So, 2017 is almost here and if you haven’t started evaluating your past year in business, then you are already behind. While business owners look forward to the fresh start of a new year, it is imperative to see what went well and wrong. Here are five secrets to unlocking your best year and letting go of your business mistakes:
Review your 2016 goals
Before you can evaluate the good, bad and ugly of your year, pull out your 2016 business plan. Looking at your aspirations from the beginning of the year will help to compare where you envisioned the company to go vs. what actually happened. What did you do well? What are goals from last year that you can tackle in a better way this year?
Eliminate your blame culture
In business, there can be a very toxic habit of blaming others for the mistakes made by a company. Usually, this blame game is due to the unwillingness to accept responsibility to avoid criticism. This atmosphere can create insecurity in your employees, a lack of trust and a guaranteed way to avoid solving the problem. As the leader of your organization, one way to combat this is to always admit your own mistakes within the company. This will set the tone for employees to follow and will create confidence in your team.
See the big picture
Although it is easier to focus on the smaller details that caused an idea to fail, make room for the big picture. Were there habits and mistakes that continued to show up throughout your year? Did many clients and customers give you similar feedback? Take a step back from your specific goals for 2017 and analyze how you can change these reoccurring mistakes for the success of your company.
Create a new game plan
Some ideas just don’t work and that is okay. Give yourself room to create a new route for the new year. In creating a game plan, you should include:
- Vision for 2017
- One Year Goals
- Monthly Goals
- Weekly Goals
- Actionable steps
Celebrate your wins
It is so easy to focus on everything that went wrong in a year. After you have evaluated 2016 and the areas which you can improve, celebrate your success. This will get you excited for the year to come and remind you of all that your company is doing. Oftentimes we wait until the end of the term but try to recognize your smaller wins throughout the year to reinforce confidence and goals in the company. Ways to celebrate your success could include creating a year in review video, sharing them in a newsletter and simply tell your team thank you.
Good luck to a new and amazing year in your business.
