The greatest challenge of the holiday season isn’t the preparations or frenetic activity of the celebrations themselves.

The greatest challenge is keeping the spirit of the season alive after the celebration ends.

Most of us know the let down that so often occurs after the first of the New Year. Resolutions are made and quickly broken. With no immediate holidays in the near future, a fatigue of the spirit can set in. We resign ourselves to a temporary elevation of the spirit.

It doesn’t need to be that way.

Some are able to exhibit the compassion, appreciation and joy of the season throughout the year.

How do they do it? And how do leaders keep the spirit of an organization’s culture and values alive long after the kick off or launch?

My observation is that those who do best at keeping the spirit alive–whether of a faith, holiday, belief or even a corporate culture–do three things: they remember, remind and rehearse.

Remember what you want to retain. It sounds so simple and is so hard to do. How many times have you slapped yourself on the forehead and said, “I knew that!” Yet somehow you temporarily forgot.

Have you clarified exactly what the spirit is that you want to keep alive? You can’t remember what you never knew to begin with. Summarize the key values and behaviors you want to remember. Write down key phrases where you’ll see them often. Reflect on those things frequently and etch them into your memory.

Remind others of what you want is important. An excellent call center manager constantly reminds her team about the importance of extraordinary service. A top-notch sales manager doesn’t quit

talking about and demonstrating what was taught in the sales training course. A good parent looks for teachable moments to remind children of important lessons.

Of course there is an additional benefit: reminding others helps you remember as well.

Rehearse the behaviors of the spirit you embrace. A great actor rehearses his or her lines until they are delivered with perfection. There is no substitute for doing. Almost everyone knows what is good, right or important but leaders are those who act on their knowledge. Have you considered what you can do each day to demonstrate the spirit you value? Let your behavior be a witness for your words

Don’t let the spirit of any important seasons or event evaporate. Remember, remind and rehearse to keep the important messages and themes of significant events alive long after they are over.

How quickly the past decade has passed. What have I learned?

Here are some of the things I’m thinking about at the close of this decade:

The quantity of information we consume and process does not equal the quality of our learning or our lives. In his book, The Cult of the Amateur, author Andrew Keen says that while the internet has helped the democratization of information the downside is that we live in an age of uncredentialed creativity.  Just having a medium to share ideas and opinions doesn’t necessarily make them useful or even valid; it is harder than ever before to separate faction from fiction and history from hyperbole.

We can be smarter but not wiser. What makes us wiser isn’t just learning but in remembering what we’ve learned and applying it.

I’ve never lost any money I gave away. When there is a downturn in the economy and investments are negative, it is a stark reminder that money invested in others is the safest investment of all.

Speed can be insidious. I recently read that young people are writing more words than ever, but they’re writing them faster. Think about the dramatic increase in texting. This haste causes poorer word choice. If we want to write better, we need to slow down.  A similar case can be made for how we live. Haste not only makes waste but it diminishes the quality of just about everything significant, from the written to personal relationships.

We can often accomplish more by doing less. That means eliminating the superfluous and unimportant activities that serve as a kind of anesthesia. Staying busy might make us feel productive but only achieving important results makes us productive.

We are saying more but communicating less. So much of what passes for public dialogue is nothing more than diatribe. The vitriol of those who disagree is so off-putting that thinking people see little reason to advance ideas. Someone recently observed, “More than being told to respect everyone’s opinions, we’re being told not to form our own opinions.” Disagreement too often comes coupled with contempt. Why? Could it be that people are so insecure in their own thinking that they feel threatened by those who h old opposing viewpoints? We learn nothing from name-calling, labeling and vilifying those with contrary ideas.

Fame is about the attention you get but greatness is about the contribution you make. Some are so consumed with the need for attention they fake emergencies and crash presidential parties. They are passing footnotes in the cult of celebrity. So many people are doing such great work and receiving so little attention. The man, woman or child who quietly serves will rarely be recognized with front page coverage or a show. But we need to remind ourselves and our children that greatness is its own reward.  Aristotle wouldn’t have considered fame as answer to “What makes for a good life?”

