Are you delivering on the goals that you set yourself for this year?
You probably know already, I help entrepreneurs focus on making a step change – that is, taking steps towards making significant changes in their businesses, and attitude, to create the business their hard work deserves. A focus on significant change often influences the shift in habits required.
One of the ways we do this is by clarifying the long-term vision, then taking the time to set business improvement goals that take the business in that direction, before breaking down the steps to achieve them into manageable chunks of 30, 60 and 90 days.
So, how do you want your New Year to feel when you get there?
My guess is that you’d like to pat yourself on the back, congratulate your employees and shake your accountant’s hand knowing that you’ve achieved everything you set out to achieve, and enjoy the party with your friends and family.
What remains on your plan to be achieved?
If the year has flown by and you haven’t been able to keep up with your planning, stop now, find some time to decide on one goal that will make the biggest difference to you and your business. Write down that goal, define the reason why it will make such a big difference, what will be the major benefits to achieving it, or the losses of not, and how you will feel when it’s done.
Then, thinking about what you need to have achieved over the next 90 days to get to the end goal, bring it back closer by then establishing the ‘High Pay Off Activities’* that need to be done in the next 30 days.
*High Pay Off Activities – those activities that you have to execute for the benefit of your business without distraction
Think: To achieve that, I first need to do this
How will you maximise the opportunities that arise in the next 90 days?
It can be very easy to get distracted by the next shiny thing that comes into your sights. It can be easy to be interrupted by the agenda of others. But, if that end of year goal is important enough you have to be strong enough not be pulled away from the activities that will get you through the next 30, 60 and 90 days.
Keep your ‘why’ front of mind and try to stay focused on that feeling you want on New Year’s Eve.
Think: Will this get me closer? There’s a great mind-trick by Olympic gold medal winning rower, Greg Searle, ‘will it make the boat go faster?’ If it will, do it, if it won’t put it aside until your 90 days are up.
How are you planning to give yourself the best start to 2023?
The best start, in my opinion is always the most positive one. Achieving your goal will give you a fantastic start to the year and hopefully a fresh goal sheet to start filling up!
December is often a slow month in business, it’s definitely a short one, so those last few days will be a struggle to get through. My advice is, don’t delay, get started today and get 2023 off to a brilliant start.
Think: If I fail to achieve my goal by New Year, will I have an understanding why? Will that learn give me a positive start to 2023?
For further reading on goal setting and planning, take a look at these blogs, or use the search function on my blog page;
Managing your time with effective goal planning
SMARTer goals – Business jargon or a meaningful tool?
The one-page business plan for 30, 60 and 90 day planning
All the best, and have a Happy New Year! Mike.