An EOY biz review that won’t end with tears + a tub of Ben & Jerry’s
Have you ever started an EOY business review with fiery passion and then ended it with tears + tub of Ben and Jerry's?
The process of "wrapping up" a year of work can quickly go from inspiring to a self-deprecating-shit-sandwich if you let the mind do what it's good at:
Over-thinking.
This weekend, I booked a hotel on the coast (without my s/o) where I'll be spending the next 2 days reviewing my business, taking myself out to dinner, and romanticizing the eff out of the end of this year. The 2022 vibe was immaculate, so I wanted to give you all an insight as to how my EOY process will do the opposite of suck (like most do).
Here's a birdseye view of what a good business review looks like:
Intention around all categories of life & business, not just the big 3 (sales, networking & marketing)
Deep insight around past experiences (good and bad) that can be used to stay in the energy of transformation
Presence around what NOT to do during your business review
Before we dive in...did you know that there are 4 levels of consciousness?
1) To me consciousness (Meh, if only I had X then I could do Y.)
2) By me consciousness (I'll just work harder. I can make it happen.)
3) Through me consciousness (My energy matters because there are things going on here that I can't see.)
4/ As me consciousness (Everything in my life is a reflection of me - it's connected to me. When I move, it moves.)
The problem with most business reviews, is that it triggers your "to me consciousness" and initiates a meltdown (right when you're supposed to be doing the opposite of that). This exercise is designed to focus on the last 3 levels of consciousness - by me, through me, as me - so that you're able to celebrate and strategize the coming year from a higher, more lucrative perspective.
Create space
I dare you to take a few days "off" of your OG business grind to celebrate + strategize. The point is to switch up the routine so that you can get your creative juices flowing.
Celebration is a portal. When this review looks different from your usual working environment, then you can embrace your business with a different mindset, connect to creative solutions, and make meaning out of the past so that you can create better results in the future.
I rented an airbnb on the beach and decided to go on DND for a few days. But maybe you visit a new coffee shop or book a co-working spot for a day.
p.s. No one gets ahead in the New Year by acting like a crazy person on the 1st. If you’ve never had a chill, turn-of-the-year with little to no self-depreciation-shit-sandwiches…then I highly suggest you join me on this one to create a new experience.
Get clear on the categories of life you need to focus on
I have a deep purpose exercise that I do with most of my clients. When we finish this exercise, they can clearly see what matters the most to them & what it’s going to take for them to create one-of-one results in the next year. Any opportunity or challenge that doesn’t reflect their deep purpose moving forward is an immediate no or a chance to pivot back to alignment.
We pair intuition with personal context to strengthen alignment in the long run.
So I want you to do a variation of the same thing. Below, I’ve listed a few categories of life (after all, a successful coaching business is the extension of what happens in your personal life!) Take a few minutes to write down what is important to you about all of these categories and what you’d like to see in each moving forward.
Relationships
Family
Money
Health
Spirituality
Emotional Intelligence
Personal Power
Self Trust
Get clear on the categories of business you need to focus on
Too often, we solely focus on the "big things" when reviewing our business - sales, marketing, networking. Those are (obviously) important, but the success of your business is deeper than the big 3. Do the same thing you did above with the categories below:
Client relationships (& how they relate to patterns in your friendships or romantic partnerships)
Boundaries & leadership
Content strategy
Your unique strategy for creating epic results
Any failed experiences
Your experience as a client
Edges that you met (investing, selling, visibility)
Products suite & diversification
Celebrate how much you’ve already grown in these areas
Research studies show that when entrepreneurs constantly and consistently compare themselves to where they think they should be instead of how far they’ve come, they suffer with much higher levels of: depression, stress, anxiety, frustration, shame, guilt, & despair.
You just made a quick list of ways you’d like to improve in the New Year, but now it’s time to celebrate how far you’ve actually come.
Where did you start?
What have you accomplished?
If you’re in - seemingly - the same spot as last year, are you on a whole nother level? What have you learned?
Now, turn your past experiences (good and bad) into unique, repeatable strategies
You have your own strategies for creating mindblowing results…and epic failures. We can breakdown the creation of certain experiences throughout the year to help us actually see and repeat the results that we want to repeat - even when they’re intuitie.
