New Beginnings

I don’t know about you, but I love beginning a new year. Every year, I take time over the Holidays to evaluate and plan.

Did I obtain the goals I set the previous year? (notice I say goals and not resolutions)
If not, why?
What goals do I want to set for myself in the new year?

I recommend keeping a spiral notebook. Lay out your plans and goals for the new year, review them every month as you go through the year. Ask yourself:

Am I on track to obtaining my goals?
Do I need to set new goals and reach even further?
What changes do I need to make in my business to get me focused and on the right path?
Am I “wandering” through each day or do I go into work with a plan and a to-do list with laser focus?
What’s keeping me from obtaining my goals?

What is your ultimate goal? Don’t be afraid of setting a HUGE goal, why? You are capable of reaching amazing heights. Set the highest goal you want to obtain, but also set smaller goals leading up to the ultimate one. Also, be specific. “I want to earn 30% more in 2014 by increasing online sales” is much more effective than to say “I want to be rich”.

By tracking your plans and goals every year in a notebook, you can watch your dreams unfold before you. It will become a very valuable tool as your business grows and also kind of fun once you’ve reached your ultimate goal to go back and see how you did it……maybe one day you can use your notes and strategies to write a book to help others.

When setting goals, this quote always comes to mind: How do you eat an elephant, one bite at a time. The same goes for goals: obtain them one at a time.

You may find you need more than one notebook. Maybe one for business and one for personal goals. This year I am doing something a little different. I started a spiral for each area of my business:

Licensing
Patterns
Gather, Dream, Create Inner Circle (GDCIC)
Create Healthy You (my new addition for 2014)

The first page, I wrote what goals I hope to obtain for 2014. Below, I wrote my ideas and plans to obtain that goal. As I go through the week, month, year, I will write down any and all important information. For instance, when I do a Facebook advertising campaign, I will log the progress and outcome of that ad campaign. When I have a new idea for a GDCIC tutorial, I will write notes in that notebook. Conversations with artists that I would like to interview, I will take notes. Almost like having a diary. Great ideas can sometimes get lost in the shuffle, so write them down…and more importantly write them down in an orderly fashion.