Before you draw a line in the sand on 2015, take time to reflect.

Here we are, our last article of 2015. One of the benefits of running my own business is that I can choose my own holidays; I have no restrictions around the number of days I can take or the time of year I choose to take them. This of course is dependant on how well my business is performing and if it is performing well enough to provide me with the lifestyle (which includes holidays) that I choose. I am more than happy to say that it certainly has done this and one of the key reasons for that is the time we, as a business, dedicate to planning out each and every year.

As planning is all about the future, we can sometimes forget to look back at the past and what it has to teach us about the way forward. As a prerequisite to any planning process, I would encourage you to take some time out for reflection.

When doing our own plans and when working with clients these are just a few of the questions we ask, and I thought you might like to give them a go and see what you learn in the process:

What have been the high points of the year?

What have you learned in the last 12 months?

How have you developed personally?

What didn’t go so well?

Have I achieved all my goals?

What was the best piece of advice I got or book I read this year?

Where was most of my focus this year?

What gave me the greatest sense of achievement?

Which actions brought about the biggest results?

If was there a newspaper headline describing this past year in your business/life, what would it say?

What unfinished business did you want to resolve before the years end and when will you do it?

When were you most excited about life in this past year? What were you doing? Who were you with?

What one thing would you have done differently in the past year?

Where did you let fear hold you back from achieving a goal you had set?

What new dream for yourself did you achieve?

What were your top five wins?

What were your top five challenges?

What are the top five things you are grateful for this year?

What are the top five books you have read and acted upon this year?

Looking back over the past year and looking forward into next year what do you need to...

Start doing?

Stop doing?

Continue and improve doing?

On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate your achievements?

What could you have done differently to score higher?

On average, how many hours a week did you work this year?

How do you feel about that?

On a scale of 1-10 how do you rate the following:

Staff recruitment and retention?

Team support?

Team morale?

How do you feel about this?

If you were to take the time to fully consider these questions you find that it becomes easier to be clear about what you want for 2016. What is 2016 going to be about for you? More of the same? Something much better? Something really exciting? The choice is yours.

Enjoy this exercise and whatever you decide you are looking forward to in 2016. May I take this opportunity to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Very Prosperous New Year from all of us at Momentum Performance Coaching.

This Winning Idea Could Produce Transformational Results For Your Business…

What I would like to share with you this week is a concept that, if applied, could be game changing for your business and, indeed, your life.

After 9 years of rowing and with no medals to show for it, Ben Hunt Davies and the other members of the GB Men’s 8 rowing team decided that to be successful things needed to change.

The year was 1998 and in two years’ time they would have the opportunity to achieve a gold medal at the Sydney Olympics.

They had, like all great athletes, set goals in the past, but sadly not achieved them. So what was the problem? After a lot of soul searching they realised it came down to the fact that they were thinking like eight individuals and not like a team. They were focused on themselves.

They realised they needed was a single point of focus and a way of keeping that focus. Their vision was of course a gold medal at the Sydney Olympics. The question they now needed to ask themselves was “how can we make sure everything we do on a day to day basis over the next two years will help us achieve our vision?”

Their decision was to create a team culture that would be led by a single question, “Will it make the boat go faster?” Every decision they would make over the coming two years would have to answer that question. They had themselves a thematic goal.

One really important word here is ‘culture’. Did a team of eight rowers have any egos?  Of course they did, and that was considered to be necessary. What wasn’t allowed was for the egos to get into the boat. In other words, before anybody gets in the boat make sure you leave your ego on the jetty.

The team realised that their behaviours towards each other would be key to changing their outcomes and they needed to foster a culture of trust, respect and honesty. Everything they did in their lives would now be focused on that one question, “Will it make the boat go faster?”

To give you an idea of how this worked, here are some examples:

If one of the team were to wake up in the morning, look out of the window and see snow and ice on the ground they had a decision to make, get back into that nice warm bed or get dressed and get down to the freezing cold river for some gruelling training. Will getting into bed make the boat go faster? No, so off they went to training.

A friend invites them out for a couple of pints and meal. Will it make the boat go faster? No, so they don’t go.

A night in watching the TV or hit the gym; which will make the boat go faster?

The result of course was that in Sydney they achieved their goal/vison of a gold medal at the Sydney Olympics. Was it easy? No, but they had a vision and the drive, ambition, determination, discipline, and knowledge that if every decision they made would make the boat go faster they would be able to produce the necessary performance on the day.

Along with Harriet Beveridge, Ben Hunt-Davies has since written the brilliant and aptly titled book, ‘Will it Make the Boat go Faster?’ I highly recommend it

.

What has this got to do with business? Everything!

The question is “What’s your boat?”  What is your thematic goal? What one question could you be asking every minute of every day in your business that will move you towards your goals/vision?

It could be you have a sales goal, a customer service goal, a production goal, a time management goal, a profit goal. What is the question you need to be asking to ensure the actions you take are moving you towards that goal?

After giving the book to one of my clients he set a question for his business that was focused on doubling the business in just one year. I’m happy to report that he easily surpassed that goal!

