The end of the calendar year usually offers business owners and professionals an opportunity to breathe for a few days. While your competition is waiting for the new year to start, give yourself a strategic advantage by setting aside time to actually LEARN from what has happened (or not) over the past year.
After all, how can you expect to make things different this coming year, if you can’t quite remember what happened in February?
Three questions you could learn from:
1. How do your 2009 goals compare to your actual accomplishments?
2. What surprised you this year? Disappointed you? Thrilled you?
3. What will the business have to do differently in order for 2010 to be an improvement on last year?
Just in case you’ve never made this a part of your end of year routine…three ways to do it:
1. Take a walk with a small notebook or have a cup of coffee with a blank notepad. Answer the three questions above. Actually reflect and think about how your choices and circumstances last year have brought you where you are now.
2. Ask your leadership team, or your closest clients and colleagues to give you three ideas for how you could work better or serve them better in 2010.
3. Take a day out and retreat with your closest people. Dig a little deeper into the analysis above AND dream bigger for the coming year. When I lead these for clients, the learning that is uncovered is almost always insightful and decidedly worth the time.
Your real creative edge: Ask yourself: What behaviors (or attitude) OF MINE do I need to change in order for my business to do better next year? How must I change personally, so it can grow?
While the others are just hoping for an improvement next year, YOU can be doing the work and learning necessary to make it so.
(This post was previously published in the December 2009 issue of Business Leader http://www.businessleader.bz/ )
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Written by Tom Plake
Topics: Wake Up