"We don't remain good if we don't always strive to become better." 
- Gottfried Keller

At some point in business, and in life, one may look back and realize that they stopped trying to become better. When we're young, or new to a position, there's a built-in sense of learning, adapting and working to be better than when you woke up that day. It's not uncommon for that to change over time, and ultimately lose the motivation to keep striving to become better. With the new year upon us, now is as good of time as any to reflect on how you can strive to become better!

Each year in our business the executive team sits down and discusses the goals and budgets for the upcoming year - a pretty standard practice when running a company. This effort is meant to look back at what's working, as well as what may not be working  in order to make better decisions for the upcoming year. Since there's never been a discussion of how we can be worse in the upcoming year, this is our built-in way of always striving to make the business better. What is not often built-in is how we, individually, can strive to become better. Regardless of your position within the organization you work for, you should always strive to become better. Once you give up your efforts to become better, you will quickly get passed up as the business evolves around you. It shouldn't seem unusual if you notice a lack of opportunity when there's a lack of effort to continue to become better.

Just as you should always strive to become better in your professional life, the same holds true personally. It's about the time you stop striving to become better that you'll notice you're not satisfied with the environment you are in. Everybody has a different idea of what "better" is, but regardless of what it looks like for you, it's the effort of becoming better that ultimately will keep you motivated. Some may see "better" as more money and/or less debt, while others may see it as having more stuff, or maybe doing more for others. Regardless of what it is, when you're no longer after it, you'll likely find yourself lost and unenthused about what's next.

Jeff R. Helvin is Blogging for Balance - a balance of both personal and professional aspects, to ultimately achieve more in life overall.