7 Steps to Creating Your Most Successful Year Yet

Are you a #ladyboss #creativepreneur #ladypreneur? Oh, good! This is for YOU!

We all want to feel that confidence and adrenaline of being all those wonderful hashtag-able titles above. But when we’re stuck in the day-to-day of our businesses; when we’re reacting to what our clients and others want from us all day long; when we’re putting off all of our CEO-sized ideas because we “don’t have time,” that confidence and adrenaline dwindles into frustration and overwhelm.

As you’re well aware, the new year is right around the corner. And we don’t want you to just roll your way into 2016. We want (and know you can!) take this next year by storm! We want you to feel like the boss and BE the boss of your business and revel in all the potential glory of entrepreneurship. HOW are you going to do that? Well, first thing’s first, you’re going to create an incredible game plan for next year.

This is how it’s going to work…

1. Schedule CEO time.

Block off one full day, a half day at the very least, on the calendar before the new year. On this day, go somewhere where you aren’t tempted by distractions (laundry, social media, text messages, etc.) If you go to a coffee shop, leave your phone in your purse. Grab your laptop and/or Moleskine and your favorite hot tea, and now it’s GO TIME.

Hot tip: Schedule these CEO days at least once a quarter to refocus on the game plan you’re about to create!

2. Ask yourself: What do I want out of 2016?

What do you want to accomplish, as a whole, in 2016? This could be an amount of money. It could be a number of clients. This could be how you want to spend your time. We want to start with your end goal in mind, your purpose.

Then, ask yourself the vital HOW. If you say you want to make $80,000 in 2016, how are you going to make that happen? We are going to come back to this, but first we want you to get all of your ideas on paper. Empty your brain. Get everything out, so there’s room to think about the things that matter, profit-producing action items that support your main objective and goal for 2016.

3. Get everything out of your brain.

You might already have a bunch of concepts, creative ideas, marketing plans or topics you need to get out. Now is the time, just start writing. If you need a little prompting, here are some questions to get your brain moving in the right direction…

What ideas do you have about your services?
Do you want to offer more services, less or the same?
What ideas do you have about your pricing?
How much money do you want to make?
How many weddings do you want to work?
Do you want to hire an intern or a VA?
Is it time to implement more systems?
Which systems do you need to refine?
How can you improve your time management/scheduling?
How can you improve your energy/attitude?
What can you do to add even more value for your current clients/customers?
What business books do you want to read?
Is it time to implement a morning routine?
What fear/procrastination is it time to master?
How are you going to improve your marketing?
Is it time to test out Facebook and Instagram ads?
Who in your community/industry do you want to build a relationship with?
How are you going to be a leader in your community/industry?

4. Prioritize profit-producting action items.

Once you have everything listed out, it’s time to prioritize. Go back to your answer in No. 2. We’ll use that example goal of making $80,000 with your business this next year. Now, look at that list you just wrote out. Some of these ideas and action items will directly help you achieve your goal of making $80,000. Some will indirectly help you achieve that goal. Others might just be best suited for personal projects. What we’re starting to develop in this fourth step is your HOW.

The key is to focus on profit-producting activities! Go through that list and write a 1 by actions that will directly help you reach your goal and write a 2 by the actions that will indirectly help you reach your goal.

5. Leave some white space in your game plan.

As you start to pull profit-producing action items and piece them together on your 2016 timeline, leave some space for opportunities that have yet to show their pretty faces. It’s vital to have a plan. But it’s just as important to be open to and encourage growth and space for all of your strategic business moves to unfold in a way that is currently unknown, but bound to be incredible. As you keep your main objective in mind and map out your year, your HOW, break up the year and your goals into quarters. It’s way less overwhelming to think about 3 months at a time vs. 12 months.

6. Focus on the first quarter.

Now that your timeline is in place, let’s really dig deep into that first quarter. Look at your action items for January, February and March. Get even more specific with the projects and ideas you have for these months. What do you need to work on during these months that’ll set you up for a great year, a year where you reach that $80,000, or whatever your goal is. Perhaps, you’ve been struggling with self-doubt and comparing yourself to others and others’ businesses. That attitude and set of beliefs is not conducive to increasing your salary! Maybe one thing you focus on in the first quarter is improving your mindset. HOW are you going to do that? Read The Miracle Morning. Start implementing a morning routine. Schedule time to take care of yourself, every single week, so you feel strong and confident! Perhaps you’ve tried Facebook ads before but they didn’t work as well as you’d hoped. In order to get more ideal clients as quickly as possible, maybe you revisit Facebook ads and/or Instagram ads (WE LOVE INSTA!!!), to set yourself up for booking more clients. Whatever you do, hone in on that first quarter. It’s your foundation for 2016.

7. Hold yourself accountable.

Stick to your plan! Write out your goals each month and read them aloud every morning. Get in a mastermind group. Call a fellow entrepreneur friend every week to check in and hold each other accountable. Meet up at a coffee shop once a month to help keep each other on track. This is the secret sauce. Everything above is meaningless, if you don’t hold yourself accountable to doing the work!

Bonus tip: Create time and space to take care of current clients.

It’s enticing and intoxicating to take our businesses to the next level. But, if we’re always desiring more and neglecting what we currently have, it’s going to be a rough road, even if it is a prosperous one. Make the most of what you have now, right in front of you, in addition to growing your business. Remember that at one point, it was a challenge to get your current clients/customers in the door and you celebrated because of them! Treat them right. Give them all you’ve got, and you’re bound to receive more.