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THIS WEEK
Reviewing 2008 and Setting Goals for 2009
ALSO IN THIS EDITION
| Reviewing 2008 and Setting Goals for 2009 |
To talk about reviewing 2008 and setting goals for 2009, I want to first tell you a story. I have a border collie named Houdini. OK her name really is Milly the Wonderdog, but in the past few weeks she has been renamed Houdini.
Houdini is a typical border collie - active, intelligent and loves to play. Her favourite time of the day was when she was taken to the local dog park so she could play with her doggie mates. 5pm would come around and she would pace between the door and her lead hanger to let us know it was time.
When the big storms hit in November her park was decimated and all the fences came down. Temporary plastic fences were erected but they were more visual than actual deterrent. It was no longer safe for the dogs to play there of leash - so her best doggie friends no longer came to play.
Houdini moped. We did our best - we took her up to road for play dates with one of her friends, Daisy. She loved playing with Daisy, and looked forward to the time she spent there. But it took a lot of organising to sort out two families' diaries during Christmas, so Houdini spent more and more time moping for her friends and less time playing. Houdini's child played with her, but it wasn't the same as her doggy mates.
Until ... she discovered she could squeeze through a crack in the bottom of the fence and take herself up the road to play with Daisy. I rolled a dirty great boulder in front of the gap. That would stop her I thought.
The next day she was out again and up with Daisy. This time she had pushed aside a wire part at the base of the fence woven through with creepers.
 I was back at Bunnings and bought new 6 ft fence palings, cut away the creeper and rebuilt the fence. It was a 36 degree very humid day. I managed to squish one of my fingers to pulp on a boulder which didn't help. The good part was learning how to use a circular saw to cut the tops of the fence off to match the rest of the fence (more toys to play with!) 2 hours later she was back up the road with Daisy. I was getting frustrated - and my temper was getting as hot as the weather!
The next morning I went around every fence paling looking for white hair. I figured she would leave some telltale fur behind, so feeling very CSI I checked out for stray hairs at the top and bottom of the fence. Bingo! One on the top of one section of the fence - I must have been right and she must have jumped the fence. I created a wire ceiling through the shrub and nailed onto the fence - no more jumping I thought.
This time it took 4 hours but she was out again and heading up the road. Now I was really peeved. We tried calling her while we were out the front of the house to see which side she came from. That worked - but we still didn't know exactly how she was getting out.
I decided she must be jumping over the 5ft fence on that side of the house, so researched on the net how to stop a dog jumping a fence. I had all the plans drawn up for inward sloping wire tops to the fence and had booked in another trip to Bunnings.
In the morning went out to measure the fence when I discovered in plain view a broken fence paling - wide enough to fit a determined dog through. I couldn't work out how I hadn't seen it before! I mean I had checked each part of the fence every day for about a week! I even had had my kids and father check the fence and none of us saw it!
A few spare fence palings later and the hole has been repaired (as well as a few other dodgy palings that could break and create gaps in the future).
Has it worked? Well so far Houdini hasn't yet made her way up the road - we are keeping all fingers (including the healing one) crossed! We have also arranged play dates with Daisy each day until the dog park is repaired to meet her needs to play with her doggy mates to see if that reduces her need to escape, and I have been onto our local councillor to get the dog park repaired.
What have I learnt so far from Houdini? Well the biggest lesson is the power of determination and friendship. Milly is one determined dog and was motivated to keep on trying to play with her friend no matter the obstacles we put in her place. When a new obstacle was put in place, she worked out a way around it. She didn't give up.
Milly is what we wish ourselves to be like - persistent, determined and focussed on our goal. Milly is also motivated by enjoyment and friendship to scale great heights - we need our own "pack" to keep us on track and to help motivate us to achieve more than we dreamed possible.
I have also re-learnt that we only see what we are looking for. With the fence I fixed one problem at a time. Even though I had scanned for problems each time I fixed one problem I believed I had fixed the issue (until I was proven otherwise). How many times in life and business do we miss what it is in plain sight until it jumps out at us and hits us in the face? How many times do we fall foul of "group think" where none of us see the real problem?