This year he has set another thematic goal, taking his company from good to great and this will mean that for all the people in his business their thinking and decision making is focused on the question; “will this take us to greatness?”

The shift in thinking will also lead to other questions for instance:

What do great team meetings look like?

What does great customer service look like?

What does a great P&L look like?

What does great time management look like?

What does a great team member look like?

What do great leader’s look like?

What do great systems look like?

What does great marketing look like?

What does a great sales system look like?

In everything they do they will be thinking at far higher level than they have ever thought before.

They have set themselves some really ambitious targets this year, but I would bet my right arm on them achieving them.

If this business can do it why not yours?

If you want to achieve more in 2016 than you ever thought possible, spend this week asking yourself the question, “What is my boat?” and then “How do I make it go faster?”

Planned Your Holiday Yet?

Only a few weeks left before the big fellow in red climbs down our chimneys, eats our mince pies drinks our sherry and feeds Rudolph with our milk and carrots. Yes Xmas is almost upon us and one certain way to tell is the sudden bombardment of holiday ads. Is it just me or didn’t they use to start roundabout New Year?

Of course the idea is to get us all dreaming of the better life we can have (if only for a few weeks) at a destination we have all dreamed of. Some of the offers are very enticing and for a great many of us just too good to turn down. So we make our booking having decided where, when and who is going, and over the coming months will plan and carry out the activities needed to have a great holiday.

Some of those activities will include; acquiring passports, arrangements to travel to and from the airport, clothes to wear during, currency to spend during, toiletries including sun tan lotion and after sun, arrangements for pets and maybe children, for the ladies a trip to the hairdresser, luggage and luggage labels heaven forbid the airline loose those carefully selected clothes, weight of luggage, diet to get into those fabulous clothes, possibly learn some of the local language, research the destination, plan itinerary, cancel milk and newspapers, book time off work, have a holiday countdown chart etc. The list of activities will be time lined and followed through with military precision. Carry out the plan and chances are you will have a great holiday.

Let’s consider an alternative event a wedding anniversary. What are the chances of a great anniversary for a husband, who has the sudden realisation at 8.30 in the evening that it is in fact his anniversary, he makes a quick trip down to the local garage to pick up chocolates and flowers if they have any? The probable result may not be pretty

So two events one planned one isn’t which one has the greatest chance of success?

So let me ask you what plan have you got in place to grow a great business? What activities have you got planned over the next year to take your business to a whole new level? What activities have you got planned to significantly improve the results you are presently achieving.

It has been estimated that less than 3% of business owners have a written plan for their business. When I say plan, what I am talking about here is a list of strategies turned into structured activities that when brought together produce a better result. Will it guarantee a result? No, but the chances of success are definitely greater.

It really begs the question “Why do so many owners avoid planning?”  Answers could include: Don’t know how, don’t know what to put into a plan, did a plan once it didn’t work so conclusion is it’s a waste of time, or the old golden nugget, I’m too busy so don’t have time to plan!

“He who fails to plan, is planning to fail”…Sir Winston Churchill.

Its crazy the amount of meticulous planning we put into making our holiday a success, yet the very thing that will provide the funds for the holiday, the business, gets little or no attention. It’s just left to chance.

Before I move on let me just make one distinction here when I say plan, I am not talking about the full-blown business plan designed to secure finance from a bank which when it has served its purpose of securing the finance spends the rest of its life locked away in a cupboard. I am talking about an inspiring action oriented plan designed to drive your business forward to success.

There are just 5 steps to developing an effective plan:

1.    Set goals that inspire both you and your team, that are taking you in the direction of a compelling future or moving you away from a painful present.

2.    Identify the strategies and actions needed to accomplish your goals.

3.    Set a time-frame for completion.

4.    Allocate ownership. Who does what by when?

5.    Have a set of measures in place to evaluate what is being achieved.

One of the biggest challenges faced by most businesses is execution. You can have the greatest plan in the history of the universe but it’s just ideas on a piece of paper unless you give it momentum. One of the best ways to get momentum is to have some form of accountability. That could be another member of your team, a member of your family, a community of like-minded people, and/or a business coach.

Having asked someone to hold you accountable you are more likely to follow through on the actions you have promised because there is a consequence to not carrying it out.

Next week we will look at some strategies and ideas that you might want to include in your plan.

If you enjoyed these tips and would like to look at this subject in greater depth take a LOOK HERE

The Problem with living on Someday Isle

Last year one of my clients was talking to his Dad, who, sadly, at the time was in the last few days of his brave fight against a terminal illness. During the course of the conversation, he asked his Dad, “If you could live your life again, what would you do differently?” Some of the things his Dad said didn’t surprise him, but what did surprise him was how easily these things rolled off the tongue. It became obvious to him that his Dad had spent a great deal of time thinking “if only”. He would eventually go to his grave with lots of regrets.

