Think, Plan, Do...

I am sure that we all sat down at the beginning of this year, nostalgically looking back over the last year and populated our list of new year's resolutions - many of us secretly admitting that the list looked very similar to the one we had created last year and the year before, and the year before that... Some of those resolutions might have applied to us personally, or even our work or business environment.

With a month into the new year, my inquiring mind begs to ask how many of the resolutions you set this year have already been brushed under the carpet, where you have reverted back to your old ways - taken off the running shoes when you thought the clouds on the other side of the mountain some 20 kilometers away might bring rain your way and you might get wet if you went for your jog, and instead opted for planting yourself back in front of the television just like you promised yourself you wouldn't, or decided to start the vegetable garden, only to find the garden half dug (after the first day's attempt), yet nothing planted. Or was it to lose weight (again - just with a different eating plan or a new diet that everyone says DOES work) - you can put the cookie down now, yes I am talking to you right now ...

The intention is good, and with all our might, we so want to believe that this year will be different... but then life happens and before we know it, we are back where we started - with a list of 'wanna haves' and nothing to show for it. Why do we do this to ourselves year in and year out, only to start the cycle again at the beginning of the following year?

The answer in my perspective is simple. It is one thing to have all the dreams and the goals in the world, it is another thing to make sure that you create a measurable plan with defined milestones and dates. 

Defining and planning our goal and how we are going to achieve it should take up almost 80% of our energy and 20% should focus on then getting the job done. We often fail because the scales are tipped in the other direction...

When you decide to take a holiday, you always know how you are going to get there, what the route is and where you might want to stop off. Where you are going to stay and the things you want to do whilst there. Surely then, we should have the same approach to our new year's resolutions.

So my challenge to you today is to go back and look at the goals you set yourself a month ago - you still have eleven months to achieve them. Figure out what the plan is and break it down into bite-sized chunks and set your milestones. If you don't measure it, it won't get done.

It is done!

It has taken me months of going back and forth, umming and aahing and getting ever so close, but just not getting it out the final product. I just could not hit the publish button... I seemed to keep changing the background, and the colors, and the pics... and then I would check and re-check what I had written! Could it really be this hard to just hit a button?

The reality for me though, is that our social 'brand' and 'image' (as the gurus refer to it) is a reflection of who we are. It is an extension of ourselves... and yes - people do get it wrong! I did not want to be one of 'those people'. So I embarked on a reflective session of looking back over the years at where we had come from and were going.

I had migrated from a 'hard hat and safety boots' kind of job and moved along into a rigid corporate environment, where I might have worn my grey pin-stripped suit to bed had I not been able to pry it off of myself when I arrived home from a long day of writing reports, sitting in air-conditioned offices and boardrooms, or giving a presentation to some similarly suited-up corporate jelly beans. 

So, naturally, when I left the boardroom and embarked on my journey to work alongside Mike, my life and business partner, all those years ago, I decided to literally give away every item of clothing that resembled the stiffness of the corporate world. For the first time in years, I felt I could breathe again and free enough to retreat from my bedroom ready to start the day off, wearing a pair of jeans and slippers if that is what I felt like wearing for the day. I had honed my skills over the years, and finally came to the self-awareness that my clients would see that I was being employed for my skill and contribution to their businesses - not for my dress sense or the clothing label I wore.

Free-spirited, I awake every morning to work diligently to being the best that I can at everything that I embark on and give my 110% to doing a job right the first time - because doing it a second time costs me money!

It is with this gypsey-child, free spirited approach that I have turned 'crunching numbers' as they call it, into fun. There is nothing more exhilarating than knowing that you have helped someone better understand their financials, or become more sustainable in their business, or even saved them some money... that is what I live for. We have put the fun back into figures. It is this same spirit and child's play attitude that our website is being borne from. Pop along and have a look at it on Account-Keepers

Your thoughts and comments would be appreciated.

Yours in numbers,
Jessica