10 Tips for Year End and Success Ahead

By Nicole Isler

Here it is the close of another year gone by. With the last days of 2007 lingering, perhaps you're asking yourself how to make this upcoming year even better for you. Here are my ten tips to help you with that.

1) Complete. What needs to be done by year end? Review your projects and make a task list. This list should include things like phone calls, year end reports, data entry, year end inventory, client follow up, thank you cards, clerical work (filing, create new files, replace torn files, inactivate or systemize files, etc), tax preparation, accounts receivable (send bills, letters of forgiveness, send to collections or adjust off), and pay your outstanding bills. Why go in to the New Year with things from 2007? Complete what you can now so you can start the New Year fresh and focused.

2) Purge. What better time to clean then year end? If it's old, broken, torn or out of date...throw it out! Look around your home and office for areas of clutter, old signs, post-it notes and anything that's worn out or collected dust! Search your computer files and delete what you don't use or need. Throw out old advertisements, magazines, product information, forms you no longer use or have updated, clothes you don't wear, non-supportive habits, negative thinking, old leads that never responded to your calls, perhaps even a draining relationship! Out with the old and ready for the new!

3) Organize. How quickly can you find things? During your busiest time what slows you down? When you think about your home or office what drains you? That will tell you how organized you really are, and what you need to work on. What systems have worked for you in the past? Or, perhaps you need new systems for greater effectiveness. Think of your home or office in categories, just like shopping at the store. Start to create "departments" when finding a place for things. Research or hire a professional to help you if you don't know where to start. Less chaos and clutter means more order and focus.

4) Reflect. Now is the perfect time to look back and appreciate all you've accomplished, and take note of perhaps where you fell short. What challenges did you face? Did you overcome those challenges? What did you learn in the process? What can you do better than you could do before? Review your monthly office statistics for the previous 2 years and compare. What were your slow times? When were you, most busy and what did you do previous to generate that activity, or lack of? How can you plan better for those times in the upcoming year so you feel more proactive than reactive? Share this information with your family, friends and your team at work.

5) Identify. What worked well in 2007? What didn't work at all? What are your strong points personally and professionally? Where do you feel most challenged? It's important to assess what you have accomplished, what worked best and certainly what needs improvement. Realize that your strengths will lead you, but you can only grow as strong as your weaker area allows. It's so important to identify what to keep, what to get rid of and what to improve on.

6) Maintain. What worked best in your life and in your business operations? Continue with the habits, relationships, and systems that brought you success and progress. What keeps you on track and in harmony? Be sure to include it in your routine as the new year gets under way.

7) Improve. What can you add, revise or update to get you to the next level of success? This is an important step to increase your efficiency. Is there an area you need or would like more training in? Does your office or home equipment need to be replaced or upgraded? Is your computer slow or does it need more memory? Is your car running smooth? How's your health? What can you do to feel better? Do you need a touch up on your personal or professional appearance? Does your employee manual, mission or culture statement need revision? Do your office forms need revision? Are there things you've been meaning to fix or replace but have been putting off? It's the perfect time for a make over, upgrade, improvement or replacement. Walk through your day and make note of anything that you can improve on.

8) Visualize. If there were no limits and you could not not fail, what would you want in 2008? What do you want your life and business to look like? How would that make you feel? Who do you need to be to make it happen?
Visualization is one of the greatest tools for achievement. Your mind does not know the difference between what is reality and what you create as reality so make it good! What if you were creating your future with the very thought you have right now? (Thoughts are things so choose good ones!) Get crystal clear on what you want, picture it in your mind and act as if you already have it. Realize your goals in your mind and ultimately your life will transform.

9) Create. Now that you can see and feel what you want, it's time to create a plan to make it happen. If you think it, ink it! Write out your goals and every action step you can think of to go with every goal. Create a vision board full of pictures, words and phrases to remind you of what you really want. Just like planning a vacation, plan your year ahead. Breakdown your yearly goals by month, week and day to work backwards to create your action steps that will move you toward your desired outcome! What tools, resources, etc, do you need on this journey? Make a list of who you need to talk to, meet or be to make it happen. Write affirmations on notes to post where you can see them every day. Create your future as you want it!

10) Implement. What's left? ACTION! It's time to put all your effort, energy, improvements, vision and planning to work. Include your action steps in your every day to-do list. Block time in your calendar to work on these steps. Ask yourself questions to keep on track. Is what I'm working on right now moving me toward my goals or farther away? Am I inventing things to do to avoid the important? Take action in every moment to progress toward your desired outcome. A goal is the end in which effort is directed. So take your plan and implement as many actions steps as you can to move you toward your goals faster. If you have new resources and systems to use there's no better time to start using them than right now.

If I can assist you with these tips to get you off to a strong start in 2008, please contact me. Continued success to you!

Nicole is an accomplished Motivational Speaker and Success Coach. She has over 17 years of experience helping people achieve incredible levels of personal and professional success, health and prosperity. Her extensive training in the areas of mind-body synergy and verbal / non-verbal communication coupled with extensive self improvement, sales and time mastery skills have provided many clients with unparalleled success. She focuses her efforts on working with clients and organizations using a synergistic approach to solving complex issues resulting in substantial bottom line improvements. Focusing on up to date methods such as tele-classes, seminars, workshops and web based services, Nicole uses a variety of techniques and tools to deliver and teach necessary life-skills and business-skills to her varied clients. Nicole is a certified professional who has a passion for coaching others to find happiness and achieve a balance in every aspect of their life.

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