Plan for the New Year of your dreams
Welcome to a guest blog post from Morgan PR Associate and award winning business coach Sally Rainbow-Ockwell, who offers some wise words for those who want to be successful in 2010.
It's Christmas week -- and that means great things if you're in business! It's a time to enjoy family and friends...to reap the rewards of your labour throughout the year...and most importantly, to prepare for what's ahead.
So as you settle into the holidays, here is my advice for making 2010 even better than 2009 was:
Take some time off - really! Most entrepreneurs get trapped thinking that relentless, unceasing productivity is what will make you rich. While hard work is an important component of success, truly successful entrepreneurs understand the importance of rhythms. If you're from a faith tradition, you're familiar with the concept of Sabbatical -- or season of rest. This strategy was actually REQUIRED by God for people of faith because he knows that we all need seasons of intense productivity punctuated by short seasons of rest and recovery. In order to have a great new year, you're going to need to reflect, think creatively, dream, and then strategise. So first things first? TAKE A BREAK SOMETIME BETWEEN NOW AND JANUARY 1st. I'm talking AT LEAST 5-7 days. Set some boundaries to ensure you do it. Go away on holiday. Visit loved ones. But get away from it all. This is very important in order for the next step to work well.
Develop a list of the top 10 things you want to do this coming year. I learned this technique from Blair Singer, and I just LOVE it! Here's how it works: Get in a quiet space. Make a long list of the things you want to achieve or bring into your life this year. Next, choose the top 10. Now RANK them in order of priority. You'll find that your personal achievement plan for 2010 already lives inside of you. This exercise just clarifies it in a powerful way. Here's an example of the kind of list you might come up with (I've included just 5 items for the sake of simplicity, but I recommend your list include at least 10.)
- Maintain average monthly business revenue of £X with net profit (including my drawings) of £Y per month after £Z in expenses.
- Spend a week in the Caribbean with spouse and another fun couple. Lots of margaritas & sunsets.
- Attend my son's football game every single weekend this spring and autumn.
- Invest £5,000 per month in value stocks and gold/silver.
- Purchase 1 investment property per quarter.
And so on...
Update your power point vision book with new pictures, quotes, etc. that allow you to visualise your new year as these items are achieved and enjoyed. As you're taking all the time off discussed in Point 1, don't be afraid to go to your computer and start developing this new vision for the new year. Just don't start EXECUTING. That's for AFTER the holidays! For now, it's just visioning and planning. No guilt allowed for doing these activities.
Create your plan. To achieve these goals, how much revenue does your business need to deliver? How many clients and at what monthly revenue? For a £20k per month run-rate, you might decide to get 10 clients paying £2k each. So how many initial conversations will you have to have? How many meetings will you have to book? How many proposals will you need to draw up? Plan it all out in intricate detail.
Find a best friend who gets this stuff and is planning or willing to do this process too. In the few days before the new year, get together with your friend by phone or face-to-face and share your goal list. Also share your updated vision books with each other. Celebrate the good things accomplished in the past year. Encourage each other concerning the new things planned and envisioned. If you're people of faith, pray for each other. Bless each other and kick off the new year with passion!
Set high, but realistic goals for yourself and make 2010 your best year yet!
Note from the Editor! If you fancy kick starting your business planning in 2010 then why not join Morgan PR and many other businesses at a 90 Day Planning event on 5th January 2010 at the Hilton Hotel, Chieveley with Sally Rainbow-Ockwell. It is the opportunity for some first class time out among fellow professionals all focused on the future - with an award winning Action Coach. The investment for this event is only £195 (+VAT). Email Sally for further information.