When looking back at my goals for 2008 and how I went these lessons haunted me. Long term readers would remember my approach to goal setting is to become aligned in thought – word – deed. To become crystal clear in what you want to achieve with every fibre of your being, to write down your goals and then take massive action towards your goal.
Last year I had a mixture of public and private goals. Here were the public goals.
- I resolve to build my business by 1% each day - to create a business where I can use my skills to add massive value to positive action-focussed clients and where cashflow is constant and strong.
- I resolve to write the book that has been playing in my head by 1 August 2008.
- I resolve to book and take 2 weeks holiday at a beach with my family Dec/Jan 2008/2009 (if I don’t plan for a holiday now and book it in it doesn’t happen).
 So how did I go?
Well business boomed – I certainly hit goal number 1 as well as my private financial goals around the business. I have learnt the power of a definite dollar target and resolve to set bigger dollar targets in future!
I have two books ¾ written. They are not "the book" but they are still ones I feel I have been called to write. I resolve to finish and release these two books by June 2009.
I took a week with my family in Sydney in October and have also taken a week off over Christmas. I resolve to book in another week of holidays next school holidays.
With my private goals there have also been moments of great success. My relationships with my immediate family has strengthened and become deeper and richer. I had a wonderful love relationship during the year and although we have now parted it reminded me of the sweetness of love. My health and fitness goals still didn't work and I know it was because I didn't adopt the attitude of Milly towards them – I didn't persist no matter the obstacle. I made progress in many health areas, but there is still more to go.
So what are my other 2009 goals? Well I have decided to learn from Milly and the power of friendship. Rather than set goals alone I have set up a planning day with two of my closest friends in business next week. We will go through a process of setting individual and shared goals for our businesses – so we can help support and motivate each other throughout the year.
Our process will remain using the thought-word-deed formula – and will draw on the work of Mark Silver "Heart of Business" to help us really work on the thought level of our goals. Mark Silver helps businesses integrate their heart, intent and spirituality with their business and I fully recommend his work.
I will also be working through these goals with my accountant – to plan how exactly these need to be put into place with my finances. I think of this as taking the esoteric and making them real and grounded!
So – as we jump into 2009, remember the lessons of Milly. Persist, follow what gives you joy and don't stop at apparent first solutions. Wishing you a prosperous, healthy and fun filled 2009.
| HR Tip of the Week - Individual Goals |
When your employees come back to work after their Christmas/New Year break have a chat with them about any resolutions or goals they may have set. Think about setting up a Quit Smoking group or a lunchtime walking group in your workplace to help reinforce their personal goals. By helping your employees achieve their goals, you will help build morale, boost productivity and will humanise your workplace.
| Business of the Week - Bunnings |
Over the Christmas break I have been getting in touch with my handyman side - digging out and repairing storm water drains (I had cracked pipes that needed to be replaced), plastering walls, regrouting cracked grout in the bathroom, putting up new curtain tracks, replacing the pond pump, fixing new washers, re-building my demolished garden shed and of course building fences.
 I have fallen even more in love with Bunnings hardware stores. The staff generally know what they are on about and give great advice on how to do it yourself. Pretty much everything I have wanted to do they have been able to help me do with the right products and advice.
There was only one area in one store where none of the team on roster that day had a clue - so I just went to a another Bunnings and hey presto the team on roster that day sorted my problem in 5 minutes flat.
I have been very fortunate to have my dad on hand to talk me through the harder stuff of correct use of angle grinders and circular saws. Note the use of the words talk me through. All my life his philosophy was girls can do anything if they are taught how - so he decided I needed to learn rather than he do some of the tough stuff this year. I have come to really appreciate his wisdom and support and feel very privileged to have him as my dad.
Bunnings runs some great free workshops on doing these repairs and they are well worth attending. They teach people the right products to select and then teach them how to use them safely and correctly to get the result they are looking for.
Can your business take a leaf out of Bunning's book and become known for the advice you give and the quality of education you give your clients?
This was a post I put together after doing some research on Christmas and the impact copywriters have made on Christmas. (It also contains some salutory lessons on intellectual property!)
Integrating your Branding
exuberantly yours
Ingrid
Heart Harmony
PS: This week's Small Business Tips blog also included a post from our office cat - Dalai Kitty.
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