4 Ways to Plan for the New Year
Literally EVERYONE is talking about planning for the first year in this new decade. Myself included. It’s important to go into the new year with a plan to make the most of it, but I also totally get that can be overwhelming if you’re not even sure where to start or where you want to go.
You can make planning as complicated or as simple as you want. But the reality is that all the planning in the world doesn’t actually get stuff done. So let me walk you through the basics, so you can hit the ground running in a more effective and high impact way.
No. 1: Know where you’re going
If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll just go in circles. This is probably the most true thing I’ve ever learned during my journey in entrepreneurship. As soon as you actually have a direction and know where you want to go, you will make it happen.
A fun activity that I suggest my clients and members try is journaling as if it were one year today. For example:
Find a quiet space and get cozy with a pen and paper. Make tea, turn on some tunes, whatever you need to feel grounded.
Meditate or sit in silence and focus on your breathing for 5-10 minutes.
Write the date on the top of the page one year from today, i.e. December 31, 2020.
Write down what you’re experiencing on that day. How do you feel? What have you accomplished? What are you excited about?
This activity takes about 30 minutes total and is the most enlightening to what you want for yourself and for your business. You’re not worried about what’s possible, how to make it happen, or what other people think. You’re just excited for the potential of the next year.
No. 2: Know where you’ve been
Without doing a deep dive into your metrics and doing a full-on analysis of what worked in the past and what didn’t, there are other ways to review and reflect on the past year. I’ve got two activities for you here:
Journal on the following questions: What am I proud of myself for this past year? What did I set out to achieve but didn’t make it happen, and why?
Create a table with two sides and the headings: “Business Activities” and “Clients”. Then, draw an arrow from the business activities that led you to get those clients. Eg.
Business Activities
Clients
The Freedom Summit
Posting on social media
Plan 2020 #LikeABoss workshop
Team meetings
Managing finances
Writing blogs
Freedom-Based Biz Method freebie
etc.
Client name 1
Client name 2
Etc.
What this does is refocus your attention to the stuff that you’re doing in your business that actually brings you in money.
No. 3: Money
Building a profit plan is incredibly helpful when it comes to knowing what your breakeven point is (how much you need to bring in every month to cover your expenses) and where your money is coming from.
For every month, break it down:
Services offered
Retail price for each package/product
Total units you plan to sell of that package or product
Total
* This is a screenshot of a tab within Rebel Office’s Freedom Finance Tracker, a ready-to-use tool inside The Collective.
No. 4: Content
In addition to making money, creating content is the top activity that us online entrepreneurs spend our time doing. So going into the new year with an idea of the content that’s going to be most effective for you is important. Some of my best tips are:
Keep it simple and manageable. If you’re doing too much, you can’t be consistent.
Make it relevant. As much as you might LOVE writing blogs or doing a podcast, if that’s not where your ideal client is - change your method or change your client.
Position yourself properly. ANY piece of content you’re putting out there needs to have a purpose. Whether it’s to increase your reach, entertain or position yourself as an expert, it needs to mean something. And that content that sets you up as the go-to, the pro on a topic is where you’re going to be the most effective in actually converting your leads into customers.
And there you have it! Know where you’re going, reflect on where you’ve been, make money and create content. That’s it, that’s all. Oh - and go kick some ass. Happy new year, girl!
