It’s that time of year where companies are putting together their business plans for the following year. They review the past year, talk about growth opportunities to support new ideas and layout our priorities of the work to do to reach next years goals.
Creating a solid business plant that you can deliver on takes a lot of work. You look at all the data from the past year showing your strengths and growth opportunities. You forecast growth for the coming year and detail a strategy on how you are going to hit the growth goals. At the end, you have a unified plan detailing goals, resources, and priorities for the coming year.
It’s a great exercise because it creates a clear expectation on what you are prioritizing, what your goals are, and what resources you will have to get there.
It’s also hard because it is so much work and there are always more requests for resources than you can accomidate in the end.
Have you ever thought about applying this same concept to your own goals and ambitions?
If you are like me, I’ve always got a goal I’m working towards, but my plan to get there is a little fuzzy. This year, I’m writing a business plan for myself. I’m looking at this past year and getting honest about what worked, what did not, what milestones I need to hit to reach my goals, what obstacles I need solutions to, what resources I have available, and what success looks like.
Going through this exercise for myself has helped me better level set how I’m spending my time. It’s made me realize how many resources I have available to me that I’m not taking advantage of. It’s made me realize how quick I am to deprioritize things for myself when they get “hard” or are “not fun.” It’s also made me realize how much I really do want to hit my goals and that I can have a plan to get there.
So, what do you want to have accomplished a year from now? How are you prioritizing your time to get there? What resources do you have available and how are you going to track things along the way to know if you are going to get there?
Write a business plan for yourself and work just as hard at it as you will your work business plan. Seeing what you are personally able to accomplish is a year is what it’s all about.
You got this!
LB
P.S. What help applying this to your specific situation? Let’s jump on the phone and come up with a plan together. Grab time on my calendar here.