A new year brings fresh optimism and renewed energy. It’s a time to reflect and find ways to make this the year that you are going to truly elevate yourself to another level. But as many advisors know, good intentions don’t always survive once the day-to-day operations of running a business come into play.
If you’ve ever seen your New Year’s resolutions fade away by springtime, you’re not alone. The key to making sure that doesn’t happen? It’s not setting more goals; it’s staying consistent with the ones that matter to you the most.
Resolutions that stick usually begin with a single question. Why? Instead of looking at your New Year’s resolution as another box you need to check off to progress your career, connect them to your mission as an advisor.
Ask yourself, “How does this goal help me improve the outcomes for my business owner clients?” When you tie your goals to your purpose, you create a commitment not just to yourself, but to your career, your clients, and your business.
Find out your “why” and revisit it whenever you feel your goals slipping. It will remind you what’s at stake for you and your clients, even as your calendar fills up with meetings and travel.
When you sit down to think about your New Year’s resolutions, consider what your overall goals are for the year. Do you want to earn your Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®) credential? If you already have your CEPA, do you want to grow the number of business owner clients you work with? Whatever your goal may be, you must have a realistic way to measure success.
Just as CEPAs help business owners work through the Value Acceleration Methodology™ with a set of deliverables after each gate, you should have deliverables in mind for your goal. These deliverables don’t have to be due every 90 days, but be sure to set realistic timeframes and check in with yourself occasionally to adjust them if needed.
Measurability is a key step in creating a SMART goal. SMART goals are,
To learn more about how to set a SMART goal, check out our blog Setting Goals that Will Stick in the New Year.
If you want your resolutions to survive the demands that come with serving your business owner clients, make it as easy as possible to follow through on them. This can start with blocking time on your calendar each week to work toward your goal and making that a routine.
Consistency begins with establishing a system that supports your habits and goals on autopilot. This makes following through the default outcome, not the exception. Once that system is in place, your resolutions and goals will stick, and you will fall into a rhythm that drives you all year long.
A lot can change throughout the year. As you progress toward your ultimate goal, you will almost always encounter some speed bumps along the way. Whether it’s travel to a conference or to meet a client, the start of tax season, or the holidays, things will come up and change your routines.
Instead of putting your resolutions into cold storage when these things come up, scale your efforts based on the amount of time you have available. That might mean swapping out a big habit, such as blocking out time for deep-dive work on client strategies, for a smaller one.
Momentum is easier to maintain if you keep your routines manageable, rather than stopping them altogether.
Advisors pride themselves on helping others reach milestones and achieve their goals, but they rarely stop to celebrate their own before moving on to the next challenge. To maintain your momentum, it is essential to celebrate the successes that result from your consistent efforts.
Those wins could be something small, such as a more streamlined process for connecting with business owners, or a bigger win, like landing a major client that you had been pursuing for a long time.
Take time every 90 days, or however long you need, to reflect on what has worked so far and what you’ve learned. Analyzing your progress will help you work smarter, not harder, as you work toward your goals.
High-performing advisors are consistently chasing purposeful growth and learning. It is easy to start your year off with a drive and enthusiasm to reach your goals, but it’s another thing to keep that momentum going into May, June, and beyond.
This year, commit to living your resolutions with purpose. That’s how you can transform your good intentions into true professional growth and better outcomes for business owners.
A Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®) is a professional credential for advisors who wish to engage with business owner clients through the exit planning process using the Value Acceleration Methodology™. Through the CEPA credential, advisors can provide new offerings for clients and stand out from their non-CEPA peers, all while gaining access to education, resources, and a vast network of like-minded professionals.