Welcome to 2022. We often get asked as we start a new year “what are your new year resolutions?” I’m never quite sure how to respond as some people love the idea of renewal based on a New Year whilst others think it is a bunch of Wah.
Personally, I’m in the middle on this one, because I think date events, milestones, or even life events can be a prompt for reflection. Whatever works for you.
- Where am I up to?
- Am I happy with that?
- Where do I want to go?
- Am I on the best path to get there?
Whatever it is that you use as the thing that initiates these questions and more that’s okay. The important thing is that you do ask these questions of yourself and your business pretty regularly. For me it is all based around considering what I am doing at the moment and whether that is working. Does my approach need modification? Should I adjust my course? The hardest part is that we might not like the answer, or, more often, not know how to even ask the right question.
The reality in business is that we come in to it with a certain set of skills centered around our own area of expertise. And then we have to learn a whole lot of new skills in unfamiliar areas. We get good enough to function, but if we truly stand back and look at it we aren’t specialists in those areas, but everyone expects us to be (including ourselves). I’ve long said that “ego in business is toxic“, but it is our ego that causes us to keep up the pretense that we are the best at everything. Its our persona. It’s our identity. It is ego. It is bunk.
And so, with that in mind, why would we presume that we are the ones who are going to be the specialists about asking the best questions about where the business is up to and whether it is travelling optimally? You can’t outsource responsibility but you can surround yourself with others who can shine a light and help you get clarity. Your business should serve you, not just have you serving your business. Your family and loved ones deserve that for the sacrifices you’ve made to get this far.
So whether it is the New Year that prompts you to ask questions about yourself and your business, all that matters is that you do ask questions. More than that, at least consider involving others, both internal and external, in asking better and better questions to get better and better insights.
Others have trodden the path before you. You don’t have to do it alone.