As we get to the end of the year a lot of people are looking back and already saying they are glad it’s over. Yet somehow they aren’t feeling any better about next year. Are you glad that 2010 is almost over? Are you thinking 2011 is going to be worse like most people do? Do you find it at least a little funny that we break up our life and businesses into an arbitrary time period that ends with our most expensive time of the year.
I don’t know about you, but somehow we spend a lot of money every year during the holidays we didn’t plan on. People we forgot, customers we wanted to thank a little more and that one extra thing for someone special that all add up to an empty feeling looking back over the year.
How Do You Think Your Business Will Be In 2011?
In business, we look at last year and make predictions and assumptions about next year. The funny part is how few people really spend the time to understand why anything happened last year. I am not a big fan of reflection at the end of the year. I want you to do just enough to find the 20% of your work that led to 80% of your income. Now you have something to focus on for next year.
Normally that 20% is the stuff you have fun doing, and your customers really like you to do for them. I could do bookkeeping for my clients, and I don’t. Why not? Bookkeepers can make great money. The answer is simple. I don’t have fun doing it, and my clients can easily find other people to do it for less money. By not doing a service I am perfectly capable of, we both win.
Remember 2010 Like A Champion
There is a story about Arnold Palmer that is worth sharing with you here. Mr. Palmer remarked after losing a major golf tournament that things like this happen even when you don’t miss a putt under 6 feet. When a reporter asked him about a putt he had missed during the tournament he replied "Son you're not listening I did not miss any putts under 6 feet."
Arnold Palmer’s attitude of focusing on the positive and only remembering the positive, is a lesson we should all take with us into the new year. When you look at the positive things that happened to your businesses this year, and focus on those areas for next year the effect can be amazing.
I have seen small businesses that have been around for years make triple digit growth numbers after making this kind of change in outlook. Everything you do in your business will change when you change your focus to the positive things. Your marketing will change, your customers will change, and maybe even a few of your employees or contractors will change.
Focus On A Positive 2011
If you look back at all the negative things that happened in your business, you are bound to get more of the same next year. If your marketing didn’t work this year, change it. Apply it in a way that reflects the things that did work. If you worked to hard on projects that didn’t make any money, stop doing those projects and focus your time on those projects that did make money. Make a resolution this year to lighten your load and only carry the positive of 2010 with you into 2011. You'll be happier, your business will run better and your customers will thank you for it.
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