Entrepreneurs know that life and business change quickly and that it’s essential to improve and progress continually.
Goals act as benchmarks to success and growth. Without setting goals, you often end up floundering around and filling your time with things that don’t help move yourself or your business forward. The best way to get out of that busy work mentality is to put some concrete things in place and think about the future. And there’s no better time to reflect on the past and plan for the future than as we prepare for a new year.
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Here are the five new things I’m going to try in 2022:
Making more decisions based on data. Blake and I create lots of content on social media for our businesses, ranging from videos and podcasts to articles and lead magnets. For years, my focus has been on quantity with the idea that all content is good content. But some things perform better than others. In 2022, I don’t want to do things just to do them. If a piece of content or a particular style isn’t doing well, I will try something else. I want to spend more time with the data, trust my team, and do more things that perform well. It’s not about the content you create—it’s about the impact.
Creating more of a team environment. I have 12 employees spread around the world. And while I’ve been doing team meetings for a while, there wasn’t really an agenda, which wasn’t productive or useful. Creating a team environment in 2022 includes adding structure to team meetings. We’ll go over goals and challenges, recognize someone on the team, and talk about what we want to get done. Creating that environment also includes getting to know my team members better. I talk about this a lot as being so crucial, but I haven’t done a good job of it. I will spend more time learning who my team members are, what they care about, and what they hope to achieve personally and professionally.
Creating more digital products. In 2022, my focus will be on creating digital products and courses for my personal brand and BYOB. That includes quarterly lead magnets and webinars and regular courses. In-person events are likely returning, which is where I’ve typically developed a lot of my business. But there is a huge opportunity in the digital space, and I want to take advantage of it by focusing heavily on creating, sharing, and selling online.
Writing a new book. I recently signed a contract for my fourth book with Wiley, all about vulnerability and leadership. A big thing for me in 2022 will be writing and hopefully releasing the book and doing a podcast that goes along with the topic. There isn’t a lot of research in this space, so the book will be a huge undertaking—interviewing business leaders, asking for stories, doing an extensive survey, and teaming up with organizations like I did previously. This is a big topic, and I’m excited about it and a little intimidated.
Having regular date nights. On the personal side, I want to have more date nights with Blake. Often, our date nights turn into work nights and we take advantage of a free night to talk about work projects or get ahead on headlines. It’s important to spend time together without our kids or distractions from work, and I want to make that a big focus in 2022. Work taking over our lives can lead to burnout and overwhelm.
For me, 2022 is going to be a year of experimentation. I want to test new ideas and formats to really find what clicks and rockets my business forward. Setting goals is the first step to achieving that progress.
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