Happy new year. First, I hope you’ll join me at my free 2016 Revenue Growth Webinar, which I’m hosting live tomorrow at 11AM central time. Register here, and below, where you’ll find more details.
Here is my planning process to prepare for a new year:
1. I review what happened in the year that’s ending, in the form of a long running list. My wife and I sit down and talk about the highlights from the year, personal and professional. This list is as long as you want it to be. I like to work this entire process with a nice fountain pen, and on good paper. It needs to last me the year. Plus, we are planning our lives and companies and sales for the next year, we should do it in style!
2. I distill the history into top lessons. What has the year taught me? What have I learned? This list is shorter, maybe a page, two maximum.
3. Based on the lessons from the ending year, I create my priorities for the new year. These must fit on a single sheet of paper, hand-written. Priorities are different than goals. Priorities are areas on which to focus my attention and effort. Goals are often quantified arbitrarily, and can lead to failure as often as success and always one of the two. Priorities come with no such definitions or rules.
4. I hold a series of conversations with mentors, colleagues and friends to review my lessons from the ending year and the priorities for the new year. I do four to six of these, one-on-one, to get feedback and analysis from people I trust — as well as ideas from their lessons and priorities.
5. I edit and tweak my priorities for the new year, and create a final list. I then reference it to write up my priorities for each quarter of the year, as they come, and then for each month, before a new one begins. It’s my roadmap to the year. Critically,
I allow myself the freedom to edit the year’s priorities throughout the year. Things might lose relevance or importance as we move through the months. Conversely, if a new important priority pops up in October, it is amended to the list.
I allow myself a couple of relaxed weeks to go through this process. With focus and urgency, it can be done in an hour or two. Neither way is incorrect. I simply like to marinate in this stuff. I enjoy it. It relaxes me, and focuses me on what’s important.
It’s not too late for you to apply this process to your own work. In fact, right now is just the right time for this.
Here’s to a wonderful, exciting new year of good health, possibilities attained, and all kinds of new revenue deposited!
The Evangelist Marketing Institute is a revenue growth consultancy specializing in aggressive sales growth for closely-held companies. If you’d like to discuss growing your business quickly and easily, please call Alex Goldfayn directly at 847-459-6322, or email at alex[at]evangelistmktg[.]com
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