Four Steps to New Year Planning
Laura Whitman // January 3, 2012
For most of us, the start of a new year is a time for reflection and commitment. We ponder what the days ahead might hold and we envision how our lives or daily routines might change. And we can do that within the context of how far we’ve already come, or without it. I recommend the former. Why? Because the route to your destination depends on your current location.
This time, I have accepted where I am before planning where I want go. And as a result, I’m a little more specific and a lot more confident in my plans. The process I went through can be summarized into four steps, applicable to anyone seeking growth, change or resolution in 2012, including starting a career, a new business, or a degree program.
Step 1: Get real about your motivations.
You might be surprised to know that becoming an entrepreneur was a personal choice for me, not a professional one. Within days of finishing my last BPR course at MSVU, my career landed on a racetrack and I was speedily accumulating responsibilities, accomplishments, accolades, and experience. While most people in my position would have had their sights firmly set on a seat at the Boardroom table, eventually my focus waned and I started looking around for something else. Something more. My creativity was stifled, I was becoming someone I didn’t want to be, and money wasn’t enough of a motivator anymore. I quit my job and jumped ship, and communication consulting was there to catch me.
It was time for me to prioritize being authentic over being adaptive. My company, Red Balloon Relations, was born out of that and my preference for being self-sufficient, not an admirable mission to contribute to the economy or become a biography-worthy CEO. Red Balloon was my life raft. While I’ve owned that choice proudly until now, the feisty, results-oriented professional within me is ready to reemerge. In 2012, it’s time to start making different choices because my motivations have changed.
Step 2: Let your ego say its piece.
Red Balloon gave me my sanity and flexibility and for a long time, that was enough. But I love achieving tangible, noteworthy results and it’s been a while since I’ve had that privilege. If I listen carefully, my ego desperately needs that to change. I need to find a way to focus on outcomes over process. It’s simply what I need right now. We’re all fuelled by something, whether it’s awards, praise, titles, money, peer recognition, profile, gratitude, or certification. The sooner you acknowledge what your fuel is, the sooner you can set out finding it or choosing to do without it. Regardless of your choice, it’s always more satisfying to do so consciously.
Step 3: Identify your transferrable skills.
The intense environment I worked in for four years taught me the discipline, personality management and focus I needed to start my own business. Those were my most valuable transferrable skills, and I relied on them heavily when starting Red Balloon. But the nurturing and reflective work environment I’ve created these last two years has given me the perspective that had been missing from my career all along. I worked with a life coach, took on and learned to embrace a business partner, planned a creative wedding, made money and ran out of it, worked hard and not at all, protected my time and mismanaged it. My environment allowed me to do all of those things. And now, the self-realizations and maturity that came out of those experiences are transferrable. I can focus on professional growth in 2012 because I now know what it means to allow for balance, I have an improved understanding of my strengths and weaknesses, and I have more conviction than ever before.
Step 4: Embrace what you’ve learned.
This year I learned that being an entrepreneur, and liking it, means accepting three things above all else: uncertainty, accountability, and failure. I made a lot of mistakes over the last year, but as a result I’ve learned the importance of listening to instincts, playing to people’s strengths, relentlessly asking questions, letting go and moving on, letting your bank balance do the talking, valuing action over hesitation, and putting fears on the table. The lessons deserve way more attention than the mistakes. Whether you are embarking on a career change or a personal change, pausing to identify the lessons you’ve learned thus far will be time well-spent.
As I set out to evolve Red Balloon into a professional accomplishment, not just a personal one, I intend to use these four steps to check-in with myself throughout the year. That’s the beauty of time, you see. It changes things, often for the better.