Look back at an epic result that you created this year. How did you know - before creating or experiencing it - that this was going to work? What internal signs and signals was your intuition delivering? How did you move because of these signs & signals. What was your experience of taking action? Include any necessary thoughts, emotions, actions.
Now look back at a big failure that happened. How did you subconsciously know - before creating or experiencing - that this probably wouldn’t work? What internal signs and signals was your intuition delivering? What limiting beliefs or stories were there? What signs did you ignore or confuse?
How do these two experiences differ? Can you outline in 4-6 bullet points your unique strategy for creating epic results by doing this very same process with multiple wins & losses?
Further expansion…
These questions will help you see what you want to experience more and less of. They also might connect you to creative solutions…stay open and stay curious.
What experiences did you have that confirmed your greatest fears and limiting beliefs? Knowing what you know now, how would you coach yourself through this situation next time?
Where is there room to innovate & create what you have yet to see?
Was there any mirroring going on? i.e. between friends and client partnerships, between old stories and repetitious cycles.
What energized you? Drained you? Where is there room to improve the quality of your life?
Were you the kind of client that you’re calling in? Is there a new edge with investing or mentorship that you're avoiding? What would make you the best possible client & student that you could be?
Are there offers, strategies, systems or clients that you’ve very obviously outgrown?
What did you consistently resist, avoid, hesitate on or procrastinate on? Was it from FEAR or BOREDOM or OVERWHELM or being UNCLEAR as to what FEELS RIGHT? I don't believe in procrastination. I trust my timing - but this question is about the story we tell ourselves.
What were your biggest lessons? How have you learned to use your failures and setbacks as a portal for creating better results?
What things are you still doing that are a mismatch for the business you want to build?
Do you need more support? Maybe it’s time to hire that coach you’ve wanted to work with or lean in deeper with the coach you already are working with.
What would you like to do to increase profit? How did you act throughout the year depending on what your income looked like? Where can you be more neutral and tap into creative solutions?
Was the quality of your life continually influenced by external circumstances? If so, how would you like to see that change? How can you do this daily?
What did you avoid consistently? Can it be delegated or removed entirely?
What isn’t congruent with where you’re going next?
Where can you front-load more of the emotions that you want to experience in your life?
What offers do you want to keep delivering? Are there any that are draining you? Have you outgrown some of them?
Taking Action in the New Year
Open up a Google Document and type out everything you’re going to feel, accomplish and do this year. Congrats - you just made a Menu of Potential. Now it’s time to start cooking.
To avoid the skewed percetion between “what we think we’re doing” and “what we’re ACTUALLY doing”… carve out two, 30 minute blocks into every week. In the first block (ideally on Sunday or Monday), open your menu and pick 3 things that you will commit to this week on top of your normal working schedule.
What do you need to do to accomplish this?
Who do you need to be?
What could get in the way? How can you prepare for plan for that distraction?
By the end of the week, you’ll have some data around your goals. Rinse and repeat every week until you have to make an entirely new menu.
What you should NOT do...
Dwell in what could of been
Compare yourself to other's growth
Rely on strategy as the only way to scale
Overplan month to month
Put pressure on figuring everything out in the span of 48 hours
If any of this behavior comes up, you allow just a long enough shelf life to acknowledge there's an underlying sentiment that needs to be addressed, and then you leave its self-deprecating antics in 2022.
This type of review process is hypnotic business therapy. It puts you in a higher level of consciousness so that you don't keep repeating the same patterns over and over again.
Before I leave you to manifest, meditate, and business plan...
Open your calendar *RIGHT NOW* and schedule those WEEKLY BUSINESS REVIEWS. Come this time next year, you won't be so overwhelmed with doing EOY reviews because you'll already have 52 iterations of it an a whole lot of growth to show for it. That means:
More time off, more money made, more blissed out celebration, more time spent with your families.
Cheers friends...
If you need me, I'll be here.
OH, and if you’d like to download my weekly Coffee & Coaching Scorecard to track all of this for you…you can do so by clicking here.
