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Today we are going to talk about a component of our business accelerator program whose importance isn’t usually recognized but is immensely vital. This document is called the progress and planning report.
Now that it is the beginning of another quarter of the year, it is probably a good time to set some goals. I was watching my dad’s Facebook page and something just jumped at me. It said, “Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.”
When I saw that I agreed, and like any child would, I asked myself what if you already had goals? Let me give you an example, what if last quarter you had four major goals you had set. Now the question is, if you set a new goal in this quarter, where is it supposed to fit if you already had four goals from the previous quarter?
Lots of people try to do so many things and end up frustrated because they don’t see any progress and yet they have expended a lot of time and other resources. If only those people could step back and narrow their focus to 2-3 things, they would make massive progress!
What is amazing is that if you are willing to clear some space, and this is important since you aren’t required to fill every single moment of your life with a goal, things start happening for you. You could even clear some space and leave it free as a “follow your heart and soul day” so that once you wake up, you let your heart guide you as to what you should pursue that day.
Let me share with you 4 of the 10 powerful questions we use in our progress and planning report.
5. What worked over the past three months?
What if you took just 15 minutes with a pen and paper and jotted down what worked for you in the 3 months that have just ended? Get crystal clear on what worked in the different aspects of your life.
One of our clients in the business accelerator program just had his best month ever. He has generated almost $4 million in revenue this month and he is thrilled. I told him I had a big question and that was, what worked for him?
He thought about it and said that was a great question. He added that they have been doing the same things they have always done, and I said I don’t know that because if they are doing the same things that they have always done then they should be getting average results like it has been the case in all the other months. Now that they are getting extraordinary results, what did they do different in the last 3-6 months which could explain the improved results?
He thought about it and went through his plan. While doing so, he came across some really good distinctions. He started to nail down 3-4 things that absolutely worked. By identifying those specific things that worked, he was able to start mapping out the next quarter.
Having worked with lots of companies, I have realized that it is common for the Q1 plan to be different from the Q2 plan since they have new goals, new KPIs (key performance indicators). The problem is, if what you did in Q1 brought you incredible results, it would be insane to toss that out and go after something new and untested in Q2.
So, we helped our client to distinguish exactly what worked and then plan it into the next quarter. We made sure he knew exactly where he was going to apply those strategies and what kind of results were to be expected.
6.What didn’t work?
If you have been serious about growing your business, how important is it for you to analyze what worked over the last 90 days as well as what didn’t?
It was Albert Einstein who said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result. Don’t you think you would be smart to identify what didn’t work and then adjust or eliminate those things?
If you could find out what didn’t work, it would be stupid to keep doing it. What are the 3-4 distinctions that you can identify as things that absolutely didn’t work? You have two choices once you identify those things that didn’t work; you can either adjust them or stop doing them.
If you decide to adjust it, only adjust one aspect of it and consider it as an experiment. Don’t change five things or throw four levers- change just one aspect and observe whether it gets you back on track over the next 90 days.
8.What happened that shouldn’t have happened?
You need to look back over the last 90 days and identify what worked as well as what didn’t work. You also need to pause and ask yourself what happened over the last 90 days that shouldn’t have happened.
What showed up out of nowhere? What threw you a curved ball? Maybe your key manufacturers failed to work on your order because their key people got Covid-19. Maybe your key team member went off-track and didn’t perform consistently. Maybe you thought you’d get workers to complete the extension to your business premises but this wasn’t possible because all top quality contractors in the construction industry are pretty busy and unavailable for new work.
10.If you could go back and do it all over again, what would you do in the same way and what would you do differently?
If you would like to get a copy of the entire list of 10 powerful questions we use in the planning and progress report, send me a quick message or fill out the form on this webpage. We will have a quick chat and decide if this is a good fit.
If you could go back 90 days in the past, what would you do in the same way and what would you do differently? This is an important question to ponder as you plan for the next 90 days of your life and business.
What is interesting when you start answering questions like this is that you start to get an immense amount of clarity. Like my dad’s Facebook post said, setting goals is the first step, and you need to clear space so you can set those important goals. You get absolutely clear on how you are going to turn the invisible in your mind into reality over the next 90 days.
Hopefully this was helpful. Once again, if you would like some help in getting clarity regarding the planning and progress report, send me a direct message. If you are on a webpage, fill out the quick questionnaire at the bottom and either I or a team member will reach out to you for a quick chat to find out how we can help. We will make sure that you get the clarity you need, plus we will hold you accountable for making the needed growth happen in the next 90 days of your business.
To Your Success,
Jairek Robbins