A New Year and New Ideas

Every year millions of people make New Year’s Resolutions with the usual culprits being to give up smoking, get fit, lose weight or start that new career. At the start of every year I always sit down and take a long hard look at my business and decide where I want to take it during the year that lies ahead. It is a time I always look forward to, as it is the one time of year I can indulge myself by delving into my notebook packed with all those ideas I came up with during the course of the previous year. Normally any idea I have is written down and filed away, so that it doesn’t distract me from what I really need to focus on. The New Year however, is the perfect time to revisit these ideas to see if they have any merit.

In the same way we feel the need to make New Years Resolutions as individuals a business needs the same injection of something new. It is very easy to lose your way in business as the end of the year draws near, so the New Year is the perfect time to look at things with fresh eyes and put new plans into action.

So how do you do this? Well everyone is different, but for me I have a format that seems to work very well. I set aside one day at the start of January and my sole purpose for that day is to put together a working plan for the year. My surroundings play an important part in this and need to be conducive to creative thinking allowing me to be inspired. I then set up 3 white boards and on the first I write down ALL the ideas I have come up with the previous year. There is no right or wrong to this process and no idea is a bad idea.

Once all the ideas are written down and easy to see I then start to move them over to board number 2 and try to formulate them into an order of some kind so they make sense. From there the filter process begins and ideas with a common theme are grouped together. Once this is done it is usually time to sit back and let the ideas sink in and formulate in my mind.

This last process can often take a couple of hours as I allow the ideas to take on a life of their own. Once this is complete it is time to move onto the 3rd board. Here is where I have to be strict with myself and only allow the ideas that have definite merit to come across and make it onto the final board. From this final board is where I draw my inspiration for the year ahead and although this isn’t an exact science it certainly hasn’t let me down yet.

I would love to know how you set yourself a plan for the New Year so please leave your thoughts here as we can always learn new ways of doing things.