by the right systems.

Tracking small daily habits supports leadership growth

This is something we see every day in coaching.

Leaders don’t struggle because they lack ambition or clarity. They struggle because they’re trying to do hard things in isolation. Without accountability. Without reflection. Without the benefit of someone to help them notice when they’ve drifted – and gently guide them back.

That’s why coaching isn’t designed to be a one-off experience. Real growth doesn’t happen in a single conversation or a burst of motivation. It happens in the space between sessions – in the follow-through, the course corrections, and the willingness to stay with the work even when progress feels slow.

We’re often reminded that small hinges can move big doors – that subtle, consistent shifts can alter an entire trajectory when they’re sustained over time.

The leaders who create lasting change aren’t the ones making dramatic declarations in January. They’re the ones committing to steady, incremental progress all year long. One better question. One clearer decision. One difficult conversation handled with a bit more intention than the last.

As we begin a new year, my invitation isn’t to aim higher or push harder. It’s to slow down just enough to ask a better question: What’s one change worth committing to consistently – not just this month, but over the months ahead?

Because when intention is paired with discipline and accountability, progress stops being fragile – and starts becoming inevitable.

Dave Veale

Founder & CEO

Vision Coaching Inc.