With a new year beginning, many are considering the long tradition of setting a resolution for them to follow in 2022. Are you having issues with coming up with any? Have you set some that you just couldn’t attain in the past? If you’re struggling to improve with new year’s resolutions, here are some tips on how you can follow this tradition with your business.
First, take a step back and look at what you’ve already accomplished throughout 2021. What are the current strengths and weaknesses of your business? Where do you excel, and which aspects do you think need to be worked on? It’s important to be honest about your shortcomings but also equally important to acknowledge what you’re doing well.
Now that you’ve looked at your business, where do you want to make changes? Be honest with yourself and your team. Figure out why you want these changes to be made. Figure out what these changes will result in and why that’s positive for your business. Try to think about how these changes can then be accomplished throughout the year.
Be mindful to make realistic goals. Remember, it’s always better to make small baby steps towards bettering your company than aiming high, getting disheartened, and achieving nothing with these high aspirations. Keep things simple. More complicated goals tend to be harder to achieve and will seem more daunting as an obstacle. You can prevent yourself from becoming disheartened and giving up on your goals by making those goals simple and attainable.
This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t be specific. More specific, quantifiable goals are easier to track and being vague can only result in not being sure of whether you’ve achieved what you set out to do. Therefore, strive to achieve specific, yet simple, quantifiable goals that are easy to track but could yield a benefit if accomplished.
Studies have shown that you’ll find more long-term success with approach-oriented goals, whereas, avoidance-oriented goals may accomplish the opposite. So instead of constructing your resolution from a negative point of view, try to frame it in a more positive light. Even just the wording of your new year’s plan can make a heap of difference. Whether it’s from performance anxiety; the lack of motivation; or something else, a negatively charged resolution could cause things from overlooked details to giving up on the resolution altogether. Don’t focus on potential failure. Instead, think about the potential benefits that would come with achieving your goal.
As was mentioned before, remember to track your progress. Make sure you’re staying on the right track and moving towards your goal. Make note of what obstacles you have encountered, how you overcame them, and what possible hurdles you may have in the future. It could also prove to be beneficial to create deadlines for yourself and your team to keep yourselves committed.
Every so often, check your progress and see how far you’ve come. Feel free to celebrate milestones and the achievements you feel were earned. Try not to be disheartened if you haven’t made as much progress as you’d have hoped. It’s always better to think about adjusting your goals themselves rather than giving up completely because you aren’t achieving what you wanted fast enough.
It should also be stated that asking for help is always an option. Outsourcing can be important and is a common tool for many businesses. Some tasks just can’t be handled alone so always feel free to look for outsourcing options. There is no shame in looking for help. In fact, most of the time it’s better to spend time searching for an expert in the field instead of wasting time struggling alone.
To summarise, the best way to improve this year is to be honest with yourself and your team. Set up specific and simple goals that you can achieve over this year. Make sure these goals are realistic and for some benefit rather than just for the sake of having a goal. Try to stay motivated. A good method of this is offering incentives for both yourself and your team. The more motivated you are about achieving your goals, the more likely you all are to stick to it through to the end.
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