Four Basic What's for the New Year

As we begin yet another New Year it offers us the chance to reflect back on the past and plan ahead for the future. Looking back I am sure you will find some things that went well and some things that did not. You may want to go as far as making a list of accomplishments and failures in an effort to build on your success and learn from your mistakes. As a suggestion for review maybe you want to examine these four “what’s” as an exercise for improvement.

What should I be doing more of?

This would be the category where you put all of things that “moved the dial” for you in the past; the cause and effect of success so to speak. Did you meet a contact from networking that generated new business? Did having a written plan of attack keep you focused? Did taking a closer look at expenses uncover some savings? Whatever they were, make it a priority to incorporate more of these productive activities into your daily routine.

What should I be doing less of?

This would be the category for all your non productive activities or as one colleague of mine once put it “organizing your sock drawer.” Everyone has house keeping chores that need to get done, but do not let them become the center of attention or take up more time than they absolutely have to. If an activity is not directly related to either servicing an existing customer or finding some new ones it needs to be minimized as much as possible.

What should I do differently?

This would be the category for change. These are not things that should be eliminated rather examined and tweaked as to turn a negative into a positive. Just because you tried something and it failed does not mean you should give up. It may simply mean you need to take a different approach to the subject in an effort to positively impact the outcome. Where do you think expressions like “you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar” came from?

What should I stop doing altogether?

Saving the hardest for last, this would be the category for all of your bad habits. Anything that wastes time, money, energy, or all of the above needs to be eliminated. These could include meetings that accomplish nothing, complaining about things without working to change them, idle gossip, finger pointing, negative thinking, etc. These are all a tremendous waste of time that uses up way too much energy that only end up costing you money in the long run.