Fitness, family, and finances. The top 3 F's for New Years Resolutions are officially in full swing at 12:00am Thursday January 1, 2015. Although resolutions are motivating, goal driven and exciting, they are also (more often than not), temporary, deadline oriented and short lived. Are you an individual who evaluates your year and asks yourself, 'self, how can I be better in the new year?' If you are, you are among 40 percent of the U.S. that does so. And based off of a study by Psych Central, about 40 percent of those people actually succeed in those goals for the year. Most people thrive on the thought of self-improvement and setting a date and time for the start of something new and better.
One wonders about that other 60 percent and why it is not driven by a man-made minute inspiring life change. Why is it that some individuals are pushed to make personal amendments because of the new year while others are self-evaluating and making adjustments as needed? What does that mean in business? Can one apply the resolutions for the 3 F's to business? A fit business, filled with work-life balance and healthy cash flow is a recipe for ongoing success.
Photo by Kyle Meeks
As a small business owner, one must build milestones of success throughout the year. Some personal and many professional:
Personal:
1. Take care of your mental and physical health. Read, self reflect and sleep well. Try to snack healthy all day and park far away from the entrance so you can walk a distance to and from your car, adding in that extra step throughout your week. Find an at home fitness regimen or maybe a fitness youtube channel and follow those cardio workouts. Fitness Blender is a current favorite!
2. Give yourself 2 nights a week (doesn't have to be the weekend) to spend with family/friends doing something productive. Not just the movies, or out to eat. How about a cup of coffee or tea to actually talk face-to-face about faith, family or new reads?
3. Spend time alone. You may not need to be in your room or in the car. But how about trying to go running with no music and just the sound of nature and your heart beat? How about donating your time to a community cause? This is a self remedy for a pure heart and mental health.
Professional:
1. Examine your business plan thoroughly so that you may create your own metric for growth. Success doesn't always mean sales. Success is how you measure the health and fitness of your company and/or business. Find out your metrics and make sure you take out that ruler twice a week to make sure you're on track.
2. Don't tell everyone everything. Do keep it to yourself. Not every move you make is everyone's business. For example, our facebook, instagram and website are fairly active social sites that generate a lot of conversation and although our network supports our growth, there are some details to be kept private for the sake of organic and healthy decision making.
3. Make sure you're still in love. Loving what you do makes it hard to call it a job. When people ask if you have to work on Monday, a twinkle of a smirk is okay to show because you're loving the place you're in. Unfortunately, most people do not love the job they're in or wish some thing were different. Maybe your #3 here should be creating concrete steps to a better business life.
So, what do you say? Are you going to wait for an arbitrary date to make your life better?
Photo credits: IL Moda PR, Lubna Designs, Tohni Bekka, Nicki Marie Jewelry, FY Beauty
Model: Brooklyn Renee