In the beginning of my coaching business I was making a crucial mistake. And it took years before I noticed the pattern.
I used to tell myself, “I’m going to work my butt off the first 11 months of the year, and then take December off and travel.”
Cool… when you have a business that is rocking and running in full swing and a system in place to keep it going in your absence.
Certain disaster otherwise.
Why? It is all about momentum. It is the consistency and energy of moving things forward. Especially at the end of the year. This is because January sales are impacted by what you were doing in October, November and December.
When I came back from my December gallivanting around the planet, I saw sales had slipped dramatically. I got worried and worked hard but did not see the results until late March or April.
The Top Momentum Losing Mistakes
1. “Taking It Off” During the Holidays—that is an employee mindset not entrepreneurial one. Instead of thinking like successful entrepreneurs do by leveraging the end of the year.
2. Lack of Clarity of a Plan—create actions steps, focus, and momentum. Most people never really get clear. Successful entrepreneurs always have a plan. And a backup plan. And sometimes a backup to the backup plan.
3. Weak Foundation to Create a January That Rocks—waiting until January will push everything into February or beyond. Not leveraging people’s desire on January 1st to “get going” by not having everything in place. Successful entrepreneurs always start working on January in October or November (the latest).
4. Sitting On the Fence—waiting has become a habit of looking for the right time. Successful entrepreneurs understand that only they can create the right time— and they use that to get off that fence!
5. Not Reading Frustration Correctly—most people shut down. Successful entrepreneurs leverage it to take yourself to the next level. They understand that waiting psyches them out. Just like, “Monday I’ll start my diet.”
6. Waiting is a habit—and rarely supports us in business. We bounce from excuse to excuse around bad timing (i.e. holidays, tax time, summer, etc.) Successful entrepreneurs keep moving, even when they don’t want to. They see the bigger goal in front of them. Just within reach. Always.
7. Perfectionist Thinking—just like, “I have to finish my financials before I start pitching.” You wait for the “perfect” moment to start something. Meanwhile the opportunities pass you by. Successful entrepreneurs often jump before they look.
8. Lack of Consistency—not following through and moving your business forward. Your business is like a child and must be treated with consistent behavior for success. Successful entrepreneurs have infrastructures and routines in place. All their hard work looks easy to the outside world. And eventually it actually does become easy.
Once I saw this in my own business, I made this time of the year my busiest. I built systems to make sure the momentum is strong and my support is in place for the beginning of the following year.
And now I can go gallivanting around knowing that I will be busy in January when I get back.
Action Steps for the Week
Take a hard look at your end-of-year habits in your business. Look for the trends of what you do each year. Then look at the last three years and how things end up happening in the first few months.
Then answer the following questions:
• Where does the momentum need to be? What must you do to get it there… now?
• Are you waiting for the Holidays to be over before you _______ ? (fill in the blank: amp up your business, really get things going, move forward, etc.)
• How can you leverage your frustration level to move you forward?
• What needs to happen for you to get off that fence… immediately?
• What must be in place to be ready for your clients so when they are ready on January 1st?
• How can you support your clients in moving forward in 2014?
• How can you be more consistent in your business… especially this time of year?
• What kind of UnReasonable support team do you have in place? (i.e. for community, accountability, support, focus, structure, validation. A sacred place to bring your challenges to the brilliance of a team. Others committed to your success.), so are you?
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© 2013 BEST Coaches, Inc.
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“Entrepreneur business coach and mentor Stefan Doering, founder of BEST Coaches, helps entrpreneurs and small business around the world how to achieve the UnReasonable. We do this by coaching business owners to achieve financial success while running businesses that are environmentally and socially sustainable. Get his FREE ezine newsletter, “Be UnReasonable Power Boost“ at www.BESTCoaches.com.”