Getting Ready for 2018

Increase your chances for success by taking these steps right now.

By Mike Morrow, CFP

Credit: ©ISTOCK.COM/MANOP1984

The final quarter of the year is a good time to reflect on the past year and make plans for the New Year. As busy professionals, we may be striving for a better work/life balance, our office may need a technology upgrade, or we may want to increase revenue. It’s important to take stock of where you are and think about where you want to be in a year’s time.

Take a moment to go back to the basics and map out your year. Contemplate the goals that you set last year, your achievements, and what didn’t work. Look at things such as business revenue, expenses, hours worked, staffing, and office efficiencies and don’t forget to consider your personal life, family and holiday time, health and wellness commitments and volunteer time.

A good template to mapping out your year and determining next year’s goals is to compile a list of actions under the following headlines: What should I stop doing, what should I start doing and what should I keep doing. Let’s take a quick look at what falls under those categories.

What should I stop doing?

Spend some time in considering activities or habits that are not providing value to your business and/or your personal life. Examples include making use of old technology that slows the office systems down, working with clients whose demands consistently exceed their value or maintaining work hours that don’t allow you to achieve your goals.

Under this category, you should look at removing distractions—those activities that prevent you from staying on track. Be honest with yourself when you think about how you spend the majority of your day. Most people underestimate the time they spend on their device, texting, email, and social media, for instance. There are apps that can help you manage your device distraction. Offtime, Moment, Breakfree, and Stay on Task block distracting apps and track your device usage.

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Do more of the things you should be doing and less of the things you shouldn’t, and you will be on your way to a successful 2018.

What should I start doing?

If you desire a better work/life balance, maybe it’s time to delegate tasks that can free your time at work so you can spend more time with family, exercise, or pursue a hobby. Maybe you want to build your business within a specific market or you want to consider developing a marketing plan, initiating new sales approaches, learning something new, joining a networking group or scheduling some personal time.

Review business-building books, magazines, and conference material to help discover and generate ideas. Often the best ideas are those that are waiting to be implemented. Commit to implementing at least one better system or process in your business and personal life in each quarter of the year.

What I should keep doing?

You would not have achieved the level of success you have without doing some things correctly. Now is the time to give yourself a pat on the back for all of your strengths and attributes. If you are a positive leader, for example, write it down. Take this time to celebrate your accomplishments, what worked this year and what changes held fast and made a difference in your business. Think about your personal life, too, and what you think you want to keep doing. Your list may have things like volunteering at your child’s school, exercise commitments, or building savings plans. Don’t leave anything out. This list will give you the inspiration to make changes for even more growth.

Action steps for success

After you have decided what you want to keep doing and start doing, it is important to create action steps in order to achieve success. For example:

Goal: To be more productive

Action Steps:

1. Delegate newsletter creation to administrative staff.

2. Arrive at the office early, before the phone starts ringing.

3. Write monthly, weekly and daily to-do lists, and check them daily. Setting business goals that are within your reach and regularly tracking your activity will determine your longterm success. We don’t succeed all at once and we don’t fail suddenly. So do more of the things you should be doing and less of the things you shouldn’t, and you will be on your way to a very successful 2018.

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Mike Morrow, CFP is a financial advisor, speaker, author and commentator. He is the author of The Loyalty Edge and has been pioneering his clients to their financial goals for more than 25 years, focusing on client engagement and fostering client loyalty. Please visit: www.ideasforadvisors.com.