Plan for Success

Planning is one of the most important things you can do for your business.  If you take the time toward the last quarter of the year and get a plan in place for the New Year, you can hit the ground running in January.

You will know where you’re going and have an idea of how you’re going to get there.  If you wait until after the first of the year to start your planning, it could be February or March before you really get going.  That can be 4-10 weeks of lost time.

Even worse is not planning.  That’s like deciding to blindfold yourself, take a dart, throw it out there, and take what you get.

Now, I know that thinking about planning can be a bit overwhelming, but you don’t have to put every little detail down.  Get a good overview together with some rough ideas of how you’re going to get there and in what timeline.

Inevitably things will change in your plan.  You can fill in the details as you go when have more information.

We are two weeks away from the end of the year … it’s time to get some planning done.

Planning Tips

Here are 5 tips to get you started:

1. Decide what you want to accomplish over the next year.

• How much income do you want to make?
• How many new clients or customers do you want to add?
• What types of things do you want to offer?
• What do you want to launch over the year? Etc.

2. Get a year at a glance calendar and insert the most important items first.

• I start with family vacations and time I want to make sure I have set aside for my family and myself. If you put this in first it really helps you keep a balance with work, family, and time for yourself.
• Then put in any business travel, conferences, trainings etc. that you know you will be attending in the next year.
• Then plug in any big launches or offers you want to do. Work backwards and schedule in the marketing time to promote them.

3. Then get all the medium stuff down.

• Any speaking or lead generating activity you want to do.
• Anything you want to develop
• Anything else that comes to mind, Etc.

4. Then fill in with some of the smaller stuff you do on a weekly or monthly basis.

• Newsletters, blogs etc.
• Programs you hold meetings for on a regular basis.
• Any weekly or monthly events you may be attending.

5. Step back and get an overview.

• Do you have enough income-producing activity planned to meet your financial goal for the year?
• Is there space still for new opportunities or adjustments to happen?
• Do you have enough personal time blocked out? – This is really important to check in on.
• Looking at the overview, do you feel excited and a little stretched? (This is good. It means you are sitting at the edge of your comfort zone), or
• Do you look at it and go immediately into overwhelm mode – Maybe timelines need to be adjusted.

Remember, this is a fluid plan.  Things are going to change but you have a place to start from that is going to take you where you want to go.

Want Better Results in 2018?

Also, to create bigger and better results in your business, this year you have to be willing to step to the edge of your comfort zone! It’s where all the magic happens. If you want a little bit of a kick, start with this one. Try my FREE 7-Day Comfort Zone Challenge.

Be willing to be flexible, adjust when needed, and sometimes a complete pivot will be in order.  If you’re willing to do this, then you are on your way to one successful year!

To a GREAT 2018!