Create a New Year’s Revolution in Your Business!

Every year when Chinese New Year 1st comes around, the new luna year offers us a unique opportunity for our lives and businesses: either we can continue with the status quo, OR, we can do something new, exciting, and even revolutionary!

Now, you may be satisfied with your current progress. “Why change what’s working? Why rock the boat?” And chances are, if what you’re doing is working, you’ll continue to enjoy incremental growth – but are you satisfied with that? What if you could experience radical growth?

Historically, when a revolution occurs, it focuses on making monumental changes to the status quo. A revolutionary change isn’t satisfied with incremental growth, but dreams and longs for something entirely new, exciting and explosive.

I can’t tell you what revolutionary changes you might want to make in your business or live. Only you can do that. But I can suggest some ways to go about brainstorming, exploring and implementing some revolutionary changes in your business.

Below are 5 steps you can take for creating a New Year’s Revolution in your business:

1. Dream big! 
Any kind of revolution usually begins with a dream. Dr. Martin Luther King is a prime example. He boldly declared, “I have a dream…” and he proceeded to live out that dream to make it a reality.

What’s your dream? The movie, The Bucket List with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, popularized the concept of creating a “bucket list” of things we want to experience before we die. In this context of revolutionising your business, I’m not talking about this “revolution” as one of many items on your bucket list.

Instead, what would you really like to see your business accomplish? What legacy would you like it to leave? Whose lives would you like to see it impact for good? What kind of income would you like it to provide for you and your family? How might your business fulfill your bucket-list wishes? Dream big and write down your dream.

2. Assess your current reality 
Be brutally honest with yourself in this step. Ask yourself the following questions and others like them in view of your big dream:

a. What currently gives me the most joy in my business?

b. What is most financially rewarding?

c. What elements of my business are flops?

d. What elements are stellar?

e. What new facet, direction or enterprise do I long to begin?

f. How would I rate my business overall on a scale of 1 to 10?

g. What needs improving?

h. What part of my business drains me? Can I quit this part, delegate it, make it simpler or more pleasurable?

i. What current trends or competition threaten my business?

j. What safeguards do I have in place to protect my business?

k. How do my customers/clients view my business?

l. How do my family and those closest to me view my business and benefit from it?

m. What kind of legacy is my current business liable to leave?

n. How is my business serving others for good?

o. What other questions do I need to ask?

3. Evaluate the gap between your current reality and your dream
You’ve written down your big dream. You’ve assessed your current reality. Now determine the gap between the two. For some, the gap may be minimal. For others, you may discover you’re not even working in the right business! Again, write down your findings.

4. Seek outside counsel 
None of us is totally qualified to work through the above steps alone. We’re too close to our business to be entirely objective. We need an outside source to help us see the whole picture more clearly. Either engage the help of a business coach or a trusted friend. Spend time going over your observations on the first three steps.

A professional coach is trained to ask you questions and to probe areas you wouldn’t normally think of. Your coach may not give advice but will draw conclusions from you that you feel confident about and comfortable with. Your coach will also help you view your life holistically and prevent you from compartmentalising your business to the neglect of relationships and other vital areas of your life. Together, you can formulate clear next steps.

5. Put your plan in motion
Revolutionary changes in your business and life usually don’t occur overnight. They take time to plan, organize and implement. The key is to take action. Prioritize your steps and begin implementing them.

Evaluate and document your progress. As the year progresses, contrast your new reality against your former reality. Adjust as you need to along the way. Your coach can help you stay on task and move forward.

New Year’s resolutions are notorious for never being fulfilled. That’s why we’re proposing a New Year’s Revolution for your business.

Dream big and make changes that will make a difference in your life, in your business, and in those you serve.

Read in my upcoming Blog how I can help you in your personal and business life.

Leave me a comment. What is your revolution in your life, business or those you serve?