Struggle Less, BE More

I have good news for you…and even better news.

First the good news:  Spring is almost here, just around the corner.  In four months or less, you’ll be wishing you had less work to do, and more time to spend outside.

Better news (for your business): Most of your competition is acting like it’s going to stay winter forever.  They’ve gone into hibernation…or the very least, a slowing down period.

And here is your opportunity:  While everyone else is waiting for a thaw, make the first 100 days of the year your most productive, most exciting and the most successful for your business.  Call it your winter window of opportunity.

Here are seven ideas for starting the year off with a bang (not in order).

1.  Expedite all your goals.  Look at your long-range goals for the year (you do have them, right?)  Now, try and move as many as you can into the first quarter for completion.  You’ll know you’ve moved enough when you start to feel uncomfortable / excited.  Bonus: By doing this you will likely increase the chance they’ll happen at all this year.

2.  Schedule shorter bursts (timeframes) to get things done.  I wrote about bursts in the June issue so I won’t go into it here…use quicker deadlines and shorter timeframes to increase your own sense of urgency…even while everyone around you is wishing for a snow day.

3.  Accomplish something meaningful.  I don’t say this lightly: If you’re not that inspired by any of the goals on your list, where do you expect to get the motivation to get them done?  In addition to your “have to” work…add something REALLY inspiring and big to your list of things to accomplish in the first quarter of this year.  That one thing will help you get motivated for the other goals, too.

4.  Identify a strategic (smart) risk to take that could have a big payoff for your company.  And then take that risk at the beginning of the year when everyone else is hunkered down, waiting for…spring, school to let out, the economy to improve, etc.

5.  Identify where you can over-deliver…and do so.  Clients, customers, colleagues are expecting some great things from you over the next year or two (you’ve even made some promises).   Make good on those expectations and promises by delivering NOW—before springtime, and watch their looks of astonishment.

6.  Schedule yourself a big reward…for when you accomplish all these things in the first three months of the year.  Maybe it’s a real spring break, a trip, a new toy…whatever you would enjoy.  Make it big enough and soon enough that it motivates you.

7.  Enjoy the benefits of actually BEING AHEAD so early.  If you really do accomplish more in the first quarter than most others will all year; if you really do start the year with such a bang…think about what the rest of the year will be like:

You really could enjoy your vacation; you could take the rest of the year to accomplish ten times as much as you ever have in any twelve months before; you could smile instead of commiserate whenever you hear someone else talk about how behind they feel in their work.

You could enjoy what it feels like knowing you’re moving toward your dreams at the pace of a winner.

(This post was previously published in the January 2010 issue of Business Leader http://www.businessleader.bz/ )