I’ve had several conversations this week with people who are reviewing various aspects of their business – getting ready to make changes and move forward in the year ahead.
Now many of you will already know that I highly value this process of thinking and reflecting – that the value of business planning is in the process itself, not the piece of paper you end up with afterwards.
And I’ve written about clarity and how achieving it is an ongoing process.
So if you’re in the mood to think and reflect, find some clear space in your day, make yourself a cup of something warming and settle down with these questions.
Thinking about this year so far …
- During which project or piece of work did you deliver the most value?
- For which client did you deliver the greatest value overall?
- What do they have now that they lacked before working with you?
- Which client did you most enjoy working with?
- What piece of work gave you the greatest sense of fulfilment?
- What was your most lucrative piece of work?
- What did you least enjoy about your year overall?
Your reflections around each question can include:
- What went especially well and why?
- What could have gone better and why?
- What does this mean for your work going forward?
- What changes could you make?
- What changes will you make?
Key tip
Thinking by definition happens in the mind. When asking yourself these questions, see if you can shift focus and tune into how you feel as you start to reflect …
On a scale of 1 to 10, to what degree are you smiling inside?
Revisit these questions as often as you like. The year end has no exclusive ownership on planning – indeed, ‘little and often’ is better than one mammoth session once a year. That’s making it just too hard because you’ll put an enormous amount of pressure on yourself to come up with some amazing transformation to cure all your problems – and that’s likely to feel overwhelming.
