New Year Plan

Posted by Vivianne Barry -  17 January 2012.

The new year has clocked over and a whole year lies ahead of us, with a network of possibilities.   Are you rested and inspired, ready to go with a plan of action?  Will those great ideas that emerged over the summer break see the light of day?

It can be a daunting and uncomfortable activity to chart out the big ideas and distil them into a plan of action.  But there’s nothing like verbalising or writing down your intentions to kick-start the alchemy of materialisation.  List them.  Map them.  Tell them.  Start the process of making them real and holding yourself accountable.

Your intention to innovate and succeed becomes more powerful when you declare it.

Desire & Vision

If those big ideas are not flowing, ask yourself: ‘What do I want more of?’ ‘What lights me up?’.

This is how to tap into your energy reserves and getting the inspiration flowing.  Out of desire springs action.  So don’t hold back on thinking Big and Bold.  Let the juicy ideas flow.  This is the first step of the planning process.

Time + white space + desire = Vision

Focus & Planning

Then get real and set your sights on tangible, realistic shorter term goals.   Draw up a Plan that is a stirred-down concentrate, an essence of your Vision.   Just as powerful, but manageable in the shorter term.

Time to focus with clarity and ruthlessness.  Decide what to keep & what to leave. Learn to let go and move on from those aspects of your business that are not working for you.  It’s not the losses in business and life that brings us down ... it’s clinging to them.   Recognise them, learn from them and roll on.

Focus.  Learn to love the inevitable pain of getting focused.  The kind of pain that hurts so good!  Like the dull ache after a great workout, after giving your heart and  lungs a good burn-out.   It’s a discipline.  A commitment to the success of your business.

We’ve created a simple tool for you to kick-start the process.  A one page Business Action Plan.  Here is an opportunity to distil your Plan for the year into one page.  Outline your key goals for 2012.  Use it.  Involve others.  Enjoy the pain of focusing on your goals!

You may already have a plan or budget for 2011/12.  Now is the time to reset the next 6 months and update for any material changes.  Your plan needs to reflect where you’re going – not where you thought you were going!

Make sure to set SMART goals:  Specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely goals.  Allocate tasks to specific people.  Set a timeline with clear responsibilities that motivate action. 

It’s always good to have a motivator.  A business coach.  That’s where we come into the picture.  To advise, motivate and keep you on track.  We can guide your team through the process during a ½ day workshop.  Or, if you complete it yourself, send us a copy and we can hold you to it with a quarterly progress check.

Make your Plan visible.  Make yourself accountable to those around you.  Believe that you can and incredible things will happen!  Set yourself up for a year of focused action and your best results yet.   You can do it!

Related links: Business Planning; One Page Business Action Plan