The year is now in its last month and many of us will be setting our goals for the new year. As business owners, we tend to focus on “what’s next?” as we jot down our new goals without taking time to add the other valuable step to the goal-setting process.
That valuable step is taking time to reflect on the lessons we’ve learned along the way and find ways to apply those lessons to help us achieve our goals moving forward.
How Do Your Past Mistakes Affect You?
Early on in my career, I would let the “perceived failure” of a missed goal bother me. I knew I couldn’t go back and change what happened so all I could do was hope that in time the feelings would just go away. But in actuality, it just caused me to doubt my abilities and chiseled away at my confidence.
Have you ever encountered that? You put a lot of time, energy and focus into a goal but you didn’t reach it. How do you deal with that kind of disappointment? Do you let it eat away at your confidence? Do you give up? Do you lower your expectations and just shoot for goals you know you can conquer?
Or would you be willing to get vulnerable and delve into investigating why you didn’t hit those goals and how you could do things differently in the future?
It wasn't until I listened to a mentor of mine talking about how important it is to spend some time looking back - reflecting on the situation - and discovering what worked and what didn't work that I realized I could take an active role in my success by addressing my missed goals.
Looking Back To Move Forward
And that’s exactly what I encourage you to do. I know it seems odd for me to ask you to look back because we're only supposed to be moving forward, right? But I truly feel that sometimes we need to look back in order to learn and grow so we can effectively move forward.
I know that sounds backwards but it’s true!
When I think about why I didn’t achieve those goals, I realize it was because there were things in my business and in my life that I needed to change. And until I addressed them, they would continue to be stumbling blocks to my success.
Reflection Is A Useful Tool
I want you to have the highest probability of success in the coming year so I encourage you to take some time to reflect on these five questions:
What worked well for you this year - both personally and in business?
What didn’t go well for you this year - both personally and in business?
Where did most of your income come from?
What brought you the most joy in your business?
What are you doing and what is happening in your life that is not in alignment with your future goals and desires?
I can honestly tell you that when I took the time to look back and ponder these questions, I was able to acknowledge all the successes I’ve had along the way. That helped me focus on my victories and not just my mistakes, and that’s a confidence builder!
However, this reflection also helped me discover how I could do things differently in the areas where I didn’t hit my goals. This wasn’t used to make me feel like a failure but rather to show me where I needed to make effective changes. That alone gave me the confidence to adjust my mindset and perception so I could move forward into the success that I had always dreamed about.
One Word Of Caution
While looking back can helpful in celebrating your victories and learning from your past experiences, it’s important to avoid getting stuck in the past or dwelling on past mistakes or failures. Reflection is to be used as a valuable tool to learn, gain perspective and help you set new goals. Keep in mind that success is not a destination – it’s a journey. Let’s strive to find a balance between looking back and moving forward while enjoying the journey along the way. And remember, you don’t have to take this journey alone.
On Point Hair Academy and my Own Your Chair program were created for stylists like you who need just a little help (or a lot of help) in different areas of their hairstyling business. You don’t have to take this hairstyling journey alone.
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