Working as a Business Mentor for the past 15 years, I have noticed a lot of business owners start to drift off track by the end of March. After the Christmas/New Year holiday break, most have clarity about their goals and are able to implement some basic plans at the start of the year. Holiday energy, clear vision and even basic plans enable effective actions that get the year going well.
However, it is easy to start second guessing yourself. Your plans don’t seem as effective with the noise of a couple of demanding clients. You have hit a few minor roadblocks. You have issues with your team. Then there are the macro things out of your control like a tighter economy, election uncertainty, an American President who is intent on disrupting the current world order. It is easy to lose sight of the pathway to your business success.
5 critical actions required NOW to make sure you are on track in 2025
First critical action – Write down your business vision in one sentence and keep it in front of you every day.
This is harder and more important than you think.
There are always problems to overcome in life and business. The danger is we start responding to everything and slacken off on the effort to implement the plans we made in January. Having a laser sharp vision is critical to staying on track. Vision helps you know where you want to be in 3 – 5 years.
We move towards what we focus on. If you focus on your problems, they will seem to grow larger, and you can become bogged down by them. If you focus on your vision, it will remain strong, and your problems will remain smaller and be easier to overcome.
I learned this principle again when I took up mountain bike riding on the tracks near my home in the Blue Mountains. If you focus on the tree roots and rocks on the narrow tracks, it amazing how often you hit them. If you focus on the track and where you are headed, you are much more likely to have a great ride.
Second critical action – revisit your top 3-5 business goals for the year
Your goals for the year should be clear and written down. Your annual goals are the larger targets that will move you towards fulfilling your vision. More than 5 goals are usually too many and can paralyse rather than help focus. I think 3 major goals is ideal for a business in a year.
Goal setting is something you need to do regularly to become good at it. Most people over-estimate what they can achieve in one year and underestimate what they can achieve in three years.
When you miss your goals badly it is normal to become disappointed and give up. I encourage you to keep setting goals each year until you become very good at setting and achieving your goals. Goals provide focus and motivation. The difference between a goal and a good desire is that a goal is written with a timeframe and a specificity that helps you know when you have achieved it. This way you become accountable to your goals and plans.
Third critical action – review your plans to achieve your goals.
Your plans are the mini steps you need to take to achieve your goals. A goal without a plan is a wish. And not very helpful. Your plans should be a considered thumbnail sketch of the actions you will take to achieve your goal. Plans will always be flexible and adapt to the changing nature of life and business.
Plans require review at least weekly. I review my plans each Thursday afternoon for 10 minutes to set up the next week. I review my monthly plan around the 28th of each month. It takes me about 30 minutes to reflect on the month and set up the following month’s plans.
Goals should be more fixed and only change if there is an unexpected major change of direction. Plans will be flexible and can change a lot throughout a quarter and a year.
Fourth critical action – plan your next quarter in detail
You need an effective quarterly planning process. Each quarter is a good rhythm to set aside half a day and think more deeply to plan. I believe this makes me at least 20% more productive. Half a day planning saves me at least a day each week during the quarter. If you have reviewed weekly and monthly, it will be easy to review your last quarter. This sets you up to plan your next 90 days.
In a good quarterly planning process, you will refresh your vision and review your goals for the year. These do not change. You will then break down your annual goals so you know what you must achieve in the next 3 months to be on track for the year.
I teach my clients to break down their quarterly goals into monthly goals and weekly actions. For some this is a new way of thinking. To start with the end in mind and then work backwards so you know what you need to do this quarter, month, and week to be on track to hit your targets by end of year.
In a quarterly planning session, it is vital to have your calendar out so you can schedule key tasks to be done when required so everything moves forward and stays on track. If it is not scheduled it probably will not get done.
Fifth critical action – make sure your plans cover your life as well as your business
I suggest you have one calendar, so your work and personal life plans are in the same place.
The things that most often sabotage business plans come from neglected areas of your personal life. This is why I like to do business planning in the context of life planning. Your business is meant to serve your life, not wreck your life. If you do not have clear goals across key areas of your life, you will not be focussed on them and be likely to neglect important things like your health and fitness, or your wealth creation, or your friends and family. Work has the potential to dominate your life in an unhealthy way. Being deliberate about planning your whole life will help you make sure you see progress across all the areas that are important, not just your work.
In conclusion:
How are you going as we start the second quarter of 2025? Is your vision clear? Do you have specific goals that help you focus every day? Have you invested time to make effective plans that are helping you achieve your goals each day? Is your business serving your whole life well?
John Drury Business Mentor – mentoring to develop the leader within you, and to raise up and empower the leaders around you. If you are interested in learning to become a better leader within your business, please reach out for a free conversation (Book here).
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