Business Planning for 2018

The holidays are fast approaching and that means 2017 is coming to a close! I feel like this year flew by for me. This was my first year as a full-time business owner and I have loved every minute of it (even the stressful ones). Over the past few months, I found myself working IN my business versus ON it. I realized with overbooking myself, I was stunting my business growth. While the income was great, I was just going through the motions daily without creating anything new or challenging myself.

With that, I decided to start working on my business goals and strategy for 2018. I wanted to have a plan in place so I can start taking action steps for the many ideas that I have. Below are some of the questions I asked myself when thinking about my 2018 plan.

Questions to Ask Yourself
1. What is your ultimate vision for the end of 2018?
-Think of what you want your business to look like by Dec 2018. What does your day-to-day include? What is your schedule like? What types of clients are you seeing? This can help you to identify goals and action steps to take monthly and daily.

2. What are your large goals for the year?
-This could be launching a practice or starting a new program. Think about larger goals being more long-term (i.e. to accomplish in 6-8 months).

3. What are your smaller goals for this year?
-This could include working on marketing to local businesses or incorporating more social media posts. Think about smaller goals as being more short-term (i.e. weekly or monthly).

4. Why is all of this important?
-Think about the importance of each of your goals. This will help with driving your motivation and also developing a targeted strategy for building and marketing.

5. What pitfalls do you want to avoid?
-Think about the hangups you had this year in business. Did you tend to overbook yourself? Are you doing too much on your own? Are you lacking personal time? Are you saying yes too much? Be aware of the things you want to work on and build them into your goals and ultimately your schedule. Write out monthly reminders to yourself to help avoid these pitfalls throughout the year.

After I asked myself the questions above (doesn't have to be in this order), I brainstormed all of the steps I needed to take for each of my ideas and goals. I actually did this over a few days while on the train and waiting for appointments. After I had a comprehensive list, I organized the steps into a logical order and began to map them out on my calendar as due dates.

I also planned out the dates I wanted to schedule clients and when I would be working ON my business. One of my main goals for this year is to not overbook myself and instead stick to the boundaries I set. Although this will include my having to say "no" sometimes, I know this will be really important for my business and my sanity!

I hope this post helps you to plan out a successful 2018! Happy holidays!

Learning to Relax in Your Business

I am finally getting back into the swing of the week after being on vacation. My boyfriend and I scheduled a last minute (i.e. 3 weeks ago) trip to Nassau, Bahamas for my birthday, which was amazing! I would highly recommend Nassau for first time travelers or any travelers for that matter.

Before going away, I was anxious about "leaving" my business and teaching positions for 6 days (I teach online and face-to-face at a local community college). Don't get me wrong, I was excited to go away; however, this would be the first time that I was this busy AND going somewhere with no cell service and an unreliable WiFi connection.

The first couple of days, I was still able to get on my email and check-in with my classes. After about the 3rd day, the WiFi tapped out. It was honestly a blessing in disguise for me. It made me focus more on relaxing versus trying to stay on top of everything. Instead of checking email on the beach, I was reading a leisure book. Instead of grading papers in the morning, I was writing or doing a crossword on our balcony. I could really just relax and de-stress since there was nothing I could do about the cell service and WiFi. I actually felt like I had a break and was on vacation, which is how things should be!

After coming back from vacation, I had a few days of catching up on emails and calls; however, everything was perfectly fine. There were no major issues and the small issues that did come up were resolved quickly in an email or call. I did all of that worrying in the beginning for absolutely nothing. What was even better was that I felt super recharged coming back. I was excited to get back into my business and teaching. I had some new ideas for my business and also mental clarity about issues I was getting hung up on.

My goal for the next couple of months, especially with the holidays coming up is to really just take that time to relax and step away from my business/teaching. This means turning my phone off at the gym (and not answering emails on the treadmill). This means putting my phone on silent while doing other things I enjoy like cooking or reading so I am not tempted to answer. This means not having my phone out at the dinner table so I don't break conversations for insignificant emails. This also means setting and sticking to the boundaries I set between my business and personal life.

All in all, I had a wonderful vacation and I look forward to taking some more time for myself, without giving in to temptations to multitask with my business. I know that this will improve my motivation and also recharge my batteries when I am feeling burnt out. I challenge you to take the time to step away from your business (or any job) for a few moments, hours, or weeks for just yourself!