It’s about this time of year my mind starts turning to 2022.
That may sound a little early to start thinking about what’s going to happen four months from now, but in truth what I do now will determine how next year starts.
- Whether all the loose ends get tied up.
- Whether I have new opportunities and projects lined up when I come back.
- Whether I take the break I need/ deserve or spend Xmas with nagging thoughts in the back of my mind.
It’s one of the reasons I like to do a Pre-End of Year Review to stocktake:
- What’s gone well and has been achieved
- What has slowed us down or got in the way
- What’s unfinished
- What’s needs to get done before December
- What can wait until next year
It’s the best way to “get real” about the final quarter, rather than carrying on like what you planned to do back in January is still exactly what’s going to happen.
The truth (as you would know from advising your own clients) is most people’s path to where they want to get to is very rarely what they think it’s going to be.
The environment can change. The economy can change. Business outcomes can change. Stuff will change but…
… having a strategy you connect with it is the key to being able to see past the “noise” and play the long game.
I wanted to share this five minute summary of one of our foundational modules on the program.
It’s one piece of training I:
- run as part of our Fast Track Clean Restart program we run each January, w
- recommend anyone who comes aboard our Leveraged Online starts with,
- walk our new Leverage Advice Firm members through 1:1 when we start working together.
The video explains it best, but this is about asking a few questions in a specific order.
Question 1: What do you personally want from your business?
The rewards from being a business have to align with what you aspire to in terms of lifestyle and also your long term values, otherwise, the chances are the passion will run out before anything else.
Question 2: What’s the purpose behind your business?
I call this your mission. It’s the reason your business exists in terms of the impact you want to have on those you (aim) to serve.
There are various different ways you can talk about business mission, but at its core when we make it about:
- the “dent” you’re going to put in the universe,
- the difference you make in client’s life,
- a big target you’re aiming for.
…it makes it easier to motivate yourself and your team to want to achieve it.
Question 3: What’s your motivation statement?
A lot of people have tattoos, often to remind them of things that matter.
It’s the same reason condensing your strategy it into one simple, memorable statement matters.
You’re not going to remember all the detail of your vision (although carrying it in a Journal like the one I created for myself and program members helps), but when you can remember the overall concept, idea or context because of one small statement, your plan ceases to exist only as a written document.
Instead it becomes something that lives inside the mind of yourself and those you’re relying on to help make it happen.
How about you? What’s your 3 to 5 year strategy focus?