This week, you’re going to start hearing the word “New Year’s Resolutions” being mentioned quite frequently.
But you won’t hear those words in this blog.
Instead, I’m more interested in helping owners create their Business Resolutions for the New Year, and less concerned about personal New Year’s Resolutions like “Spending more time with family and friends”, “Losing weight”, and “Getting organized” (though these are important, too).
Just ask any entrepreneur about what Business Resolutions they have planned for their upcoming year, and you’ll find they immediately start talking about all the tasks that they didn’t accomplish in the previous year, while quickly rattling off everything they’d like to accomplish moving ahead.
This response is pretty common because most owners I work with are bottom-line, results-oriented people. They focus on the question: “Did we hit our goals or not?” When they miss their target, they quickly detail their mistakes and where they fell short on a particular goal, and their minds immediately focus on what they’re going to do better in the future.
If you own a business, I have a suggestion for you. There’s a better way to create your Business Resolutions for 2015.
Here’s my advice: Before you start listing everything you didn’t accomplish in 2014, and start beating yourself up over what you didn’t complete, first focus on what you achieved.
This will be new for you, but before you focus on 2015, I want you to make a list of every major business accomplishment you achieved in 2014. If you have to, do this with your spouse, partner, employees, or anyone who has a solid knowledge of your business. Look back at your calendar if you have to. Month by month, write down the major accomplishments you achieved, the new aspects of your business that you created, and all the innovative ways you grew your business successfully in 2014.
What I want you to do is start the New Year by patting yourself on the back for what you accomplished, not focusing on what you didn’t do. This is important because the successes you achieved in 2014 can be repeated and multiplied if you focus on the steps that you took to create those successes. But this only works if you take the time to replay them.
If you’ve never taken the time to list your business achievements in the previous year, try it. It’s very rewarding!
First, you’ll find there’s a huge feeling of accomplishment when you read a list of everything you achieved in your business.
Second, if you are one of those over-achieving perfectionists who has a tendency to always bite-off-more-than-you-can-chew, and then, chew it anyway, this will give you time to reflect on the monumental assortment of tasks that you completed.
Third, you might just look at the list and say, “Now I know why I’m so tired!”
Do me a favor: Don’t rush through this exercise. They’ll be plenty of time to think about all the goals you didn’t accomplish. Being the perfectionists that most of you are, there’s a good chance that you set the bar too high on what you wanted to accomplish in 2014 anyway. It could be that you tried to accomplish too much with too few resources, like time, money, or help from others.
Trust me: They’ll be plenty of time for you to focus on all the goals you didn’t accomplish that you’ve already been kicking yourself for not achieving.
For now, I want you to focus on what was right about your business in 2014. Doing this now will give you a much better shot at creating greater successes in 2015.
At first, this might be hard for you because you’re a master at dwelling on all the areas where you fall short.
But take a day or two, make your list, evaluate where you excelled, and just bask in the afterglow of your accomplishments. Your mind will appreciate the time you give it to replay your successes.
If you’re like most business owners I consult with, you’ll come to the realization that you achieved more than you remembered.
Face it: You made great strides. 2014 was a challenging year and you came out the other side.
Congratulations! Well done! Happy New Year to all of your successes!
Jon