by Cat Matson
‘tis the season to be jolly for sure... and merry and grateful and happy.
It’s also the season to be reflective, giving thought to the year coming to an end and what lies ahead.
And of course it’s also the season to be busy and often overwhelmed, tired and in need of a holiday.
Many business owners ‘check-out’ at this time of the year, ‘running on empty’ to cross an imaginary finish line around Christmas Eve. They then resurface (usually physically but not in spirit) sometime after January 1st. Token thoughts are given to ‘Resolutions’ for 2010.... but in most cases we stay in half-work – half-business mode until school returns. By then it’s February, things are starting to get busy again... and a month of the year has already gone.
For savvy business owners however, this time of year provides an opportunity to ‘check-in’ with the business. You can review your performance for 2009 and establish objectives and goals for the year ahead.
Sounds boring I know... particularly when there are so many other fun activities calling. But taking some time out to reflect on your business and set some new year’s goals doesn’t have to be a drag... rather a mindset that you incorporate into your holiday festivities.
In these remaining days before Christmas, start a dialogue with the people around you about their goals for 2010. This allows you to be in conversation about your goals too... at the very least, thinking about them. Use downtime (in between appointments, doing the shopping) to jot down some of those thoughts ... this will help your thought process and invite your mind to keep working on them in the background.
Then when you do have some quiet time during the Christmas week (even New Year’s Day itself), review those notes and commit to some objectives – doesn’t have to be fancy, just give yourself a couple of goals to work on as projects for the new year.
And then 2010 will be the season for what you want it to be.
(if you want to continue these kinds of conversations, check out my PowerSource workshop, combining the best of strategic planning, real-life resourcing and MasterMinding).
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