2020 – Let’s get EXCITED about our Businesses!
Being in business for yourself is EXCITING or at least it should be – if it’s not exciting and full of opportunity then you may as well hang up your hat and go and get a job working for someone else. Business is also really hard and full of ups, downs and curveballs that appear when you least expect them and with all of this comes DISTRACTIONS – lots of them!
2019 was a pretty big year for me and as usual, I set myself some pretty big goals – some I achieved – I launched my own podcast, kept my business ticking over whilst having a baby and spoke at some pretty great events). And some goals I missed like have my first baby at home, speak in front of 1000 people or more and get my new brand and website launched.
On reflection, I set myself too many goals and some of them were a little too big. I focussed too much on the bigger picture instead of the smaller things required to make the big picture a reality. I got too distracted and as a leading member of the Shiny Object Syndrome Club didn’t quite achieve everything I set out too.
Think SMALL instead of BIG
Every new year it seems that every man and his dog are posting inspirational quotes and content about thinking big, implementing loads of new habits and setting ambitious goals. For this reason, I generally stay away from social media around Christmas and New Year as I find it all a bit much.
We all vastly overestimate what we can achieve in one year and then end the year getting disappointed with the things we haven’t done.
If you’re anything like me, full of ambition with lots of things you want to achieve and conquer then I encourage you to think SMALL instead of BIG. You can achieve MORE and get further without being disappointed or frustrated with yourself. There’s a great interview with world-renowned business mentor, Paul Dunn on my podcast which talks about the power of small – it’s well worth a listen and you can check it out here.
We’re all sitting on a wealth of opportunity, a network of people we can tap into to help us. We can revisit and optimise lots of things to make them work better for us. Yet, we’ve often become too busy or too distracted to see them.
Train your business like an Olympian
As a bit of background, I’m a huge sports fan and when I hurt my back in an accident years ago I stopped rowing competitively and started coaching instead.
This was a pretty pivotable point in my life and in my career as I changed from a terrible manager at work into a leader. I rediscovered my love of learning. I studied the methods of some of my sporting heroes including Clive Woodward, Alex Ferguson and Dave Brailsford.
I realised that if you want to win a World Cup or a medal at the Olympics then you weren’t going to achieve this in a year – it takes a lot of hard work, practice, ups and downs and perseverance. It needs a clear plan of action and a coach that has your back to help you get there.
A good coach will help you slow down when you need to, identify small changes that will help speed you up and be there to keep that fire and excitement in the end goal alive.
It’s exactly the same in business.
Every 12 weeks I run through a set of self-coaching questions and wanted to share them with you here. If you can take some time to think about the answers to each then I guarantee you’ll be able to identify small steps you can take to leverage what you already have and make big changes in your business.
IMPORTANT: Always start by celebrating the positive things that have happened – what wins have you had, what successes can you celebrate? Practise gratitude and set yourself up for success by framing your mindset in a positive way.
Self-coaching questions
- What are my 3 biggest wins in the last 12 weeks?
- What are you most excited about right now?
- What’s working well right that I need to CONTINUE doing?
- What do I need to STOP doing in the business that’s not serving me well?
- What do I need to START doing that will help me work towards my goals and what do I have access to already that will help me do it?
- What I am avoiding and how am I going to address it?
- Is there anything demotivating me right now and if so how am I going to address it?
- How am I going to treat myself in 12 weeks when I hit my next set of goals?
Let’s make 2020 a year and a decade to remember but let’s start by making the first quarter amazing!
If you’d like more information around leveraging LinkedIn to help you win more business and raise your profile in your industry then I offer lots of free resources to help you get started as well as training, coaching and strategic services.
FREE RESOURCES:
- Blog articles here on this website including the LinkedIn for Lead Generation Blueprint which you can download here
- Regular posts and Articles on my LinkedIn Profile
- Podcast Episodes specifically focussed around using LinkedIn as a key business development and lead gen tool – I’ve been invited on many podcasts to speak about LinkedIn – you can see the list here and listen at your leisure
- My Podcast: The Curiosity Key – although this is not focussed on LinkedIn many of my guests have seen huge results from using it so it’s a great place to hear case studies and get inspiration
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