I don’t know about you … but this year has already been EXCEPTIONALLY challenging for me, as well as for all of us. For those of you based in South Africa, it has been such a daunting time with all the lockdowns and many have been through some of the most trying times we have ever experienced. Because of this, I think that I have never planned more than I have now. COVID took us all by surprise and utter shock and helped us realise many things, especially our priorities and the security of our futures going forward, especially economic and finance wise.
Have you ever sat down and wished that you had done something to change certain difficult situations that you might be facing? This could be your career, money or starting a business. It is a really bad feeling realising too late that you should have put in the work required for something a while ago and maybe your current circumstances may have been different. I KNOW I HAVE! And it’s a really terrible feeling. That’s why I am going to share my process with you to plan your goals now, so you won’t regret not taking action and so that you can be prepared for pretty much anything. OH PS, make sure you read to the end and grab my “Free VA Toolkit“. This is a 15-page e-book filled with insights into the Virtual Assistant world and how you can go about setting your very own VA business up! You’re welcome 🌺
Reflecting on 2021
Now is the absolute best time to sit down and reflect on the year so far, the reason for this is that there is still time to take action and not wait until the new year to start realising that there are certain circumstances that you do not want to repeat or take with you into the new year. The good news is that there are still a good few months left to jump into action and start preparing goals that you can start now to avoid any disappointment in 2021.
How do you do this?
Take some time out of your schedule to do this. This is your future and is probably one of the most important ways you could spend your time this year. I know that there are kids to think about, dinner, washing, work and many other things in the way, so even if you have to physically schedule a few hours in your calendar to go through the e-book, trust me you won’t regret it.
Why is planning so crucial?
About 60 years ago, Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “The plan is useless; it’s the planning that’s important.” That’s still true today. Yes your plan will not always go the way you want it to and yes you may take some goals off your plan as you go, but guess what … at least you have some direction and you know where you are going in your business and your life. With the way the world is going now, millions of people are starting businesses all over the world all of the time.
There are thousands of opportunities out there to make good money and get your name out there, but you need a plan to get there! I’ve noticed that when I fail to plan for the year ahead or even the week or month ahead, I don’t ever achieve the goals I desperately wanted to. This always leads to me feeling panicky and out of control.
“All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim, have fixed their gaze on a goal which was high, one which sometimes seemed impossible.” —Orison Swett Marden
Why planning will actually create work-life balance
I have always battled throughout my working career to maintain some sort of work-life balance. I would literally jump from putting out one fire after the other, with no direction and it felt like I was just jumping from task to task not actually ever accomplishing anything. I have suffered from burnout at least 4 times in my life and it is not something to be messed with. I soon started focusing on ONLY 3 important goals per day and now planning and goal mapping has become one of my BIGGEST keys to success in business. I usually actually mix my personal goals along with business goals, as I have discovered that my personal life is directly linked to my business and vice versa. So for example financial goals are one and the same, personal growth is one and the same. Your mindset, health and personal balance in life are directly linked to the success of your business, so I even include MAJOR self-care goals into my work life and physically time block self-care off in my calendar. You cannot pour from an empty cup, so I am a big believer in including self-care in my goals and daily routines.
Setting Realistic Goals
I am a bit of an A-type personality and so very much try to do everything all the time, and try to overachieve at many of the things I take on. This will lead to burnout! So instead of writing up 30 goals for the rest of this year, my advice is to take 3-5 massive goals you would like to achieve by the end of the year and perhaps 6-7 small ones. You are WAY more likely to achieve all of these instead of setting thousands of goals that you won’t achieve due to overwhelm. So make sure you write down goals that you truly want to achieve and you will achieve them!
Research Research Research
Besides my extremely busy coaching and web design schedule, I dedicate at least 30% of my day to learning. Whether it is reading a business book, reading an interesting blog post or listening to a podcast, I am continuously learning and adding to my self-development. Even if you have not until this point set aside time to do this, perhaps you can include this on your goals list. “85 percent of self-made millionaires read two or more books per month“! (https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/304219). This is proof that successful entrepreneurs are continuously on a journey to improving themselves, so we should be too 🌺
Tracking your Goals
Once you have mapped out your goals, I highly suggest taking it a step further and inputting each goal and task related to the goal into some sort of project management/to-do list platform. This way the feeling of ticking off each completed item or task will help you feel like you are one step closer to the big picture. I suggest Asana or my personal fave Trello.
My Free 15-Page VA Toolkit
If you are ready to take action, to change your circumstances and your future, complete your details below to grab my free VA Toolkit Planner/Toolkit. You are MORE than welcome to send me your completed toolkit so I can review it for you and provide you with advice or answer any questions you may have.
Enjoy beautiful! You’ve got this 🎀
Mel xoxo
