Are you ready to have your best business year? Did you know that businesses perform better when they have a plan? I’ve read a statistic that they perform 60% better. Sixty percent!
I’m already a big believer in goal setting and business planning, but if I weren’t, that number would get my attention.
One of the things that I always like to do in December is hunker down for some serious goal-setting and business-planning for the following year.
A lot of people wait until January to work on their business plans when they are all excited about the fresh calendar and starting with a clean slate. It’s the same reason that gym memberships, fitness equipment, and diet programs are so popular in January. However, most of that energy has fizzled by February.
I think it’s better to start planning earlier. That way you can hit the ground running on January 2 and work at a more sustainable pace that won’t fizzle out.
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One of my favorite ways to plan is to use a guided approach. When I worked in the corporate world, each year we brought in a facilitator who would guide the leadership team through group brainstorming sessions to generate lots of ideas and transform those ideas into strategies and plans for the coming year.
As a solopreneur, I don’t have resources like training or strategic development departments to assist me. So, instead, I use a workbook to guide me through the business planning process.
This year, I’m using Lisa Jacobs’ Your Best Year: Final Draft. I first discovered Lisa’s workbooks a couple of years ago when I came across Your Best Year 2015 on another website.
Your Best Year is designed to help you discover more of what you want from your business (and life) and then go after it.
One of the things I love about Your Best Year is that it will help you cut out the time-wasting inefficiencies, mindless busywork, and bad habits that may have crept into your routine. It has dozens of exercises designed to help you make the most of the coming year. You’ll end up feeling motivated and empowered, with an action plan for success.
- You’ll start by looking at what it really takes to reach your goals and get your mind right for the year ahead.
- Then, you’ll assess your current status and what you’re up against so that you can measure the distance between where you are where you want to be.
- You’ll create a clear vision and build a strategy to reach your annual goals.
- Lastly, you’ll create a schedule of what you’ll focus on and a monthly action plan that will define what you need to do to create the goal-getting year that you want.
And. . .it’s available now.
Here are some highlights of my favorite things included in Your Best Year:
- Prompts, goal-setting exercises, goal-prioritizing exercises and tough questions that will help you create results.
- Trackers and review to help you make the most of your time with high-efficiency and focus.
- A mix of instruction and application.
- Refreshers on the fundamentals: what to focus on, how to make progress, how to achieve your goals.
- Examples for every worksheet so that you don’t have to guess what an exercise means.
Do you want to create real and lasting change in your business this year? I do and I hope you’ll join me!
Here’s to Your Best Year yet!
Hi, I signed up for your free goal planning.
I am not a business person, but I am a creative writer with a goal of building a readership toward publication.
Glad to have you onboard, Mary!