Let me start by wishing you all an early Happy New Year. Let’s all commit to making 2020 our best year yet. This used to be the time of year where many of us would sit down and write our New Year Resolutions. Some would follow through, most would not. The following year most would read them only for the second time realizing that it would have been good if they followed through on some of those dreams.
For us to actually get clear on how to create our best future is that most importantly we must be more specific and intentional on exactly what that future looks like. We must know what we’ve done and accomplished prior, in addition to knowing specifically what we want to go.
How in fact do we create our Best Year Yet? First, we must be familiar with all our current and past bests. Yes, our bests both personally and professionally. In fact, as we ponder, was 2019 your best year ever? I’m happy to announce that it was my best year in business as well as many of my client’s best year in business. If 2019 was your best year, what needs to happen to beat it? If it was not, what was your best and what do you need to put in place to beat that year!
We really want to get clear on our professional bests. What’s your best month, quarter or year in revenues and or profits? What’s your best month in attracting new clients or customers? What’s your largest client that you ever attracted? What’s your best client retention percentage? What was your best team engagement and productivity index score?
What’s your personal best? Your best weight? Your best physical shape? How many books did you read last year? These are all bests that can be tracked, measured and conquered in 2020.
What are some things that you can measure both personally and professionally? You can measure your weight, body fat, heart rate in addition to how many steps you take per day. You can measure your times and distances in swimming, running, jogging and bike riding. These are all things you can look to become a little bitter each and every time. We can certainly measure our relationships simply by the response we get from those we are closest to.
There are all sorts of measurements we can track in business. We have revenues, earnings and profit margins. We can measure how many rings before the phone is answered. We can measure delivery times, customer satisfaction, number of transactions, average sale, new client conversions. We can measure employee retention and engagement.
When we really truly understand that our only true competition is us, our team and our organization at our extreme best, only then will we be able to focus more on what really matters and where we need to direct our attention.
Take the time to get clear on all the things you can and want to measure both personally and professionally. Then create an action plan of tracking, measuring and committing to beat them. Make that commitment and I, as your coach, guarantee you that if you make 2020 a year of Besting your Bests, you could just make this year your Best Year Yet!
Happy New Year!
~ Coach Michael