This past week we focused on a number of ways to have a successful fourth quarter. For #MindsetMonday, Colleen shared the reasons entrepreneurs and authors should have an accountability mindset and on Tuesday our #TuesdayTip was focused on how to plan and prioritize your fourth quarter goals. We want to continue our trend this week to focus on three positive steps everyone can take to make their end of 2019 great!
Positive Steps to Close Out 2019
With October here, we are already 3/4 of the way through 2019. If you are like us, I’m sure you have seen some highs and some lows this year; every business does. It doesn’t matter if you’re riding a hot streak or in a bit of a lull, if you take some time and put forth the effort you can have a great end to 2019 and kick off 2020 with a bang. Everyone who takes these three steps can be confident their 2019 is the best it can be:
- Plan and Prioritize Your Goals
- Be Accountable
- Fill in Your Calendar
I’m sure you will notice a few common themes from our blogs this week. It’s because being able to plan and prioritize your goals and keep yourself accountable are highly important steps to creating a great quarter.
Plan and Prioritize Your Goals
The first positive step for the end of the year is to plan and prioritize your goals. Now you have your SMART goals set up for Q4 and you are on your way to a great end of the year, but the best way to end 2019 is to set up your goals for 2020. With the months ahead you can take a look at the upcoming year and set out specific goals for each quarter, month, and week.
For example, when you have a yearly revenue goal, you can easily divide your goal into quarters, months, and weeks. If you are looking to net $120,000 in 2020 that means you need to bring in $30,000 a quarter, $10,000 a month, and $2,500 a week. You can even break that down to $500 a day if you so chose.
Another step you can take to plan out your upcoming year is to highlight specific goals for each month. Some entrepreneurs will want to bring in 100 people to their program in the first quarter. A writer will want to have their book launch date settled as far in advance as possible. Others may want to highlight a time-specific sale or program such as National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in November.
Whatever your goals are, be sure you take a look at the third step below for more details on how to better accomplish them.
Be Accountable
Another of our positive steps is to be accountable. Not only must we hold ourselves accountable, we also need to work with others to maintain our accountability. While it is important we each have our own accountability mindset, it’s critical to stay in contact with our colleagues who also have an accountability mindset. When we take our accountability to others we are more likely to follow through with our plans.
Accountability colleagues are a great way to share in our experiences, our successes, and our failures (learning experiences). Find a friend or three who have strong accountability mindsets and set up calls with them each week. We suggest at least two calls, a beginning and end-of-the week call. These calls should last as long as it takes for each person to lay out three tasks they want to accomplish in the work week. At the end of the week touch base with each other again to share your successes and if you were not able to meet all you goals, share why. We can all learn from each other!
Fill In Your Calendar
The last of our positive steps, and maybe our most important one to have a great 2019 and rocking 2020, is to fill in your calendar. As mentioned above, when you have your list of prioritized goals you want to use your calendar to make sure you are meeting your goals in a timely fashion.
Before you add in your goals be sure you schedule in your off time! Self-care is a crucial part of being a successful entrepreneur and author. We all need to take time away from our work so we can be refreshed and revitalized! Schedule out your vacation time, your holiday time, and your birthday. One of our coaches takes an entire week off for her birthday because that is important to her.
Now that you have your off time scheduled you can effectively schedule your work time. In an example we used above, if you are looking to make $10,000 a month and you take a week off in June you will want to adjust your income goals for that month. You may shift money from one week to another or you may change your monthly goal all together. Look for ways you can make more money through the quarter, like during the launch of a new program.
Positive Steps for Now and The Future
When we take the time to plan out the rest of 2019 and our SMART goals for 2020, we set ourselves and our companies up for success. Beyond having a successful company, when we have goals in place to make sure our individual projects, like publishing your book are met, we’re setting ourselves and our business up to thrive. Whatever your goals are be sure to take the steps now to see them through to completion.
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