The 1st of January traditionally prompts all our new year’s resolutions; spring cleaning;”clear out the old bring in the new” and so on… but really in life and business these actions should be an ongoing process to continually assess our achievements; address our shortcomings and fine tune our forward progress at regular intervals – evaluating once a year is just not enough.
This aside, a new year at least prompts us to assess where we are and where we want to be. A logical progression from this thinking will be to set (realistic) goals and objectives for the year. Make these decisions more concrete by writing them down. Now go a step further and break these goals into “bite size chunks” – put each objective into a “step by step” process and allocate sections of each objective a realistic time to achieve. Now you can insert these “deadlines” into your diary/Outlook calendar/iPhone/Blackberry to check if you have completed these partial goals as planned. Now our New Year’s Resolutions have turned into monthly reviews – just by writing them down!
One of my ongoing efforts to improve and grow my personal and business knowledge is to follow many successful “icons” in business and life coaching. One of my favourites is Ken McCarthy. One of the original pioneers of the internet and still running jam-packed “System Seminars” every year – he has highlighted two very specific actions that will undoubtedly make 2010 a better year for you:
The first is: READ – the world is an ever-changing arena and our success in this moving marketplace will be helped significantly by keeping informed and updated; building on existing skills and refreshing those skills we already have. Search out your “gurus” and take note of what they recommend to read. Make a list of the books you would like to read. Access to this information is so much easier today. If your budget is low or non existant, much of the literature you can find on the internet. Regardless of the advances of the Internet, Libraries are still going strong and can keep you stocked up with your chosen reading matter. Amazon.com has an excellent second-hand and nearly new market of books where you can obtain most titles for a fraction of the book shop prices.
We are currently reviewing our marketing efforts for Sant Blai and Grupo Mallorca Select and I can highly recommend a best seller from another of my “gurus” Mark Joyner – his book “The irresistible Offer” is rocket fuel for your business if you are selling a service or product.
Ken’s second area for action in 2010 is: FOCUS – through his network of thousands of subscribers to his newsletters and seminars he asked his students what was their main concern for 2010. He was initially surprised to find “Focus” as the main concern in his survey. But if we analyse just what has happened in 2009 with Social Networking alone we can see a maze of new information and new ways to communicate. Knowing which of these mediums to use and how, could occupy a lot of our time without harbouring any of the potential. I have one friend who is actually contributing to 150 different Social networks. Focus will of course become a concern in this environment.
My advice on keeping Focused for 2010 (achieved through hours, days and weeks of scouring the internet for my holy grail!)
– Keep it Simple:
i) Select just a few of the most respected experts in your field. Follow their Blogs, subscribe to their newsletters and if possible save them to a desktop programme such as Google Reader.
ii) Allocate Reading times to dedicate to catching up on this information and adapting what is useful for you. Don’t try to read each new article as it arrives in your inbox, as you will definitely be sidetracked from your core business focus (believe me I’ve been there!)
ii) If you find you’re chosen guru’s information is not delivering value for you – delete/unfollow/unsubscribe – keep your reading time for real targeted learning for you.
My office reorganisation for 2010 was completed on the 30th of December. My goals and objectives have been transferred to Excel checklists; Outlook calendars; Computer screen savers and new for 2010 – A diary (sometimes the old systems can still be better!). My office has also seen the addition of a Wall sized “brainstorming” white board.
And last but not least to maintain my Focus (away from excessive facebook; twitter;internet marketers and youtube) – my Procrastination Cube – no office is complete without it!!
Here’s to a Happy, Productive and Successful 2010 for you and yours..
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Roger Swain 