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New Year’s resolutions are a bit of a joke these days. Let’s be honest. To the point that breaking it seems like the most natural thing in the world. Only 9-12% of the 41% of Americans who make resolutions in the first place stick to them.
We as entrepreneurs are also confronted with this every year. We set goals for our team, or we have growth forecasts that we need to meet. Right from the jump, we commit to delivering on a long list of lofty promises.
And will we get through?
It would be very eloquent of me to accuse you of writing checks that your… er… “bottom” can’t cash. But statistically, that’s exactly what you’re doing. In the warm, cozy seclusion of the Christmas holidays and New Year’s celebrations, imagine all these wonderful new milestones for you and your business.
Then reality hits. The day-to-day operational issues, supplier delays and customer requests. They all conspire to slow your progress to a crawl. Before you know it, you’ll be getting ready for Christmas again, barely accomplishing any of it!
Related: 10 New Year’s resolutions entrepreneurs should make every year
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The problem is you tried to change too much!
We all look for magical solutions, but your mind is just not set up to handle huge and sudden changes. As much as 97% of your decision making is done unconsciously. That means that no matter how strong your intellectual resolve—unless you can internalize your intentions and communicate them favorably to your subconscious mind—you’re unlikely to see them come to fruition.
You might think that working on your subconscious mind is a personal indulgence you don’t have time for, but believe me, it has to be. Like it or not, your business is an extension of you. It exists because you created it and gave it a purpose.
If you are caught up in a personal battle between your consciously held desires and your subconscious emotional programming, your business will quickly lose direction and focus.
That said, here are three simple New Year’s resolutions every businessroundups.org should make in 2023.
1. Make ‘check-ins’ part of your daily routine
What do I mean by this?
I’m talking about taking five or ten minutes twice a day to go to a quiet space and check in with yourself.
We can often go off the rails during our day. We unconsciously carry the baggage of the various problems we encounter into our later decisions about unrelated matters.
By checking in regularly, you can hear and let go of your frustrations. Your ‘stuck states’ are released so that you can approach your needs more soberly. This improves your ability to lead and your team’s ability to perform.
Related: Here’s Why Entrepreneurs Seriously Need To Take A Break
2. Take VIP Days Regularly
I do this at least once or twice a month, but it’s crucial to get that 97% of your brain on board.
A VIP day means indulging in your favorite things to do. This could be shopping, a spa treatment, going to your favorite restaurant for lunch… anything.
A big part of why you have so much internal resistance to change is because you are determined (thanks to millions of years of inherited genetic wisdom) to resist it. The change represents the unknown and the unknown is unsafe!
Bearing in mind that this simple reasoning predates language, reasoning and certainly globalization. It just doesn’t have the awareness that your conscious mind has. What taking a VIP day will do for you is show your subconscious that you are a person who took risks and they gave you Lake safety. Not less.
A major point of resistance to growth for so many of us is that we just don’t see ourselves as successful. By enforcing regular VIP days, you are actively stepping holistically into becoming that new person. And your subconscious will notification.
Related: Would You Rather Change or Let Your Business Die?
3. Set micro goals for your business
It’s easy to drag everyone into a meeting on their first day of the new year and proclaim that “this year we will aim for a doubling of turnover growth!before dusting off your hands and returning to your office.
Setting goals at the highest level is, of course, your responsibility. But you don’t get there in one go!
Going back to what I just said about your subconscious programming. When you look at such a high level goal, without being able to break it down, it will simply overwhelm you and your team. You need to think about the lower level steps to get to that end result and then go through those with your team.
Related: Do You Have A Love-Hate Relationship With Goals?
Sure: Delegate operational responsibility for them, but first of all, acknowledge your responsibility to understand what they are! When everyone can clearly see the path, understand exactly how to do their part in it, and have confidence in their ability to do so, you will be unstoppable.
Limiting these to three and keeping them simple will prevent you from over-extending yourself and risking shutting down. The reason for giving your three personal resolutions (rather than directly for your company) is to better serve you in terms of your mental resilience so that you can handle anything that comes your way.
Make no mistake: the challenges of 2022 will likely continue well into 2023. The best way to hedge against this is to better equip yourself with the internal resources to decisively guide your team.
