As you look back on 2015, celebrate your achievements

Wow, I can’t believe 2015 is almost over! What about you? December often brings time to reflect on the year that’s about to end, but also plan for the year to come.

How did things go? Did you reach some of your goals? How about all of them?

I know for me, there were some personal and professional goals that I met, but there were also some that I did not. But, that’s the nature of the beast, isn’t it? And that is the point of always trying to improve our lives and our businesses. You always reach for the best; and, if you don’t quite make it, then don’t beat yourself up about it…add it for next year and try harder. We are human, and sometimes we reach for the starts and only get to the treetops. And that’s OK.

But, if you didn’t reach all your goals this year, then now is the time to start making a plan for next year on how you can reach them. Here are a few ideas:

Make a marketing plan – This includes social media marketing, ads, PR, whatever and however your market your business, lay it out here. Make a calendar if you have to to help!
Update your business plan – Make sure your business plan is up to date. I personally like to tackle an area of my business plan each month, so that it’s not so overwhelming. Do what works best for you!
Make a social media calendar – Need to get organized with your posts and scheduling? There are plenty of apps and programs that can help you! Make a calendar of what you want to post, and when.
Plan your vacations, and your projects, ahead of time – If you know when your vacations are, you can plan your hours, and your deadlines, ahead of time, so you aren’t rushing to get things done right before you leave.
Try calendaring your time better – If you haven’t heard of “calendaring’, this is it in a nutshell: Block of a certain amount of time to do a general “task”, then during that time, check off as much as you can of that “to-do” list as you can. For example, you could have a block of time for “website maintenance”, “social media posts”, and “bookkeeping”. Within the time block you have for “bookkeeping” get as much done as you can: write paychecks, pay bills, reconcile bank account, pay taxes, etc.
Hire a Virtual Assistant, more employees, contractor, etc. to help you – No one can do everything alone. If you realize you’ve gotten to that point, don’t stress, get help! Virtual Assistants like myself can cover multiple areas of expertise, or work as a team with your other VAs, contractors, employees, etc. Just need a specific task for the short-term? Maybe a contractor is what you need to get the job done. Whatever it is, decide who will be best to help you and start the process of working with them.