For all of us, the Holidays will have an impact on our businesses and lives. Why? Even if you don’t celebrate the Holidays, people you know and work with do. And, there will be three specific days, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s, where most business stops or is very limited.
And for a time that is supposed to be joyous it can be one of the most challenging times of year. As a personal business coach this is a difficult time of year for most self-employed business owners, entrepreneurs and solo professionals.
The Holidays-A Time For Review
Because the Holidays come at the end of the year it is a natural time for review. Did we hit our sales targets? Did we reduce costs to reach our goals? Are our people performing well in their jobs? Am I, the business owner performing well? What do I have to change for next year to be better?
The questions go on and on. And, these are just the business questions. There are also the personal challenges. You look forward to seeing that Aunt you love. Or, you really don’t want to be with your sister’s husband. Not only are we reviewing business. We are reviewing relationships.
The Holidays—A Time For Accountability
In the process of review and planning for the coming year we also are having to hold ourselves accountable for our results. All of us employ accounting to tell us where we have been. But the more important aspect is accountability. It tells us what we have been doing.
And, if what we have been doing isn’t producing the results we desire then we have to hold ourselves accountable to some degree for not being where we would like to be.
The same is true in our relationships. This is the time of year where we see those people one time that may bring us extraordinary joy or pain we would rather forget. Triggers from the past jump up and grab us either for better or worse.
And when those triggers do show up, it is best to let it wash over you. If you push back, they will push back. The result is that you will emotionally and in terms of energy be in a weaker place.
We don’t want to be weaker going into the New Year.
The Holidays—A Time For Renewal
The Holidays are also a time for renewal, if you choose to have them work for you that way. They are a time for renewal in that they force us to pause and reflect on what is good, bad or indifferent in our businesses and lives.
Only once we have a clear picture of our businesses and lives can we start to plan for a better New Year. If you don’t know where you have been it is hard to determine where you need to go.
In my business coaching practice I have found that a large part of small business success for the coming year, or personal success for that matter comes when we start to make plans for improvement in the New Year.
This gives us something to look forward to. And, with something to look forward to it is much easier to get started on a positive track with momentum when that first work day arrives in January.
Take the Holidays and use them to your advantage. Accept the challenge. Review the past year. Hold yourself accountable for your results. Renew your business and life by writing down your plans for the coming year. It is even better to put completion dates by them. A goal is a dream with a deadline.
When you take the time to create your positive vision of the future you will have a track to run on to give you the momentum to increase the probability of having your business and life take off in the New Year.
Create a positive vision of the future in your mind. Once you do that, finish the future in your mind, then what you need to do in the present becomes absolutely clear. And what you do in the present takes on a new excitement because it is helping you achieve a positive goal or goals. Renew yourself and your business. That’s the gift of The Holidays.
