How is business? But that is not my real question. Consider how you would frame that answer. If you are networking or selling, you may say, “It’s never been better.” Or around family or friends, you may say, “You know, every day is an adventure.” With close friends, you may confide that sometimes it’s a grind.
Dig deeper! How do you answer the question when you are alone in a room? Does your answer come close to the zeal you had when you started your dream? Would you like it to?
When you launched, life was ripe with possibilities. You knew there would be problems and hurdles ahead, but you had no idea they would be like this or that there would be so many of them.
I have great news for you. You can have that and more excitement and zeal back. You may have packaged your dreams in societally safe norms like wanting to be the boss or get rich. Most likely, however, you launched your business because you wanted to do something you enjoyed. You built your business around the gifts and talents that were created in you. Take a moment to lift the hood and look at the engine and engineering that drove your initial desire. They are still there; we can reinvigorate them. Without a long theological explanation, you like doing what God has designed you to do. He has built these skills and talents into you.
The solution is simple, but the execution requires work. Note that the reward justifies the effort; if done right, the efforts are manageable and fun. To begin, we need to create space between your dreams, the ones you started with, and your present reality. Frankl, a survivor of three Nazi concentration camps, states in his best-seller, A Man’s Search for Meaning: “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
Let’s create a space between your present frustrations and your following actions. This season inherently celebrates the development of space. The birthday we observe is a demarcation. Theologically, Jesus separates sin’s curse and God’s action of sending Him as The Messiah. Secularly, we divide two time periods, BC and AD, based on His birth. It is a natural distinction. Regardless of your faith and life choices, you must acknowledge this as a season of demarcation.
We can choose to wrap up one year this season and then plan for the next. We can create a space between stimulus and response. This is the reason I most enjoy this season.
Begin where you are
Wrap up 2023 by taking a thorough and honest assessment. If you haven’t read my December blog, “Wrap up 2023 TO Start 2024 Right,” do so now. Create or complete your report card. Wrap it clean and clear. That exercise is cathartic because it permits you to set a demarcation point. You can create space between 2023 and your future.
Remember where you are going
Dust off your dreams and aspirations. They can be covered and tarnished with the silt and smoke of daily efforts and exasperations. Pull them out. Dust them off and shine them up. Remind yourself where you designed your visions and plans to take you. That horizon hasn’t moved away. Each of your objectives and goals is within reach. A sage quipped that we consistently overestimate what we can accomplish in a day but tragically underestimate what we can do in five years.
A simple mathematical model demonstrates that if you are at 25% of your goal and can increase your current position by ⅓ (8.25% this year) annually, you will be at 104.0% of your goal at the end of year five. Financial analysts are exuberant when they explain the power of compounding interest. The same is true of effort; its results are compounded with consistent application.
The pertinent fact is that your visions are still realistic, even if contrary to your current reality. Put them back on display. Make the display prominent, at a minimum, prominently visible to you. Keep shining them off until you are proud to share them with interested parties (like me). Set or reset your horizon.
Close the Delta
Statisticians label the gap between two data points as the Delta. The gap between where your organization is and where you want it to be is your Delta. Can you create a plan to improve your current measure by 10%? Be realistic. Set three goals, the main one being your realistic growth expectation. The other two are stretch goals and minimum acceptable expectations. At EWBC, we set stretch goals and dangle gold and jewel-encrusted carrots from those, a.k.a. bonus programs. We also define our minimally acceptable growth goals (often, the minimum is to hold our current station).
Craft your plan
Now that you have your targets, you and your team can craft your plans to get there. This is the fun part. Make it like planning that memorable vacation. Imagining the sites and excursions is as fun and exciting as their realization.
Define your mile markers to achieve each target. Set weekly, monthly, or at least quarterly interim targets. For most targets and most businesses, monthly targets are best. Suppose you set a plan to close 6% of this year’s Delta in January and continue that growth rate; you will close the Delta by the end of the year. Yes, 6% multiplied by 12 months only reaches 72%, but here’s where the financial rule of compounding applies. Your financial expert can explain the rule of 72s if you choose.
Feel the energy
Reading this blog has stirred some remembrances of your initial exuberance. Creating space and completing these exercises will restore and likely increase your drive. What kind of surge can you see with that renewed drive and energy?
Or you can dismiss this and continue trying the same things in 2024 that produced 2023’s results. If you do the same things you’ve done, you are destined to get the same results you’ve gotten. Expecting anything else is insane.
Create destiny! Let 2024 be your year. We are here to serve. With a range of support services, I would enjoy learning enough about your situation and proposing how EWBC might serve you. Use the button below to schedule a complimentary 30-minute Strategy Session. Or if you have a hurdle that might benefit from a fresh perspective, schedule a 60-minute Complimentary Coaching Session.
I am cheering for you!