Now, I absolutely believe we all can have a “start fresh” moment in an instant, any time, any day with a shift in mindset and a decision to do something differently. Yet when the New Year comes around there is an extra oomph and spark to learn from the past and set a new course to create a different future.

Whether this year has been your best yet, one you’d like to forget, or a mixed bag, there is always something to celebrate, and something for which to be grateful. Start there before dwelling on what needs to change.

Once you’ve celebrated your wins and acknowledged all you have to be grateful for, shift gears. Reflect on this last year with the following two questions:

1. What mindset(s) and behavior(s) patterns of mine held me back from achieving the success I desired this last year?
2. What mindset(s) and behavior(s) do I need to adopt to achieve my 2017 goals?

Be honest with yourself. If you’re really not sure then maybe talk it through with a friend, business partner, or coach. The answers to the two questions will not necessarily be the same or related. What your specific goals are likely doesn’t really matter. Most mindsets and behaviors necessary for success are the same no matter what the goals may be.

Journal on each of these questions and keep prodding yourself to go deeper into your answer. Most likely you’ll come up with one to three key words or phrases that capture the success mindset and behaviors you need in the New Year.

Mine showed up as presence and action. Below I share how I assessed what each of those words mean to me, and how they show up in my life now, and what I’ll be doing to shift and engage both presence and action in the New Year.

Presence – I like to think I’m a masterful multitasker, but in all reality I get more finished more quickly when I focus. It’s just damn hard to focus sometimes especially with email and social media just a browser tab away or an indicator light/ding on my phone. Sound familiar? Since I work from home I also sometimes have music, or a podcast or TV show streaming in the background. To some extent this is my way of feeding my extrovert that needs to feel connected.

I know I can work with background noise, often even better than in silence. But what that background noise is, and the type of work I’m doing, makes all the difference. Coffee shops and co-working spaces aren’t a very good fix for me because I love people watching too much. Podcasts are a horrible idea because I love learning and end up constantly backtracking to that juicy bit I just missed, all the while when I’m supposedly working and hardly making progress. Streaming TV is just silly while working and must stop.

So here’s my revised approach: I have a playlist I curated a couple years ago specifically with writing / substantial work in mind. It’s a groovy one. I also will reactivate my Focus@Will account. They have great soundtracks for any type of mood or work, including “coffeehouse” without the distraction of actual people. Also, I can do some work with podcasts or other things streaming in the background, i.e. getting through much of my email, skimming blogs, keeping up with social media, handling personal business. Yes, a lot of that is not actual work, but some of it is, and all of it has to get done. This will work for me.

There are two other sides to multidimensional “presence.” One is being present with people. This I feel I’m pretty good at. I’m not perfect and I’ll strive to be better at staying in the moment and in the conversation (or in the silence) when with others, be it in work or play. The other side of presence is staying in the present moment for the sake of fully experiencing and living what is, instead of having my mind and heart in the future. There are times I’m really good at this and times I struggle because my nature is more visionary. But there’s no point in dreaming up incredible futures if you don’t take action to make them happen and then stay in the moment to enjoy them.

That brings me to my second outcome of the above questions: Action.

You wouldn’t think this would be difficult, but sometimes it is. When you’re not taking action you’re not moving forward, you’re not checking things off the list, you’re not creating, you’re not implementing those beautiful plans. You’re not making it happen. I am a visionary. I can be an executioner. I’m very detail oriented which makes me great at both for different reasons. I just really excel at one and often struggle with the other due to perfectionism and a deep dislike of monotony. Everyone has a preference or knack at one end of that spectrum or the other. So while I’ve shifted my business and work to leverage my strengths, I still need to improve my focus on taking swift, imperfect action, squashing procrastination, and consistently moving the needle forward, making progress.

Action is an important word for me as it will help me move from “knowing” to “doing.” When I took the VIA character strengths test last year I was not in the least bit shocked to find out the my highest strength is “love of learning.” I do love to learn! I’m fascinated by so many things and soak it all up. The upside is that I have a broad base of knowledge, or at least awareness, of a lot of things, as well as a lot of depth on a few of my favorite topics. That integrates well with three of my other top strengths that serve my clients – “perspective,” “judgement” and “connectedness.” All of this gives me a bountiful well upon which to draw when working with clients in all sorts of specialties and industries.

Where I can fall short is stopping the influx of information long enough to take action and put it to use in my own life and business. I’m great at doing this for other people and my clients, less so with myself. Focusing on Action will help me move from someone who knew to someone who will do. I know I’m not alone…how many courses, books, or programs have you taken only to never complete them or take action on what you learned? Maybe Action is one of your words for the year too.

I should also point out that it isn’t just about taking action. It is about taking meaningful actions. Let’s be honest, we can all fill a day full of actions; but if they’re just busy work and not the things that push you forward then you’re really just stalling, being busy for the sake of busy. It’s important to delineate between those actions that get you closer to your goals and those that just take up your time. When you’re a business owner you also have to separate those actions that serve your clients and those that serve your business. It is all too easy to focus action IN the business and never get around to working ON the business. I have fallen into that a few times over my eight years in business. Well, I have a system to prioritize my day that has worked for me in the past, so I’ll be dusting that off.

There will always be days when you just aren’t sure what to do next. Or perhaps what you’re working on feels overwhelming. This last year I struggled quite a bit with migraines, which made it difficult to do much of anything. I often felt like such a loser even though I logically knew I was doing the best I could. What made all the difference was taking the smallest actions I could, just to achieve something. It may have been as simple as washing a few dishes, doing five minutes of meditation, or getting that one client email sent. Something. Anything. Action gave me hope through accomplishment.

