My kids, ages 16, 14, and 12, have been back at school about a month now. Full speed ahead, super active, and super teenagery (is that a word?). When school starts back, my wife and I’s world just changes. Back to games or practice every night of the week – usually with three kids going in three different directions. We are back to studying late at night and then having to get up super early. We have papers to sign, teachers to meet and teenage social calendars to manage. You know, a bunch of stuff.
With all this going on, it also is the time of the year when I start reflecting on my own changes. Usually, it starts with my poor eating habits and lack of exercise (okay so my weight). However, after I have my pity party, I start to reflect on my businesses. First on what we have accomplished this year, what changes we have already made and how our team has been performing, then the wins and losses we have already had.
That, for me, is when the fun begins. I love looking forward. I love the idea of improving our business.
In the past, I have tried to improve 800 things at once. I would have all the balls in the air and try to do too much too fast. In the past few years, I have gotten a lot more strategic. We have major priorities we set for the year, then each quarter, we look at what big changes we want to make in the major priority areas.
This time of year, gearing up for the 4th quarter, is my favorite time of the year. I love figuring out what I want to change or fix or improve from the past quarter to finish out our year and position us for an awesome new year. However, I realize that not everyone has my mindset.
If you fear change or are overwhelmed by all the things you need to get done, here are some tips to help you embrace the changes.
- Think of stairs. Each step you take toward the goal of fixing or improving the areas you want to change brings you one step closer to where you want to be. The process of losing weight and getting fit happens one step at a time. The same goes for improving your accounting and back office processes – one step at a time.
- Think quality over quantity. Having a sound plan of attack for the one to three major things you want to accomplish between now and year end is huge! Pick the right changes to make that will have the biggest impact on your personal and business goals.
- Think with the end in mind. If you start with the end goal in mind and how happy you are going to be once this change happens, you can stay focused on the positive and not the tediousness (and stepping out of your comfort zone) that may come during the process.
If you are ready to improve your eating habits, I am probably not your guy. But if you are looking to improve your accounting process and start getting better information and insight to be the awesome business owner you always wanted to be, give us a call or schedule a quick call with us so you can decide if you want to explore options.
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