I am always happier when I focus on what I have instead of what I don’t have. Life isn’t an either/or game. The blessings are mixed with burdens and we need to acknowledge both but we can choose where we focus our attention.

The band Swithfoot has a song called “More than Fine” that says

“When I wake in the morning,
I want to blow into pieces.
I want more than just ok, more than just ok…

More than fine, more than bent on getting by…”
More than fine, more than just ok.

I like that song because I think most of us feel the same way. We’d like to live in a way that is extraordinary and have superlative relationships and experiences.

Here are ten things you can do to make your life and business extraordinary:

1. Be clear on what YOU consider extraordinary. Have a picture of what extraordinary looks like to you in your life, experiences and relationships. Is it just about what you get? Or about what you give?  Not every aspect of our lives need be extraordinary. What areas are important for you to focus on making better?

2. Do ordinary things in an extraordinary way. That is the essence of my book The Fred Factor: How Passion in Your Work and Life Can Turn the Ordinary into the Extraordinary.  It’s the extra touch, the added flourish or the additional thought and effort that make a difference.

3. Fear nothing but to waste the present moment. We live fully moment to moment, not day to day or month to month. Take care of the moments and the moments take care of your life.

4. Prioritize your Rs: results, rewards, recreation or relationships. Knowingly or not, people typically focus on one of the four as primary. How do these four typical organizing principles line up in your life?

In the movie Up in the Air, George Clooney plays a character who finds that traveling light by avoiding relationships may not be as much fun as he thought. Results, rewards and recreation all mean little without people to share them with.

5. Be compassionate. The Dali Lama said, “To make others happy, be compassionate. To make yourself happy, be compassionate.” Compassion starts with little things like giving someone the benefit of the doubt and extends to becoming involved in helping another who is in need. Explore the range of compassion in your life.

6. Substitute concern and action for worry. Worry is the negative use of imagination. Concern is about examination and preparation; it is about a rational consideration of what might be detrimental and how to avoid it. Action is the antidote to worry. It moves you from thinking about what might go wrong to what you can do about it.

7. Go forward with the basics. Build on what’s important. Refresh the skills that have made you successful. Consistent attention to the basics enables progress.

Life basics can be brushed up by reading the classics. Pay attention to Aristotle who asked, “What does it take to be good?”  What basic skills define success in your business and life?

8. Pursue “different and valued.” If you do what everyone else does in business, you will get what everyone else gets, and that’s “the average.” It is the something extra that sets you apart—your “value add.” But it isn’t enough to be different (you could dress like Anthony or Cleopatra but while different I doubt your coworkers or customers would “value” the difference). It is the more/better/faster/different or more fun that others value.

9. Get healthier. It isn’t that hard to do: to be a little healthier eat a little less and a little better and exercise a little more. You aren’t trying to make the cover of Modern Muscle magazine.

10. Spend less than you make, save some of what you don’t spend and contribute some of what you save.  A recent survey showed that half of Americans don’t have enough saved to support them more than two months should they lose their job and 25% have no savings at all.

I wish you the healthiest and happiest New Year.

Recently I wrote about the questions leaders could and should be asking about their organizations as they plan for the New Year.

Now let’s focus on the questions you as a leader could and should be asking yourself:

1. What were the biggest lessons of the past year?

2. What evidence do I have of growth in my personal and professional life?

3. What do I need to change? What are the top three things I need to: start doing, do consistently, stop doing or do differently?

4. What are the greatest threats for my future success and what can I do now to avoid or minimize them?

5. Am I clear on my purpose and values?

6. Do I regularly experience fulfillment and meaning in my life?

7. How much time do I spend thinking each day?

8. Am I taking good care of my important relationships?

9. Do I consistently do those things I’m best at and enjoy doing?

10. Do I understand and benefit from the difference between activity and accomplishment?

11. What are my four biggest personal goals for the coming year?

12. What can I do to maintain or improve my physical health?

13. Am I giving adequate attention to the spiritual dimension of my life?

14. Do I still desire to lead?