Apologises if you feel that the opening paragraph is a little depressing, but the fact is that most of us will go through life (and, indeed, in our business) thinking “one day I will get round to doing….” Add your own situation here it could be; sorting out my cash flow, growing my business, taking control of my time, saying, NO more, letting go of the employee that, although they may have all the skills my business needs, they are toxic in the workplace, spending time with my kids, getting fit and healthy…

Why do we do it?

There could be numerous reasons/excuses for it, but what I would like to do is focus in on some that have definitely shown up in my own life, but also show up in the lives of my clients, family and friends.

We become tolerant with our present circumstances.

It is very rare in business that a problem just happens. The customer that goes bust owing you money has almost certainly been on your radar for some time, but because there isn’t a gaping hole in your cash flow, instead of chasing them, you rationalise, “They have always been good for the money in the past and I have cash at the moment, so I won’t bother them just yet”. A key word here is, ‘rationalise.’ What we are saying to ourselves is perfectly rational, but, in actual fact, we are lying to ourselves because the alternative to letting it go has a feeling of discomfort associated to it. Picking the phone up and asking for the money might mean the client gets angry for being pestered, he might take his business elsewhere, I might have to face the truth that they are in fact in financial trouble and I could lose the money….we play out in our heads all sorts of scenarios of what could go wrong.
 
But what if it is just an oversight from their accounting department?  What if your invoice was lost in the post? Again, there could be lots of positive reasons why the invoice hasn’t been paid, but it is still easier to give in to that uncomfortable feeling you get when you rationalise. I am going to suggest a reframe on that word to ‘rational-lies;’ we lie to ourselves because it feels more comfortable. By giving into these rational- lies, we are in fact shrinking our comfort zone or as I prefer to call it our familiarity zone -after all, a comfort zone isn’t necessarily comfortable. The problem with this way of thinking is that all the good stuff in life and business could well be on the other side of that zone.
 
We think we have unlimited time.
 
How many times have your said to yourself, “I will do it tomorrow, I promise?”   Tomorrow comes and we push it back again because there is something more urgent to deal with. We push back the important to deal with the urgent because again we rational-lies we will have time to get round to the important stuff one day. What happens to that important stuff that we keep putting off?  At some time in the future you can guarantee it will become urgent. That is how we could easily end up like the Dad of my client; with a whole load of regrets.
 
Fact of the matter is that, in the UK we have a life expectancy of around about 80 years and, for most of us, that seems a long way off in the future and gives us a warped perspective about time. We put things off because we think we have lots of time and we move to a new address ‘Someday Isle’. Someday Isle (I’ll) fix that cash flow problem, someday Isle (I’ll) tell that toxic member of staff to go and be successful in some other company, someday Isle (I’ll) take that holiday, someday Isle (I’ll) get round to spending more time with my kids. Problem can be that someday never arrives because there is all this urgent stuff that demands our attention and, if we choose to allow it, it will always get in the way of the important things in life.
 
I recently read the book, ‘Life in Half a Second,’ by Matthew Michalewicz and he had an interesting exercise it the book to bring home how we can get a more real perspective on how much time we do in actual fact have and that could if we were to choose lead us to stop putting the important things off.
 
The exercise is to simply take your age at your next birthday away from the 80 years you may get, if you live to the average age. Turn that answer into days by multiplying by 365 and add to that figure the days between now and your next birthday. What you have now is the number of days you could potentially have left. Does it change your perspective? Do you feel like wasting any of those days on trivial stuff? Does it make the important stuff more important?
 
Are you driven by pain or pleasure?
 
In other words, when you think of a goal that you may have, what thoughts come up for you? Do you think about all the great things that will happen as a result of achieving the goal or are you driven by the consequences of what will happen if you don’t move towards the goal? It is really important when goal setting to understand yourself. What is it that drives you? Think back to a goal that you have achieved in the past, what drove you to achieve it? What were you saying to yourself at the time? What were you looking to achieve/avoid? When you discover your preference you are now armed with the knowledge of how to speak to yourself in any moments of doubt or weakness. If you are a ‘towards driven’ person, you can tell yourself about all the great things that will happen when you get over this moment of weakness. If you are an ‘away from’ driven person, then you will almost certainly get over the moment by telling yourself about the consequences of giving into the weakness.
 
What next?
 
So there you have it some of the reasons/excuses that we use that get in the way of us achieving our goals, ambitions and our dreams. As we fast approach a new year and of course those notorious resolutions consider what have you been saying someday Isle get round to ............fill in the blank space. What is one small step you can take today to move you in the direction of the goal?  If you are a towards type of person consider a reward for achieving your goal. If away from, consider a consequence for not achieving it. Get some accountability by announcing your intention to as many people as possible. Give the goal some momentum and take the first step.

Alternatively 2016 could be a carbon copy year by....
 
Saying to yourself someday Isle get round to changing things…..
 
Why wait?
 
 
Thoughts
 
“Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone”…Pablo Picasso
 
“Why wait to be great?”….Hal Elrod
 
“You may delay, but time will not.”…. Benjamin Franklin
 
“Procrastinate now, don’t put it off.” ….Ellen DeGeneres
 
“The most important choice you make in life is what you choose to make important”…Michael Neil