Life isn’t static, and neither is business. And sometimes, we need a business reset to get back on track, especially when we are entering a new season. But how do we do this?
Perhaps you’re feeling the shift from the summer season to the fall season in your life. Often at this time of year, we move from a more relaxed approach in our business to a more intentional push towards the end of the year.
When we are entering a new season of the year, or of life or business, we may need to do a reset. In today’s episode, I’m sharing some practical steps you can take to do this.
This episode was sponsored by my upLIFT Mentormind program, for Christian women in the testing or established stages of business who are ready to streamline their business, and grow together to reach their goals and thrive. Click here to learn more and apply today.
Recognizing the Seasons of Life, the Year, and Business
Before we dive into the idea of doing a business reset, I want to just point out that it’s important to recognize that there are seasons in our lives AND seasons in our business, as well as the seasons and flow of the year.
So often we look at what we are doing compared to others around us and we might either feel like we are not doing enough because others seem to be going so much faster. Or perhaps we feel guilty because we are thriving and moving ahead of some who might have been our peers in business at one point.
Here’s what I want you to remember: your business journey is not going to look like anyone else’s and that’s okay.
Keep in mind the following 3 things:
#1: Recognize the season of life you are in and don’t try to fit yourself into a different box just because you see others doing things differently.
#2: Remember that there are seasons in business. I talked about the 5 stages of online business in episode 39. Your actions, your energy, and your focus might look entirely different depending on the stage you are in.
#3: Realize that there are seasons of the year, and sometimes our business will look different throughout the year. I want to help you think about where you’re at thus far in the year, and determine whether you need to do a reset, pivot, or small adjustment!
How to Do a Business Reset
If you’re listening in real time, we’re about 8 months through the year at this point. So we’ve got a solid 4 months remaining to hit our goals and make some changes. Sometimes when we get to this point in the year, we might look at what has happened thus far and, if we are super far from the goal, we might just think: Well, that’s it for 2021. I’ll try again next year.
But I want to help you do a reset so that you can still reach some of your goals THIS year.
Now keep in mind, even though we are in late August of 2021, you can use this process at really ANY time of the year. I recommend doing this quarterly but again, you can really do it at any point you are feeling unsettled or you are questioning whether you are on the right track in your business.
Step 1: Look at what worked so far this year.
You can ask yourself the following questions:
- What goals have you accomplished?
- What goals are you on track to hit by the end of the year?
- What wins did you have? Sometimes the wins are things you had on your goals and other times they are unexpected wins.
- In what ways are you creating your ideal life and business?
Additional resources to help with your business reset:
- Episode 7: What You Must Know to Create the Life (and Business) You Want
- Episode 8: Creating Your Ideal Business (and Life)
- Ideal Life & Business Guide
Step 2: Consider what isn’t working or hasn’t worked so far this year.
This part isn’t as much fun, but it’s important if you want to reset and get back on track for the remainder of the year.
- What goals did you miss and/or are quite a bit off track to hit?
- What has been disappointing or discouraging?
- Where are you experiencing the most friction or challenges?
- What is NOT helping you live your ideal life and business?
Step 3: Look at the rest of the year and what you’d like to accomplish.
Consider the following questions as you look at the last few months of the year, so that you can reset and dive into the last 4 months with purpose and intention.
- At the end of the year, what would you like to look back and see that you’ve accomplished?
- How do you want to feel at the end of the year?
- What are the 2-3 goals in your business that are most important right now? For example, if you are needing consistent income, then one of those goals would be hitting a particular income goal. If you are feeling disorganized and confused all the time, maybe it’s streamlining your systems and workflows so that you can stop feeling overwhelmed.
- Can you identify action steps for those 2-3 goals that will help you accomplish each of them?
- Is there time and space in your schedule to work on those goals? If not, what do you need to do to make that happen?
Next week, I’m going to talk to you about taking charge of your calendar! We’re going to look at how to actually make sure you are managing your time and energy as a business owner. But for now, I want you to at least look at your assessment so far and look at our calendar, and start identifying when you are going to focus on these goals.
Do you need more than a reset?
It might be that in the process of this reflection, you realize that you need a little more than a reset. It could be that you still feel unsettled about whether or not your current business model is the right fit. Or maybe you’re not sure if your offers appeal to your audience. Or it could be that you are getting clients consistently but you’re constantly overwhelmed.
In that case, it might be time for more than a reset… you might need to shift (or our favorite word from 2020, PIVOT) your business model, your marketing, or create the systems to help you stay on track
This is one of the main things I love working with my upLIFT clients on. Often when they come into the program, they have something that is working, but they are still feeling like something is slightly off. Together we are able to identify what is not working and how they can get closer to their ideal business.
If that sounds like something that you’d like help with, I invite you to consider applying for the upLIFT Mentormind. We’ll be opening the doors soon for a new round of members, so head on over to upliftmentormind.com to learn more.
Faith Focus:
2 Chronicles 20:12b
“We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
Right now the world feels like it’s completely out of control. There is so much we don’t understand. When I read this passage, all I could think was: Help me to keep my eyes on you, God, despite what is going on around me. Especially when I don’t know what to do!
Shine a Light Segment:
Today I’m featuring one of the members of my upLIFT Mentormind, Eva Kubasiak. She helps you learn how to study the Bible.
Eva has free and paid resources to help you do this! And she recently started a podcast called Bible Study Made Simple.
If you want support in creating your bible study habit, you’ve got to check out what Eva is up to! You can check her out at her website and on Instagram.
Connect with Esther:
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