It’s the holiday season and it’s the end of the year
How did your year go?
Was it a BAD, DECENT, GOOD, or GREAT year?
Was it a year that set you back financially
Or was it a year that advanced you financially?
Whatever it was, right now is the time to reflect on it
Take advantage of a day where stores are actually closed (can you believe that)
And just sit with yourself and perhaps your loved one and
think, discuss how this year went and what you want 2014 to look like.
Perhaps you will have to do some grieving over things that went bad.
Perhaps you get to do some celebrating over things that went well.
Just make sure when you think about these things
You don’t overly blame yourself or others
And you also don’t take overly credit.
Because it’s my experience that bashing yourself over failures
doesn’t change a thing and just instills fear of making more mistakes.
And taking overly credit of successes can create cockiness and the feeling of being infallible
Which is the first step to actually making a mistake.
Instead look at what worked and what didn’t and ask yourself
Why did/didn’t it work?
What went well/wrong?
How can replicate this and get the same results again and again (if it went well)
How can I avoid this from happening again (if it went bad)
I always have to smile when I meet students of mine who
after having done 3 deals using one of the techniques I teach
Making THOUSANDS of dollars in each deal
And then promptly they move on to the next thing where they don’t have any success
If they would sit down and ask themselves “what worked? What didn’t? Why did it work? Why didn’t it work?”
They would soon come to the conclusion that they need to go back to doing what worked and stop doing what doesn’t
Whatever that may be.
Doesn’t that sound logical?
Instead of hitting their head against a new wall every 3 months they would go back to the wall they already know how to climb and
where they already know there are rewards and go climb it again and again to get more and more rewards.
I wish people would be more logical.
It could prevent a lot of suffering out there.
My wife Michelle and I did the same thing this holiday season.
And we came to the realization that we need to take our Real Estate business and grow it by 500% this coming year.
Why?
Because we know how it works
We know how profitable it is
We know how much fun it is
So instead of me going off in different directions (which is my nature) all the time,
We will refocus and eliminate many distractions we had this year.
The TV will be off 95% of the time in 2014
Our time will be spent to 90% on activities that add value to our lives and bring us forward
(That includes of course business but also family activities.
Not watching TV as a family but doing stuff that brings us even closer together as a family)…
What will you do in 2014?
If you don’t know what you LOVE doing, what works FOR YOU, then you won’t know where you should be going.
Do this thinking exercise and I bet you will have a much clearer picture on what it is you need to do to move forward in 2014.
Happy Holidays to you and a GREAT 2014.
Jack Bosch
Absolutely great idea Jack. My wife and I have spent every New Years Eve since before we were married, reflecting on the last year and setting goals for the next year instead of getting drunk like everyone else. Then we put our goals for the next year up on the refrigerator so we get to look at them every day.
This has worked very well for us over the years. 2013 was a good year for us, and we’re looking forward to making 2014 even better.
Best wishes for a happy holiday to you and your family.
Good article. I had already begun to “take inventory” personally, but I like the idea of sharing and including my wife. She is what makes my family run the way it does after all!
Thanks!
Thanks jack, for your a new way to plan for 2014, it is useful for me to move ahead and face 2014 with proper plans. Thank you once more.
Keep motivating and guide us,
Happy holidaying .
Warm regards
Sachiien Shirodkar.
Pune .India.
Thank you for the wise and gracious words. Even someone who has been crushed by tragedy should be able to derive some comfort and encouragement from them.
All the best to you and your wonderful family.
That sounds like a good resolution! Thanks Jack!
Jack, you are so right about reflecting on the past year and reviewing the things that worked well and the things that didn’t work out so well. Usually when I get off track it is because I took my eyes off of my immediate goals and got distracted by something that looks better at the moment. For next year, I am focusing completely on my main business project and refusing to get distracted until I reach my goals.
Thank you for the excellent quality of the products you produce. They are extremely informative and to the point. It is obvious that you and Michelle are extremely ethical and honest people.
I hope that you and your family have a great holiday season and congratulations on your US citizenship!!