Tis the season for family gatherings, good food, holiday shopping, and setting goals for 2015. Have you set your professional or personal 2015 goals? What are your sales goals? What improvements and changes are you going to implement in 2015 for your career and life? How are you going to make them happen? Every business that is growing and evolving experiences “growing pains” and this is the natural progression of life. I have been reading a ton of articles, blogs, and eBooks lately that talk about setting goals and boundaries for yourself and your business. There are several approaches to setting your goals and managing life/work balance. However, the one constant in everything that I have read is taking a step back and evaluating what it is that we really want in the “big picture” for our lives or our businesses. This is the most crucial step of figuring out what’s next. Here are some questions to ask to get the ball rolling for growth in 2015:
- What am I best at? This can be work related skills or it can be something as wonderful as “I make people around me feel accepted and appreciated.” The skills that we are best at are not always the skills that we choose to focus on.
- Where do I want to be in 3-5 years? Notice I did not say where do you see yourself in 3-5 years, but rather where do you want to be. This is important when setting goals; if you do not know what you want, then you will not be fulfilled or as happy as you could be. I was given the task of putting together a Vision Board with a very strict rule that it MUST be what I wanted and not what my family, co-workers, or clients want. I cannot express how difficult this task was for me to do. I had forgotten to think “big picture” for myself.
- What brings you pride or joy? When you think over the past year, what events or accomplishments have brought you the most joy? Are these events duplicable? How can you share this with your team or family?
While planning for 2015, please ask yourself the above questions and really take the time to think “Big Picture.” These questions and thought processes will serve you well in your professional and personal life for many years to come.