A New Year's Chance

As we come to the end of another year it gives us a chance to reflect back on everything we have accomplished and everything that still remains to be done. This can be a bit overwhelming given today's tough environment. Accomplishments become harder to achieve and unattained goals seem even farther away.

I reviewed my marketing plan for the year and found that certain assumptions I made in the beginning of the year were overly optimistic as I fell way short of the planned goal. There were other areas of the plan where I exceeded my expectations and made some deep inroads that should pay dividends in the future. The main point I took away from these reflections was that growing your business as well as living your life is one big road trip. There are no right or wrong paths, just paths of opportunity. You can choose to play it safe and drive around in circles, or throw caution to the wind and drive around without a map. I personally would not recommend either of these choices, rather I would chart a course that is well planned and thought out, but will take you out of your comfort zone and force you to explore new and different paths of opportunity.

I came to the realization a few years back that you only get one chance to live your life, and there are no do overs. I decided I can live with the regret of failure, but not the regret of never trying. Given all the challenges we face on a daily basis, one of the few things we can control is attitude. Attitude is what causes people to quit or drives them to persevere.

The New Year Holiday has always been one of my favorites because it gives you a chance at renewal. While the majority of people's resolutions will quickly fall by the wayside, vow to not let this happen to you. Set some goals that will improve your quality of life in a mental, physical, and spiritual way. Forget the past as it can not be changed. The future will take care of itself. Live in the present and set these goals as high as you can. The trick is to not let the fire go out when you encounter the inevitable obstacles that will urge you to quit. You may not accomplish everything you set out to do, but you will end up far better not having the painful regret of giving up.