What does your end of year planning process look like?
I used to really worry about failing when trying something. I still do sometimes. People tend to mock and laugh when you try something and fail. Failure can be your best learning experience. That being said, I don’t want to go around failing all the time. Do you?
Anthony Moore wrote in an article on Medium,
Most people are afraid of failure. Since their self-worth is tied to their performance, any failure is confirmation that they aren’t good enough. If they suck at something, it means they suck.1
His article, 9 Key Habits That Will Make You Automatically Attract Enormous Success, explores habits that make us more successful. One of those habits is Fail More Times Than Anyone Else. He starts that section by quoting Seth Godin,
“If I fail more than you, I win.” -Seth Godin
I think we have to be careful about repeated failure because if we continue to fail, we aren’t progressing or learning.
As we stroll into 2018, we take the time to explore some strategies for end of the year planning. What is your process?
Strategies for end of year planning
Christ Brogan’s three words
Back in 2006, Chris started a new way of remembering the things he wanted to change in the new year. Frankly, resolutions rarely work and we remember things better in threes, so the task makes sense.
Pick any three words that you can use to guide you forward to success in the coming year. Write these words down every day. Keep them posted on your monitor. Make a phone wallpaper. Whatever is going to keep those words present? Schedule a recurring 5 minute daily appointment that simply gives you a moment to reflect on the three words you’ve chosen for greatness and success. Chris Brogan
In this article, he explains the process and shows you his blog posts from previous years. Brogan’s framework is much better for personal planning, however, the idea of choosing simple words to cast your vision is something that can be adopted at a company level. A simple message is remembered a lot easier.
12 Week Year
My Secret Santa got me a copy of this book for Christmas. This is a great way to push yourself to accomplish goals. The premise is to set goals to meet in 12 weeks rather than 12 months. Others in the WordPress community have talked about their own interaction with the book and how it helps them.
People make mistakes with the system, as often is the case in other systems, and the team at Asian Efficiency breaks down 5 common mistakes.
By the way, for more time management tips, check out the Asian Efficiency website.
As with many systems, this one has a training certification which is ideal for coaches and consultants and could help provide you with an additional revenue stream if you believe in the system.
Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS)’s “VTO”
What is the Entrepreneurial Operating System? That is the first thing I thought when Say Gabriel mentioned it in a Facebook Group.
Gabriel said,
We use the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS)’s “VTO” planner sheet to help us break our long term goals down into shorter term goals, and set sales targets and a few big goals for each quarter.
But really, anything that lets you break down big goals into small goals is great.
EOS is a model and system for a planning strategy. Like the 12 Week Year system, you can become a certified “implementer” for EOS.
Having a system already developed that you can follow can really help take a load off your shoulders as a leader and allow you to do the hard work of planning and developing strategies for your company.
Quotes from Agency Owners
I reached out to some agency owners in Facebook groups and received some thoughts about planning for the next year.
Pete Everitt
I have 1 and 3 year goals for the business, so will be breaking those down into quarters for 2018.
I’m also trying to develop some new initiatives for 2018, not 100% sure where to start with those yet, but am putting more time and effort into them as to me goes on.
Founder / Director of SO Digital Communication
Say Gabriel
The first time I started strategic planning, it felt weird, awkward, and arbitrary—especially the numbers. But continuing to do it regularly (every quarter) has turned it into an invaluable roadmap in terms of what to focus on and what to say no to… not to mention a great way to measure how far we’ve come!
Owner, Anansi Content & Coaching
Benjamin Johnstone
Total rehaul on our own website (way past due). Right now I have a rough 1 year plan for 2018 with tasks/goals extending into February. I’ve learned that I can estimate my plan after that but putting hard tasks in place further than two months out usually does not work out because I end up changing them or slightly changing direction overall. The world moves fast you can’t plan too far in advance.
Jonroc Owner jonroc.com
Wrapping it up
We can get so caught up in our day to day work that we forget to step back and take a big-picture view of our businesses. The end of the year is a great time to do this. Things typically slow down from a service standpoint so we can turn our attention to our own company.
What kind of process do you use to plan and create strategies for the new year? Do you follow a process like one of the ones mentioned above?
