As we kick start the New Year a great question to ask yourself is what will you do differently this year? This is something I have been asking myself over the Christmas holidays and I already have some cool plans in place to make some changes.
Changing the way things are done can bring opportunities for great success. But reaction to change may be fearful and irrational, which can result in failures, a decrease in quality and a loss of production? When it comes to work and business, it can be tempting to give in to those anxieties by doing what’s always been done. But priming the pump to have a better year always involves some form of adjustment to free up the time, money and energy to tackle new opportunities.
How do you decide what changes are the most important ones to make?
Ask yourself these questions:
- What personal and business tolerations interfered with personal and work progress? Tolerations are a good indication of issues in need of resolution?
- Were last year’s goals reached? Why or why not? How will those obstacles be addressed? Setting new goals without having evaluated the previous year’s goals can result in a cycle of substandard results?
- What fiscally responsible goal (making more money, collaborating, creating new products/services, improved marketing strategy, etc.) will also be fun? All work and no play makes Jack a dull (and bored) boy, as the saying goes.
What do you need to change to have a better year?
Choose passion over profit. Connect to your bigger purpose in life, work and business and the rewards will flow effortlessly. Passionate people attract success?
Higher learning. Technology changes fast. Staying on top of what’s working now is only half the battle. Discovering what’s up and coming and leveraging that knowledge is the key to an exceptional year?
Celebrate success. Acknowledging and rewarding success keeps everyone motivated. Mark those mini-milestones with celebration and recognition!
Add, don’t subtract. When repeat clients stop buying your products or services, something needs to change. Instead of cutting prices, add value instead–bundle existing services/products, add bonuses or create new offerings.
What are your blind spots?
Every driver has blind spots. That’s what rear-view mirrors are for. Blind spots in the work and business environment can be harder to identify. How does a person avert disaster in a work environment without the benefit of mirrors?
Ask around. Getting honest feedback from clients, customers and service providers can be as uncomfortable as it is invaluable. Do it anyway?
Seek professional help. Getting an objective outsiders opinion can help you see what is going well or not?
Coffee time. Chat up a colleague and encourage them to share their observations about what you are doing well and what needs improvement. Sometimes what needs to change is missed because it is so “obvious.”
Moving into a New Year doesn’t have to be a scary proposition. Having a clear sense of what’s ahead can circumvent failure and create a successful year. And if you want some help identifying your blind spots just apply for one of the limited, complimentary Accelerate Your Success sessions that I offer every month. You’ll be glad that you did.
Julia Felton (aka The Business Wrangler) is the founder of Business HorsePower. Business leaders, entrepreneurs and executives hire her to accelerate their business performance by harnessing the energy of their people to work more collaboratively together. By aligning purpose with actions the team achieves exponential results as everyone starts pulling in the same direction.
Julia believes that business is a force for good and through designing purpose-driven businesses that leverage the laws of nature, and the herd, you can create businesses founded on the principles of connection, collaboration and community that make a significant impact in the world.
