Today I am going to fire some really important questions at you that you critically MUST be thinking about when it comes to planning for your year ahead.
My hope is that the answers to these questions will inspire you, provide direction and really help you nail down a plan for this year.
One of my favourite quotes around this is:
“It’s not always that we need to do more but rather that we need to focus on less”.
And the 10 questions I have for you below will really help you hone in on what it is you critically need to be focusing on for 2022.
So grab a pen and paper, or have a doc or note open on your device, and let your answers FLOW!
With this exercise too, don’t limit yourself to what you are writing – just get it all down.
10 ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF:
- What did you enjoy working on last year?
- What did you hate working on?
- What did you absolutely LOVE creating and doing last year?
- What do you NEVER EVER want to do again?
- What was your biggest money-maker?
- What was your least money-maker?
- What brought in the biggest/most leads?
- How much did your email list grow this year?
- What were your income streams for 2021?
- What are some income streams to explore for 2022?
How’d you go? I fired some BIG questions at you, didn’t I? Sorry (not sorry…!)
So – now you have written your responses. Don’t just leave them alone!
Your answers need thought though – I do not want to see you just answer those questions, put the document away and move on.
What you need to do now is the following:
- Think about your answers
- Create a plan around them
- Action that PLAN!
For example, one of the biggest questions I find for anyone I ask it to is “what do you NEVER EVER want to do again?”
The answer doesn’t always mean it needs to disappear from your business, but perhaps the answer is that you aren’t the person to do it! For example, social media. For some it’s the bane of their existence – they hate doing it but know it’s necessary, so perhaps it’s time to outsource it rather than hating doing it. If you hate it, it’s clearly not a good use of your time.
The other question that brings up a lot of chatter is “What was your biggest money maker” or “What was your least money maker”.
In many situations, neither is bad nor good as it might seem.
Sometimes your biggest money-making activity falls into something you never want to do again or the thing that felt tough or difficult and vice versa, something that failed the most, was the thing you enjoyed the most.
This doesn’t mean you can’t try and make it successful, just means you need to change, test and measure to see if you can make it successful and weigh up if that’s worth your time and energy.
For me, my Women in Business retreat was something I loved working on and creating but it was one of my least money-making activities. That said – it was the first time I’d done something like that, and the lessons came thick and fast! And from my review of this event, I have tweaked and adjusted and now think I can make it profitable. It might take a few more goes, but for me, given the joy it brought, it’s well worth it so I’m keen to pursue running more of these retreats.
Another learning I had when I reviewed my last year, related to one of my biggest income streams of 2021. When I looked at it critically, while it was financially successful, it was something I found to be unfulfilling and exhausting. It’s something I 100% have to work on, I just can’t make it disappear – that’s not practical for a whole host of reasons, so I need a plan to make it work for me.
And what is my plan for this you might ask? Well, the main thing I will be doing is to break it down into sections, work out what elements I do like or could like doing myself, and outsource the rest!
No one ever said that business was easy! Simple, yes – Easy hell no.
Now, back to your list of answers you just created!
Once you have had some time to digest those initial 10 responses, here are a few more bonus questions to ask yourself!
- If 2022 could bring me one thing – what would it be?
- What’s one thing you could do every week that would make you happier and bring you more joy?
- What do I need to ask for help with, and what can I outsource?
If for question 3 you wrote that you do need to ask for help then I’m happy to have a chat with you about all this to come up with a plan of attack!
Feel free to reach out or book a discovery call to see how I can help you!
CONTACT JENN:
To get some solid action items formed for this year, book a call with me at: https://calendly.com/jenn-smm/discovery
And have you joined my amazing Facebook Group Like Minded Business Owners yet? If you aren’t already a member I would love you to jump in and join the group, and become a part of such a wonderful community who are so supportive of each other and in sharing of their knowledge!
Or you can DM me on Instagram or send me an email jenn@jenndonovan.com.au
I wish to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land, the Yorta Yorta People, on which I conduct my business today and pay my respects to their Elders past and present. I extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples reading this blog post today.
About the Author:
Jenn Donovan of Social Media & Marketing Australia. Jenn’s a coach and mentor from rural NSW and is all about empowering business owners to earn what they’re worth so they can make a bigger difference in the world. The Founder of Buy From a Bush Business, Co-Founder of Spend With Us – Buy From a Bush Business Marketplace and host of the very popular podcast Small Business Made Simple, Jenn is all about community and humans interacting with humans! H2H Marketing – human to human marketing. Jenn talks the talk but importantly walks the walk! Jenn’s online community is over 320,000 with her famous Facebook Group currently at almost 351,000 members and still growing every day. She’s the major of her own little online city!
Get in touch – www.socialmediaandmarketing.com.au
On Instagram – @jenndonovan_
On Facebook – Social Media and Marketing AU
Or on LinkedIn as Jenn Donovan
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