Well its one week into the New Year. Did you make some New Year’s resolutions? Goals?
For yourself? For your
business? So how are you doing? What is your track record? How many goals and/or resolutions did you put
on your list that are repeats? That you
either abandoned or didn’t quite attain last year? Or are you one of the ones that just quit
making resolutions and goals?
Lots of questions, I know, but if we keep putting the same
goals and resolutions on our list year after year, then it poses the question
to ask why. Why aren’t we reaching these
goals? Is it that important to us? It must be or we wouldn’t keep putting them on
the list time after time, year after year.
Do we lack the skill set? Hmmm….maybe,
maybe not. If we have the skill set,
then do we lack the time?
I had a conversation this past week with a business acquaintance
and she talked about ‘staffing for your weaknesses.’ This got me to thinking about why goals and
resolutions don’t get achieved, but yet we keep saying we want to reach/achieve
said goals and/or resolutions. Which
brings up more questions.
·
Is it really important to us – Will it make us
happier, healthier, wealthier if achieved?
·
Do we have the skill set – if not, then why not seek
out the expertise needed. This might be
in the areas of our health, diet and/or exercise. Why not hire a personal trainer and/or a
nutritionist, the expertise needed to finally achieve the results wanted.
·
If we have the skill set – is it a
strength? Sometimes we may have the
skill set, but it is not a strength or we had rather do something else. For example:
We may want to get a handle on our finances, profit and loss, etc. for
our business. We know how to do all of
this, but it’s not one of our strengths or we just don’t enjoy doing this type
of work. Outsource the work. Hire a bookkeeper or an accountant who can
track the information and provide an analysis.
·
Do we lack the time – or not making the time to
put forth the effort? If it is something
someone else can do – outsource it. For
example: I can and know how to clean my
house, but I don’t like to do it so therefore it takes me 3 times as long as it
does for the person I have who does it for me.
I had rather be on my computer creating an email marketing newsletter for
my clients or setting up clients social media sites. I enjoy doing that. So, find the expertise who can do the tasks
you don’t have time or don’t want to do yourself.
There are certain aspects of our life and business we like
and enjoy doing and we are good at them.
And then there are other things that we may can do, but it’s not a
strength and/or we don’t enjoy it. So
comes the question, would we be better off outsourcing the task, hiring the
expertise, or it is just something we just have to buckle down and do
ourselves. These are the questions that
each of us have to answer and figure out.
My advice is to focus on your strengths, what you enjoy and outsource
what you can. That way you free up the
time to concentrate and devote the time to do the things that are your strengths
and that you do enjoy and hopefully brings in the revenue to pay for the outsourcing.
Sometimes we can even combine something we enjoy with something
we need to do. I have to put a plug in
for my youngest daughter here. She also
works on a computer all day and as a result needs to exercise more. To solve the issue she has rigged a desk/platform
on her treadmill for her computer so she can work and exercise at the same
time. Talk about the 'mother of invention.' I thinks she is on to something.
So before you abandon your New Year’s resolutions/goals, think
about why you want to quit and work through the questions.
And if you need further help, my oldest daughter is a counselor and that’s
her expertise, helping people sort things out.
Here’s To Achieving Your Goals in 2016,
Annette
"Helping My Clients and Their Business Look Good"