Hey friend, are you jumping for joy to start 2024 business goal planning?
Or, are you just getting back from conference season, caught the fall bug, and just realized there are only a few precious weeks left this year? Yikes!
It’s easy to slide back into routine and wait to focus on your goals. Don’t! A head start on creating your vision for your business, is a game-changer.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll share the thinking, tools, and techniques designed to clear out all the great ideas and help you build a kick-ass business in 2024.
We aren’t going to start with the how-to’s of goal setting or building your annual strategic plan. We are starting with the most important part of the equation needed to reach your goals – YOU!
If you’re insanely clear on your goals and how to achieve them AND don’t feel pressed for time, overwhelmed, or never enough…stop reading.
For the rest of us, we’re going to start this conversation with the F word – Fear!
Did you realize that you have a go-to fear that stops you? Whether it’s the fear of failure, the fear of rejection, or even the fear of success. These emotions don’t just stop you from taking action, they keep you from even dreaming big in the first place. Because BIG isn’t SAFE, it’s scary and sometimes risky.
Here’s the hard truth – fear isn’t going away. Perceived or not, you’ve built real habits that keep you safe. You’ve got to learn how to love your fear and the habits it created, without letting it control your actions.
Start by Getting Clear on How Fear Impacts You.
By now you know fear isn’t reality. Yet, trying to convince yourself that you aren’t going to get eaten isn’t working too well. Creating awareness around what stops you is the first step. Try answering the following questions, each question based on the last.
What are the things I do to avoid the work I know will help me reach my goals?
When this happens, what thoughts pop into my head?
Are the thoughts generating positive empowering emotions or negative disempowering ones?
Based on how the thoughts make me feel, how do I react?
There’s a fascinating connection between your mind and the reality you experience. Your thoughts and beliefs play a significant role in shaping your outcomes. When you think positively and believe in your abilities, you’re more likely to succeed or vice versa.
If you sit down to define your goals and start thinking, “I don’t have time for this, I don’t know how to pick goals, that’s too big a goal, I can’t do that, someone else is better” then you’re fairly likely to go check your email, do client work or anything else.
What does all this have to do with year-end strategic planning? Knowing how you usually “show up” is a great way to stay ahead of the curve.
If I know that my perfectionism (aka Little Miss Boss Doss) will show up and stop me from ever publishing this blog post. I can meet that scared little girl and say, “Hi, I appreciate the feedback. I know it could be better. I understand you’re scared that no one will like it or you. It will be okay, worst case scenario no one reads it. So, give me a hug, and let’s do this.”
As you embark on your goals for 2024, know that we all have a scared kid version of ourselves trying to keep us safe. It’s part of being human. But you have the power to choose how you react to that fear. Will you let it stop you, or will embrace it and move forward?
We’re here to support you!
Natalie
P.S. For those of you wondering, Doss is my maiden name and yes that was my nickname as a kid.