Hit Your Goals Before the Holidays Hit!

Most businesses have some cyclic nature and seasonality.  Many industries, companies, and people find their business tapering off around Thanksgiving and not picking up again until after the New Year.  Although some people start putting off decisions and actions in the Fall, don't make the assumption that nothing is happening.  Plenty of transactions are still happening! Especially for those out there that still want to achieve some big goals in the quarter, right NOW is the time to hussle.

Following are my Top 5 Don'ts for making the most of business leading up to the end of the year:


5. Don't quit trying. Don't just give up --even if it seems impossible to hit your goals by the end of the year.  Consider what you CAN do, then take some action.  It may be hard to accept not achieving 100% but usually it's far better to see what you can recover than to just quit.

4. Don't freak yourself out with overwhelm.  Chunk your goal down into manageable "bites." The holiday season can be overwhelming enough as it is.  Consider what are your next 1, 2 or 10 actions to get results...get creative, challenge yourself, and find a system or person to help hold you accountable.

3. Don't neglect reviewing your goals regularly.  You might be nearing the finish line, but this is when unbreakable focus on the goal counts the most. Review your goals for the year at least weekly, ensure your most productive time is spent toward priorities, and then keep going!

2. Don't go it alone.  Enlist the support of others. Use your existing network, connect with like-minded people to help you stay on task, engage a coach or mentor, meet a certain number of new people for coffee, etc...  Also, acknowledge opportunities this time of year to continue honing your relationship-building skills.

1. Don't forget to plan for next year (or next quarter).  As you're going about the business of achieving your goals, keep a list on the side going for ideas for success in the future, ie next year's top goals.  It doesn't matter whether you use a large sticky note in your paper planner, a page saved to your desktop, or your favorite app (I'm using Evernote currently)- as long as you do it.  It gets your juices flowing and, as long as you don't get overly distracted planning for tomorrow, it helps you achieve more today.

Here's to your success, 
Heather A, Legge
Envision Success Inc- Coaching in Business for Results