Before you unplug for the holiday season, I have 3 more quick things for you to do… they are fun and simple, I promise!
1. Book your Vacations for next year
If you know me at all you know that I take a stand on taking time away from your business – to relax and recharge. This isn’t just a ‘nice idea when you have time for it’ this is essential for the health of you and your business (just do a quick search on the long term effects of stress and overwhelm – yipes!)
The best way to guarantee you take a vacation? Book it NOW – before the end of this year. If you don’t do it now you may end up not taking time at all (or worse, taking work on your vacation because you didn’t plan for it properly! ugh) You don’t need to know exactly what you are going to do yet, you just need to book it in your calendar. You might plan for a week off once a quarter or a longer vacation in the summer. Or both! It’s up to you… and bonus points if you actually pay a deposit on a trip so it’s guaranteed and you can’t change your mind later. <- I gave this assignment to a client today. 😉
2. Decide what you are going to STOP doing next year
This is the time of year where we plan ahead – where we create a vision for what we want to create next year and map out how we are going to get there. This means adding a bunch of stuff to your to-do list, and if you are already busy this is daunting!
Success comes from knowing what to STOP doing, as much as it comes from knowing what you are going to do next. Is it time to stop doing the tech & admin stuff in your biz, so you can focus more on growth activities? It could be time to stop offering certain revenue streams that are no longer profitable or no longer fit your vision (I encourage my clients to let go of 1 or more things that make up the bottom 10-20% of their revenues.) Maybe you need to let go of old habits or relationships that no longer serve you. Letting go creates space for what is to come.
3. Celebrate the lessons of this year!
What did you learn this year? Maybe you reached your goals, maybe you didn’t. Maybe your year turned out much different than planned, in a good way or not. Yes, we want to acknowledge the hard results of the year (money, # of clients, etc) – those things are important. But do you ever really celebrate WHO you are becoming as a result of the experiences of the past 12 months?
Where have you become stronger? Where did you take action in spite of fear? How did you surprise yourself? What did you learn about others? Being in business is the ultimate personal growth journey – we learn so much about who we are and where we need to grow. So celebrate your lessons! Write them down. Share them with a friend. Soak them in. The fact that you are brave enough to be on this journey at all is a celebration. 🙂
So, did you do it? Pop in your comments below and let me know… I especially want to hear about your vacation plans!
Going to Florida this winter for two weeks to escape the cold for a bit and visit my parents. We’ll go camping for a week in the summer (our annual trip) and then in the fall is the big one…we have an 8 day Mediterranean cruise and we’re tacking on some days in Barcelona and Paris and visiting my cousins at their place in the French countryside to make it a three week European vacation. SO EXCITED. And so lucky to have friends who will watch the house and the kitties in our absence. 😉
Now I just need to plan to celebrate all that I’ve learned and accomplished this year. I have a terrible habit of seeing just the failures and the uh-ohs instead of the good things, and so it always feels like I haven’t accomplished anything when that’s totally untrue!
now this is what I like to hear! 3 weeks in Europe – dreamy indeed.
how are you going to celebrate your accomplishments?