As you greet a new year, it’s a natural time to set goals for what you will achieve in the upcoming 12 months and to reflect on your accomplishments of the past.
How did you do last year? The bottom line doesn’t lie. In fact, bank statements are so honest that some people will ignore getting to the bottom line for weeks or months. They’re afraid of bad news.
Have you, or someone you know, ever waited with baited breath for an accountant to declare if the company is still afloat as they hand over the tax filings? Yes? No? Am I the only one?
Maybe the bottom line doesn’t tell the entire story for small business owners. While dollars and cents are the lifeblood of your business, you can also celebrate intangible victories, whether your bottom line is printed in black or red ink.
Did you learn a new skill or master a technique? How many new friendships did you forge through networking, collaborating, volunteering and prospecting? Is your home or office more welcoming because you finally eliminated clutter last year? Were you free to spend more time with family or pursuing personal goals?
There’s more to life than keeping your nose to the grindstone…but the more that stone grinds, the more it supports the lifestyle of its owner!
So, let’s turn the page and look forward. How big are your goals for 2019? How much growth do you project to create in the next 12 months?
And most importantly: Does that number scare you just a little bit?
If it doesn’t, keep putting zeroes on the end of it until you get a lump in your throat!
We threw a number on the wall last week in a planning conversation. I began to sweat a little bit, because I realized it meant I’d have to work 1000 more hours next year.
There are other means to reaching our financial goals besides forfeiting sleep, weekends, vacations and holidays…but my first thought was “how am I going to manage this myself?”
If our goals were a tree trunk, they had officially grown too thick to wrap our arms around and touch fingers. And that’s when it hit me. I needed to put this in my plan; a comprehensive plan that creates more desire in the marketplace and outlines new delivery systems for fulfilling customer demand.
Rather than shrink the tree, we’re defining new ways to increase our reach.
We hope your tree is too fat to hug, too! Let your dreams direct your goals, and your goals drive your actions.