As I prepare for 2017, setting goals and laying out specific strategies, I’ll keep Presence and Action front and center. These words will influence my vision board process scheduled in the coming weeks. I’ve started to include them in my morning meditation. I’ve put them on a post-it stuck to the edge of my computer screen. And I’ll be writing them at the top of my planner/to-do list each day as a reminder. I will also use them as guidepost questions: am I being present; am I taking meaningful action?

I hope you’ll take the time to celebrate your 2016 successes and acknowledge all you have to be grateful for. Then I hope you’ll consider the two questions above, dive deep, and see what words may show up to shift your mindset and/or behavior patterns to create a new reality in 2017.

Wishing you all best!

So we justify or rationalize in our head that we’ll wait until tomorrow, or next month, or next year. Suddenly it is that “next” delineation of time and we’re no more willing to take it on. Maybe that hesitation is there for good reason and is keeping you safe. Maybe it is just fear or ego and not in your best interest. It is worth it to figure out which it is so that you can release the idea forever or prepare to move forward.

In 2000 (yes, I’m dating myself here), I had to decide whether or not to take on graduate school. Logically it didn’t make a lick of sense. I was young in my career and could wait. I was in a corporate job that had me on a plane almost every week; working 50-60 hours + travel every week. In my spare time I was the head of a very active, county-wide political organization during a significant election year, and involved at the state and national levels. Plus I was in my mid-twenties just having a lot of fun out with friends. Starting graduate school in the midst of that was a terrible idea.

But I did it. I did it because I wanted it and my desire was bigger than my fear or excuses. I did it because time marches on. If I didn’t start, then in two years it would still be 2002…I just wouldn’t have a masters degree.

So I did it, and it was difficult for all the reasons I anticipated. I even had to do some crazy things to make it work. For example, I hauled an extra piece of luggage on a work trip halfway across the country with all my thesis research materials so that I could work on it back in the hotel each night after 12 hour days. You do what you have to do when you’re committed. I wouldn’t change my decision for anything.

Now I frequently remind myself of that time in my life when I’m fuzzy about taking action on something that seems big, hard to squeeze into my life, or is going to take a really long time to complete. I weigh how much I really want it and what kind of difference it will make in my life, against the “reasons” I’m using to hold back. Sometimes it really is best to hold off for a while. I have to admit, I’m really good at rationalizing why not to do something right now (when it is just fear holding me back). More often I’m reminded of the reality that time waits for no one. Now is the time to take the leaps of faith. Now is the time to take the first few steps of a long journey. Now is the time.

Here are my questions for you:

• What do you keep saying you really want, but you keep putting off to tomorrow, next week, next month, next year?
• What would you gain if you did it?
• What if you started now? How would your future look differently?
• If you don’t start now how will that impact your future? Will things be the same as they are now, better, or worse?
• What’s the worst case scenario? Can you handle it? If so, do it.
• Even if you took action today and it didn’t turn out like you hoped, what good would still come of the experience? Would you at least shift the energy in the direction of your dreams?
• How can you make it work?
• How will you feel if you never take action and the option to do so disappears?

This applies to all aspects of your life and business.

I’m writing this near the New Year, but this isn’t about resolutions. It is about realizing that the time is now. If you don’t start now, next month it will be _______ and you still won’t be any closer. Next year it will be ___________ and you still won’t be any closer.

Time flies and you can never get it back. Start now.

To your intuitive leaps of faith.

Becca

Originally posted January 7, 2015

What if it happened? What if it happened to you or your key personnel? One of my former clients was a business group within a larger corporation whose director was literally hit by a bus. I know. You didn’t think that actually ever happened! Luckily she was ok, but instantaneously out of commission for 9 months of recovery.

She had been the director of this section of the business for 10 years. She knew it inside and out. Unfortunately, as all too frequently happens, she was the only one who knew the business operations that well. The managers and staff knew their roles well and continued excellent service to their current customers. However, the back office operations, monitoring, management and marketing fell mostly by the wayside. It should be said that upper management stepped in to provide overall leadership and guidance, but even they weren’t familiar enough with the day to day to pick up where the director left off. Besides semi-chaos ensuing in the back office, the director was also the primary for all marketing efforts. The business group lost a significant portion of market share in the 9 months she was gone. I was asked to help corral the chaos as the director came back to work part time. I completed a market assessment and we began to assess and document processes.

What if that happened in your business? What would happen if you suddenly were unavailable for the day to day? Think about your team; who are your most critical personnel? What if one of them, shall we say, won the lottery, resigned and jumped on a plane to Figi today? The example above was within a very large organization that had many standard processes in place. The same cannot be said for a lot of smaller businesses. If you’re a solopreneur and your business IS you, what would happen if you were suddenly incapable of working? Do you have anything documented in a way that you could hire a temporary assistant to take on non-specialty tasks, or to hand-off a project to a peer consultant? Being out of commission as a solopreneur is extra scary if you have no way to make some of your operations continue.

There are numerous reasons why process assessment and documentation are critical for your business; I’ll be writing more about it in the future. One of those reasons is ensuring the continuity of both operational and strategic leadership and execution through institutional knowledge management.

Questions & Actions for You

So what knowledge and information only resides in your head or that of your key personnel, and therefore walks out the door when they do? What if they won the lottery?

Identify key processes in your business and document them. Take the time now in order to save time, and possibly save your business, later.