Blow Past Your 2022 Q1 Goals By Learning This One New Habit!

How do you see your 2022 unfolding?

I imagine most of you are saying that it has to be better than what 2021 has been.

There is no way around it, it's been a challenging year.

But the calendar flipping to a new year doesn't automatically mean the fortunes of your business is going to change.

You have to be the driving force that creates that change and you have the ability to do so but...

There is one dilemma that trips up many business leaders.

Efficiency or Innovation? 

Most business owners are stuck between these two priorities...

Do I focus my energy and time on reducing costs?

or...

Do I focus my energy and time on looking for growth opportunities?

It's a false choice that I find entrepreneurs falling victim to.

To succeed in 2022, you need both efficiency AND innovation!

The difference between efficiency and innovation is RISK.

Do you risk cutting too many costs, which will reduce revenue over time?

We all know cutting too much of the sales effort will reduce revenue over time.

Do you risk investing too heavily to innovate in new technology, people, and products? 

Who hasn’t invested too heavily in technology and lost money?

You manage risk by balancing both efficiency and innovation.

Where do you cut wasteful spending, and where do you experiment and innovate to set the stage for future revenue growth?

Managing risk is your main job as an entrepreneur.

How do you know what to do?

Entrepreneurs often rely on experience or that ‘gut-feeling’ we all develop over time.

Others rely only on numbers and metrics.

You must effectively manage risk by developing the competency of accessing both your experience of intuition and your financial statements.

This is key, you need both!

Only accessing your intuition or only using financial statements isn’t managing risk - it actually increases the risk of making bad decisions.

So how do you find that sweet spot where your intuition works hand in hand with the data you see?

It's by developing this essential new HABIT.

Take time to be alone to both think and listen to your intuition.

Sounds easy right?

For the busy entrepreneur, it can feel almost impossible to shut out all the noise and stress and be clear-minded.

This means you need to stop being the center of everything in your business.

You need time away from the business.

Time to work ‘on’ the business, so you can think and plan for the future without being interrupted.

Once you have established the habit of setting aside time for yourself to think about the business, how do you make it a productive time? 

By practicing these 4 activities:

1. Define your problems and develop options to overcome the problems.
2. Test each option using both ‘gut-feel’ and financials
3. Identify the resources you need and how you will organize them
4. Develop your message and how you will communicate this plan of action.

Let’s look at each of these activities in more detail:

1. Define your problems by listening and observing what’s happening in the business.  You’re there to learn before you talk and act.  You’ll first define your problems, and only when you are satisfied you’ve properly defined the problem, you begin work to develop options to overcome the problem.  The foundation of every problem usually starts with an imbalance between efficiency vs. innovation.
   
   
2. Test each option against your intuition AND financial statements.  Here, use your cash requirements and P&L statements.  Do you feel more comfortable focusing on cost reduction or innovation and increased spending? Your gut leads you to what to do; your financials tell you where to do it.
   
   
3. Assemble the cost of resources and how you’ll use them.  Where do you need to innovate and where do you need to reduce costs?  Do you believe this plan will work AND that you can lead the effort?
   
   
4. You must create a story around your plans for 2022. 
   The story must tap into the reason and emotions of employees, and then answer their most important question: What’s in it for me? 
   Employees will be looking to see if your belief in the plan and are committed to it for the good of everyone concerned. Then you’re ready to get the input and feedback of others. Test your message, story, and facts by presenting your ‘ideas’ to key employees, your leadership team, and your trusted advisors. Listen to their feedback and how it made them feel. Always understand how it makes them feel because people remember how you made them feel longer than remembering the details of what you said.

When you set aside the time to do these 4 activities, you've laid the foundation for building your business plan in 2022!

While everyone else deals with all the internal and external noise, you will have created a cohesive plan that connects the dots to where you want to go as a business.

So try this starting today, set aside time for yourself to be with your thoughts, and really focus on your business. In those moments use the 4 activity structure to get real clarity on where your business needs to be and how you're going to get there.

This simple habit has the ability to set you up to make 2022 the BEST year yet for your business.