Normally around this time of the year, it’s good to pause and review our progress.  Take a minute to stop and review what’s been going well so far this year, what’s not, and plan how we can end the year strong. 

But this year… 2020… Well, it hasn’t gone according to plan, right? I don’t know about you, but I’ve made almost no progress toward the goals I set for the year.

Guess what? That’s okay. 

Just because your goals took a backseat to the chaos doesn’t mean you’ve given up. We have all had to adapt and reprioritize for the next six months.

We are in the middle of a global pandemic, an economic crisis, and a social revolution. (Oh, and there’s a Presidential Election this year too!) None of us predicted that 2020 would go like this — and it’s nearly impossible for us to predict what’s going to happen the rest of this year either. 

With so much uncertainty let’s aim for progress over perfection. Ask yourself, “what three things I can do in the next six months to keep our company and/or team moving forward?” Don’t try to make a fancy plan, just pick three measures to help you to see some progress. 

If you’re in a brain fog because you’re so overwhelmed, allow me to suggest a few options:

Simplify:

• I know this is going to sound counterintuitive — in a time when clients may be more cautious and less willing to engage, you need to narrow your focus and simplify your offerings. 
• What if you could only sell one thing, to one ideal client? 
• If you put that constraint on your business, you’d get good at it. You’d very quickly gain a deep understanding of that ideal client’s needs. You’d hone your pitch and your offer so that it was irresistible to that ideal client.

Narrowing your focus also simplifies your marketing and outreach. You know exactly where to go — wherever your ideal client goes! You’d know who to partner with — whomever your ideal client trusts. 

Narrowing your offering makes you more attractive because your ideal client knows that you are speaking to them.

Re-Assess:

Remember when I said that you already have everything you need? This sentiment is still true, but as businesses slowly start to re-open (with restrictions) we are now navigating a new normal that may not be completely sustainable for the long-term. Think about the resources you have at your disposal. Then, take out the list of goals you wrote in January and ask yourself these questions: 

• Which goals have you met, if any (it’s okay if your answer is none)? 
• Which of those goals are you still striving to meet before 2021? At this point in the year, with all that has happened, it’s totally okay to reprioritize and move some goals to the top of the list and others to the bottom. 
• What tools and/or resources do you have at your disposal to meet the goals you still have and what do you need now in order to reach them?  Remember — goals are the achievements but priorities are the things we need to put in place to realize the goal.
  • For example:  Do you need to limit the amount of time you’re spending on social media content to free up time for the mundane, yet necessary, tasks such as bookkeeping? Or, can you outsource one, or, even both of those tasks to make time for that new business outreach?

Community:

Don’t go it alone. This year has been hard enough and it’s looking like it may continue that way — find some like-minded business owners that you can check-in with. When you don’t know which way to turn, or even if you are going the right direction getting out of your head is crucial.

• Look for a group that provides accountability to keep you focused on those simple actions. 
• If the answer to the question above about outsourcing was “YES, please!”, tap into your business community! They may be able to recommend a freelancer to help take things such as social media management or blog writing off of your plate.
• Our Mastermind groups provide you with a clear path forward and help business owners identify the most important things they want to achieve in a short timeframe. 

So, here we are… it’s July. We’re half-way there… livin’ on a prayer and wishin’ we knew if we were more than half-way through all of these challenges, too. The reality is that things are still up in the air and we could all use a bit more positivity out in the universe, so give yourself a little grace. It’s okay if your business looks the same as it did in December.  We shouldn’t see ourselves as failures that we are not tracking to our goals in the middle of this mess. We should celebrate the progress we have made, keep moving forward, and support one another.