Did this year hit, miss or were you just coasting?

It’s the time of year normally full of reflection about the past year (if you are lucky or smart enough to make the time for it) and also a time to contemplate what’s ahead. Resolutions may be cliché but entrepreneurs need to take every opportunity they can to see what worked, what didn’t and what to focus on next to meet long-term life and business aspirations.

My question for you is: this year, did you hit it (meaning get the traction or momentum that you were hoping for), did you miss (meaning you weren’t very close to reaching your desired outcomes) or did you just coast?

Now if you “hit” your goal, were pretty close or were deeply satisfied with what you accomplished then CONGRATULATIONS! Make sure you truly celebrate and encourage the continuation of whatever you were doing right. Check in on what made your year so great. Was it the result of your focus and smart work? If so, ensure you keep doing what you did last year consistently to produce those results again … and then some.

If you missed, that’s okay too. Really it is! Goals are like guideposts pointing us to the right path in our life, not all of them need to be attained to the strictest level. Instead of feeling crappy, ask yourself, “Do I feel fulfilled in what I am doing? Am I enjoying it? Am I happy?”

Business growth is almost always slower than anyone ever anticipates so as long as you are still putting food on the table, go easy on yourself. Tweak your expectations to really match the effort level and bold moves that you are committed to making next year.

Now if you find yourself in the category of “I’m not even sure what my goals were” then you are probably just coasting. If you own a business, this is definitely not where you want to be, even if you are in transition or just starting out. Coasting is non-committal and that strategy will usually bite you in the ass at some point, even if you have experienced early success.

As an example, softer more exploratory intentions can include refining your target audience, completing market research, outsourcing some of your admin. The point is that drifting through business development is never rewarding. It’s not to say that you can’t get into an organic flow, but that usually happens with strong intentions. It’s time to get committed coaster!!

How do entrepreneurs set meaningful goals?

Setting up for a great year ahead may be more simple than you think. It’s not about choosing goals that you feel obliged to pick. Those often feel icky, flat or downright stressful. In all the work I’ve done to grow my business and in working with clients, I have found that nothing impedes success like self-imposed suffocating pressure. I finally (FINALLY!) gave that up this year and landed right where I expected with a lot more energy for more growth.

First think about what would make you really happy. I mean REALLY happy. What’s that dream of yours that you can see reaching in the next year. It doesn’t have to be a number, let’s start with the vision of where you want to be, what you want to be doing. We all want something badly and that can get buried in a lot of life and should stuff. (I personally have a long-term tropical island stay on the brain – picture above).

Sure we all want to make more money, but for what end? If you know that end, it will get you thinking at the level to make it happen. Random numbers may be too big or too small to get you thinking about the things you need to do to get there. The results are in the actions, focused ones.

Fulfillment comes from living a life you value and that challenges you to use your best abilities, highest mind and biggest heart. I often come back to Danielle LaPorte’s whole concept of urging people to follow their core desired feelings. When thinking about what you want next year, also think about how you want to feel. And write that down.

Once you can imagine what you want more than anything, start writing down the ideas, goals, strategies or tactics to get you there. Use a mind-map or SWOT to stimulate ideas to generate leads, new products and ultimately revenue.

Finally, think about who you need to meet, align with, consult in order to make bigger results happen. Every entrepreneur needs an audience and your best way to a bigger audience is to create amazing collaborations with those who also have and want happy followers.

To make this easier for you, I have created a Year-end Wrap-Up worksheet with all the right questions to work you through your highest level thoughts. (Click PDF version to print) or (Click for Word version to type)

Do you know someone else who needs to stop coasting and start setting the kind of intentions to make them have a fulfilling 2014? Please share this post with your friends, especially those coasters, who need more reflection and action.