We are very excited to have Vancouver’s own marketing guru, Sue Clement of Success Coaching, as a guest contributor to our blog just in time to kick off the New Year! We asked Sue if she had any helpful suggestions for planning a successful business year and she came back with a gem! Read her full article below!

New Year’s Resolutions – How to Create Winning Resolutions to Build Your Business
by Sue Clement ©2010

Have you made your New Year’s resolutions yet?  Don’t be too hasty.

Personally, I’m not really a big fan of New Year’s resolutions because most people don’t follow them through.  And that can be much worse than not making any at all.  But there are ways to use them to good effect.

Read on to find out 4 steps you must do if you’re serious about having success with your New Year’s resolutions.

#1. DO A REALITY CHECK
If you want a winning New Year’s resolution, the first step is to  do a Reality Check.  Set aside some time and figure out the answer to these questions:

Is it a want, a wish, a dream, a vision, or a need?  Is it grounded in reality?
Be very clear about whether you’re really willing and likely to follow through.  Because if you’re not, you’re far better off to skip it.

Why should you skip it?
You may think it can’t hurt if you at least give it a shot.  But you’d be wrong. All those promises (like resolutions) we make to ourselves but then don’t carry through are more detrimental than if we did nothing. That’s because these strings of broken promises just de-motivate us and weaken our confidence and self trust that we CAN do what we set out to.

So be sure to do a reality check first before continuing on and only pick resolutions or goals that you’re absolutely committed to and willing to do the work to achieve it.

#2. DO A POST-MORTEM
The second step before making your New Year’s resolutions is to do a post-mortem.  Reflect on the past year.  Spend some time thinking about what worked and what didn’t, and most important — why.

To move ahead we need to first understand how we got to where we are – especially if you’re not exactly where you’d hope to be. Are there projects or programs that are incomplete and worth carrying on with? Or would you be better off dropping them? Did your marketing deliver the results you targeted? What needs to be changed or shifted to get what you want?  They say doing the same thing but expecting different results is insanity – so what do you need to change or focus on?

#3. CREATING SUCCESSFUL RESOLUTIONS
If you really want to make a resolution, it’s important to think of it as a target or a goal.  As with any goal statement, be sure to set a clearly defined, measurable goal with a specific end point, and then flush out the steps to get there. Make sure to take the time to write both the goal/resolution down, as well as all the steps to accomplish it.

The more defined your plan is the greater the chance for success. Of course you’ll also need a plan to monitor your progress along the way.  What are the benchmarks or mid-point targets? Tracking and measuring against them will help you stay on the path to success – or certainly be quick to notice when you’re off course. And finally, you must to be committed to going through with it. If you aren’t, then forgo it – it’s not the right resolution for you now.

Saying that “you’re going to double your sales, lose that last 40 pounds, or follow up with everyone you meet while networking” are all great resolutions – but let’s be honest here, I don’t mean to be the Christmas Grinch, but they won’t be achieved unless you have a plan, track your results and have huge commitment to stay the course and do ‘the work’.

#4. GET HELP TO MAKE IT WORK
Once you’ve made the commitment, remember to actually stick with it.  Discipline is important.  And so is outside support.

A lot of people have great success with getting a coach to support them on their journey towards their goals.  The feedback, encouragement, and accountability they get from their coach can be invaluable, especially when the going gets tough.

Whether you’ve thought about getting a coach for a while, or whether this article made you wonder if having some accountability and a strategy partner might be a good idea — now is a good time to sample coaching for free.

GET IN TOUCH WITH SUE!
Sue Clement
www.sueclement.com
www.twitter.com/successcoaching