New Year, New You: Here’s 5 Questions You Must Ask In 2023
The new year is before us, and now’s the time for us to start reflecting. What has been the best thing to happen to your business last year? What was something you felt could be improved upon? What was that one thing you wished you did but didn’t go ahead with?
These are some of the questions we have to ask ourselves before the new year properly commences so that we can get 2023 off to the right start. So below, list five questions you will need to ask yourself as the new year begins.
1. What was the most unique experience this year?
Did you attend an event that particularly inspired you? Did you hire somebody who took your business to the next level? Or was it something more personal – did your family hit a milestone this year that really made 2022 one of the best years of your life?
Or, alternatively, was it something grimmer, darker – something that made you question everything you’ve been doing so far?
Think about what your most one-of-a-kind experience happened to you this year – and how it has shaped you, your character and your company.
Example: “I spoke at a conference of one hundred people – the largest group of people I’ve ever spoken in front of.”
2. What personal and professional challenges you faced this year, and how did you grow from them?
This may ultimately be the same answer as the first question above. Did you or a loved one face a health issue this year that you’ve been battling? Did something happen in your business that made you dramatically change the way you think?
Importantly, think about how you dealt with these challenges as they arose, and what you learned from the process of responding to them.
Example: “I took the lead in a four-month long project for the first time and learnt that I had management skills I had never tapped into before. It will really give me more confidence in the next project I work on”.
3. What new skill did you develop this year?
Think about what unique talent or skill you developed this year that was really important to you.It doesn’t have to be something as ‘out there’ as juggling or water skiing.
It can be something as simple as learning how to prepare a new type of document at work, or something as mundane as learning a formula on an Excel spreadsheet that has made your daily life at work that much easier.
It also doesn’t have to be a new skill. It could have been something you were working on previously, that you fine-tuned in 2022.
Example: “I gained confidence speaking to large groups in public.”
4. What is your plan for next year?
Think about what your plan will be next year in both your personal and professional life, and start mapping it out on paper. This is much simpler than it many people make out.
First, pick simply one thing. You don’t have to change your entire life – it simply won’t work. Just pick one thing in your life to change. It could be your business. Your health. Your relationship.
Plan for success, anticipate the problems you may face (and how to overcome them), pick a start date (it doesn’t have to be on New Year’s Day) and track your progress from day one. Put 100% into it – no half-measures.
Here’s an example:
“I want my business to reach $50,000 per month. I’m going to achieve this by establishing a robust sales pipeline and outsourcing everything that is not my core business, so I can focus on marketing and delivering the actual service that makes my business money. I think I’m going to have a tough time as the economy looks like it will enter a recession, so I need to develop a find a way my business can help my clients when they too are economically struggling.”
Another (more personal) example:
“I want to lose 20 kilograms and build muscle. I’m going to attend the gym four times a week, have three nutritious meals a day and meditate each morning. I think I’m going to get lazy some weeks, so I’ll set a daily reminder for myself to make sure I stay accountable and reward myself at the end of every 4-day gym week by eating my favourite meal with my partner.”
5. How are you going to measure success in 2023?
The way you measure your success will be based on the goal you’ve set for yourself. For example, a weight loss goal will be measured in kilograms. A revenue goal will be measured in dollar figures. There is clearly therefore no one-size-fits-all way to measure success.
But metrics are not the only way you can measure success. Values are equally important. If personal relationships are extremely important to you, and you’ve developed relationships with excellent coaches, colleagues and mentors as you attempt to achieve your goals, then that might be a way to measure your success – even if you don’t hit your sales target every month.
Start the new year right
Without goals, life can get messy. With the right goals, you’ll feel inspired to take action every day and feel incredibly accomplished once you’ve landed the success you set out to achieve.
It’s 2023 – so it’s the perfect time to ask these questions and think about what plan will be for the new year.
For me I had business growth and looked at the business newly, from the way we price processes, team roles and value we deliver. I stood up for myself and the teams value, by setting minimum pricing and started pricing to reflect what we deliver which in turn grew my faith in the right clients will come, which they did and continue to. Looked at business partnering opportunities and new business opportunities opened which start to roll out in 2023.
Personally, I grew in the way I view myself, relationships and what I want to create, looked, and continue to explore what family is for me and discovered I hold the key to my financial security, and I have gifts to give and have begun to live a life of authenticity.
I am proud of the person I am, thankful for my path and experiences that have carved me to who I know myself as and I am excited to meet the new parts of me I am still exploring and getting to know every moment.
Sit back, reflect, and think about how you’ll make 2023 your year.
It’s yours for the taking.
We can’t wait to see what’s next.