Five friendly focus points
The start of the year is a good time to put new approaches to work into action, writes Zac de Silva.
Like most people, I have been doing some thinking about the year ahead, and I have ten things I would like to share with you which are my views on how to work towards a successful 2017. Do what you want with them, but I hope that you get at least one good focus point for 2017. I will share five this week and five next. NUMBER ONE Do what you are really good at. I read something recently by a thought leader, who said business plans are unnecessary. Just do what you are good at and all will be well. I do not fully agree with him (ie. you need a plan!), but I have seen that the most successful people are putting most of their time into doing what we would call their ‘‘special unique abilities.’’
This is where delegation can be helpful. The biggest thing here is to actually hone in on what your unique abilities are – do you really know? And if you know, how much
time do you spend in the normal working week doing these unique things. The moral of the story is, put more time into what you are brilliant and passionate about and less time into the blah stuff! NUMBER TWO
You are not as good as you think you are.
We can sometimes live in a deluded world, where we think our feelings are reality - me included. Who is going to straight talk you and be your mirror telling you how it really is, or be a bit of a butt kicker when you need it. Do you have someone who will give you the FACTS on how you are performing? Who is your person who is going to pull you up on things you are turning a blind eye to, or where you are procrastinating?
Get one of these people in your life! NUMBER THREE
Pre-book your holidays. Whilst you might get or take only 4 weeks off, I have a feeling you can get more time off if you need to. We all
need things to look forward to.
Go ahead and pre-book a few weeks off. Get it in your calendar. I dare you to take 6 or 7 weeks off over the next year! It will likely help you make some great changes to your business, position and life, and how you run it. NUMBER FOUR
Reduce the stresses in your life. For me personally, most stress is caused by things I have not done yet or a pending deadline that has crept up on me. Sometimes even being super proactive does not help me here (ie. over-committing, ouch!). What is causing you the most stress? What are you going to do about it? NUMBER FIVE Be proactive. The most successful businesses will be led by proactive leaders and will be full of proactive employees.
How proactive are you? Did you know that just like delegating, it is possible to click a switch via some discipline and a system, to be proactive?
I’m not guaranteeing a perfect statement, but I would hazard a guess that pretty much every business that has gone out of business in the history of the world was guilty of not being as proactive as it could have been.
Proactive means fix things yesterday, have fewer surprises, and get onto what will make the difference for your business in the future today.
I try and walk the talk here, which is why I personally answer every single question we create for AccMe - works a treat even if you are not naturally proactive.
I look forward to sharing 5 more thoughts next week on how to have a successful 2017 in your business and in your job.
Zac de Silva is an award winning business coach who owns www.businesschanging.com as well as being the co-founder of the Nurture Change Business Retreat in Fiji. If you like the questions that Zac poses, check out www.accme.co which will get you thinking on how to run a better business.