I was talking with a gal recently about how she felt about her business performance in the previous month. She proceeded to tell me all the things that she meant to do (but didn’t), how frustrated she was that she didn’t meet her goals (again) and how she wonders (now and then) if she should just go get a job instead of trying to grow her business.
Can you relate? I could.
What happens when you get to the end of each month? Do you take a week off to recover? Do you move right into the next month? Do you look back and learn key lessons that will help you continue to grow your business in the future?
In other words…What is your normal pattern of self reflection at the end of each month? And is the pattern positive, negative, or non-existent?
Is that what you want it to be? If it is…awesome! If not, I’d like to suggest that you can look back on the month with honest self-reflection as a tool for improvement and growth, instead of continuing to feed your negative beliefs by beating yourself up. Then, you can use the information to make decisions on what you want to do differently moving forward.
(P.S….If you’re a video kind of gal…I made a video on this topic and posted it on my YouTube channel here!)
Here’s how it works. Ask yourself these questions:
What worked?
What moved me closer to my goals?
What created the results I wanted?
And what didn’t?
In relation to the following areas:
- Your response to setbacks
- How you handled the negative chatter, fear, doubt, comparison monster, scarcity vs. abundance, etc.
- Your commitment to work hours, keeping commitments to self
- Working when you didn’t feel motivated
- Your habits: words/responses, thoughts, patterns
- Still living a life while running a business
- Your Systems:
- Daily routine
- Pattern of action
- Organizational
- Follow up
- Goal Setting and tracking
- Accountability
Don’t overlook the huge part that Mindset plays here…if we don’t believe we are worthy and capable of success, we’ll continue to fall into the same patterns month after month, wondering why it’s not happening for us. When in reality, we are the ones standing between our current level of success and achieving our goals and dreams.
Now that you know what worked for you last month…and what didn’t…what changes do you want to make moving forward? What do you want to start doing, stop doing, and continue doing?
It’s time to make some decisions – Get Intentional about the things you want to do differently instead of just floating from one month to the next, setting and resetting your goals.
If you already know what you need to change to make next month different, that’s awesome!
If you don’t…here is a simple 4-step process to create change:
- Decide which thoughts you allow to stay and which ones you don’t
- Make a plan you can believe, work it and be accountable to someone for your actions (could include systems, work habits, protocols in place, etc.)
- Be Consistent…at whatever level you can
- Give yourself some measure of grace when you fall short…which brings you back to #1
And then each month…we do it all over again…a cycle of continuous improvement…so you’re always moving forward and then duplicating the process in your team. I believe in you – I know you can make the changes you want to make.