The turn to a new year is the time to set new goals. And who better to set them with than a person who has achieved a career far beyond many of us ordinary mortals—but has the honesty and humility to reveal where she falls short.

Dr. Nicole Fox is Associate Chief Medical Officer, Associate Professor of Surgery, Medical Director of pediatric trauma, and Medical Director of CDI for Cooper University Hospital, a level 1 trauma facility in Camden, NJ.

She made for a great guest to kick off season 3 of Off the Record. This was one of my favorite interviews to date, very personal and revealing for the both of us. I keep trying to get Nicole to start her own podcast and if you listen you’ll understand why.

On the show we discuss:

• Nicole’s biggest accomplishments of 2023 and progress on the path of Ikigai (a Japanese concept related to finding purpose and reason for being)

• Nicole (and my own) process for annual review and goal-setting, both personal and organizational

• Striking the balance: Developing goals that challenging and therefore worthwhile, but also reachable/achievable.

• Cooper Health’s Q1 2024 CDI goal: In-depth department audit, aligning people with interests and strengths. You’ll want to hear this.

• Making goals “sticky” so they don’t fall off Feb. 1

• Failures, getting “smacked upside the head” at age 40 and moving from personal accomplishments to mentoring and growing others as we age

• Other tidbits from her interesting life, including the first OTR Spotify playlist entry of 2024 (Willie Nelson makes a first and long-overdue appearance).