The end of one year and the beginning of another is the perfect time to pause and savor your successes from the year that is ending. Celebrate both your business and your personal accomplishments from 2021, month by month. Reflections on the 2021 goals that you achieved can also be the genesis for planning what you want to achieve during 2022. You know what they say…a goal without a plan is just a dream.
Whether you are expanding, launching something new or maintaining the status quo, 2022 will be different than 2021. That means setting new goals and making a new plan. Starting is always the hardest part, so begin by identifying one overarching change you want to achieve by the end of the year. Want more customers, higher cash flow, or a new worker? Focus on achieving that one change, then break it down into manageable pieces.
Change doesn’t just happen; you need a plan to get it done. Follow these three planning tips to achieve your goals in 2022:
- Gather the Numbers
Quantify all the applicable aspects of your goals. This task will require some research and could entail making estimates and assumptions. For example, how many more customers do you want? Can you quantify the additional income and cost of serving more customers? What about how much a new worker would cost and how much additional income they could generate? The more numbers you can nail down, the better.
- Be Realistic
Keep market conditions and your resource capacity in mind when setting growth and other goals. It’s important to be realistic to ensure that your goals are achievable. Setting unrealistic objectives is not only discouraging, but it can also result in allocating resources – aka time and money – on activities that are unlikely to succeed. Better to target those resources on realistic, achievable goals.
- Adjust As Needed
No matter how well you research the numbers and focus on what’s realistic, any view of future events is imperfect, as we’ve seen with COVID-19. Market conditions and other factors that you depended on when setting your goals could change. Periodically assess progress on meeting your objectives. Are you on track? Why or why not? Based on those answers, you may need to make some adjustments.
The end of 2021 is the perfect time to savor your successes and to plan for what you want to achieve in 2022. Don’t let your goals turn into the dreams you never achieved. Establish a plan for 2022 and turn those dreams into your reality.