Today’s blog is brought to you by the letter P, because we’re going to talk about preparations, perseverance, and positive thinking with the coming year.

When the end of another year comes around, there are always a couple of doubts and fears that might sneak their way into the happiness of family time and egg nog.

But why should we let fears take away our optimism? Every year brings a total of 365 new days to us. The odds are generally in our favor, so take risks and fall down if you must. The goal is to chase possibility until you finally catch it.

But what can we do to ensure that our goals are achieved?

We could always make a plan…a Mini Growth Plan. This is much like a business plan, only more adaptable and inherent to the specific visions of your company.

Ask yourself the following questions:

  • What connects your goals and fears?
  • What connects your strengths and weaknesses?
  • What connects your future and your past?

Have you found the connection? It’s work, but not in the business sense alone. In order to create effectiveness in our lives, we must be ready to work at our perspective—everything is about your POV. From our point of view, we find the positives in the possibilities, or the fear that holds us back. We choose our POV.

Write up some of these goals, fears, strengths, and weaknesses. Follow them with some action plans—small, measurable goals that can be made from day to day. Keep these goals and action plans in mind as the year begins. You may even want to keep a binder.

Having goals is important; they keep us motivated. But, what happens when something goes wrong?

Dr. Stephen R. Covey wrote a book about 7 habits for highly effective people. Each of these seven habits fights against negative thoughts and actions that hold you back. We find effectiveness through effort and the daily practice of all of the habits, but this year we should solely focus on the 1st Habit: Be Proactive.

Proactivity Defined:

Proactivity is the presence of insight in our daily lives; while hindsight has 20/20 vision, insight and proactivity allows clarity in a sticky situation. We are able to reason with the circumstance, instead of falling victim to emotional reaction.

Proactivity transforms base, emotional reactions into a logical perspective.

When you are proactive instead of reactive fear does not control you.

The key lies within your point of view; when we make goals for the coming year, there is always the possibility for setbacks and bad days. If we allow the bad days to shift our POV, and expect more bad days to follow, then that will be our result.

Running your small business is the direct result of your will power; a negative perspective will only hinder your business.

Staying positive may seem a little cliché at times, but optimism holds a lot of hidden and powerful potential.

Instead of being driven by feelings, conditions, and the environment—ultimately a prisoner of circumstance—we should hold on to our visions for the future and take each day as one day, something that builds into a bigger picture.

The greatest tool we have is perseverance. Make the plans that you can, but see them as goals. Adapt to circumstance. Know that a vision takes time to solidify. When you practice positive thinking, even the worst days turn into opportunities for growth. Instead of fearing the end, let’s take a step out of our safety nets and try something exciting. After all, we have 365 more days to work with.

Links for more information:

Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Successful People

Year End Small Business Tips