This is that time of year.  Budgets have been turned in.  We are closing out one year and getting ready for a new year.  Strategic planning sessions have happened.  Follow-up sessions may still be on the calendar.

What are you expecting for your business in 2019?  Growth?  Increase in revenue?  Larger market presence?  I’m sure most of that and more is true.

But what about YOU?

What are you expecting out of YOU in 2019?  Now is the time to prepare.  Here are some things you may want to consider:

Read

If you know me, you know I am a big advocate of reading.  The past 2 years, I set a goal to read 12 books/year.  I did it 2 years ago.  This year, I’m on track to read 19.  My goal in 2019 is to read 24.  How will I do that?  I’ve already established a simple process that I learned from Jeff Olson (author of the Slight Edge).  Read 10 pages/day.  Most business books can be read in 1 month with this process.  I am capable of reading 20 pages/day.  This process works.

Connect

Make 2019 the year you better connect with the community of leaders around you.  Find a meaningful networking group.  Or start one like my brother and I did last year (we can help you do this!).

Serve

Make your work and your passions about serving others.  What you receive back will be more than you can imagine.

Create

Take time to think about big ideas and then take action on it.  Experiment.  Collaborate.  Innovate. The world needs your creative passions to emerge!  Get out of your rut and start asking yourself, “What if…?”

If you are looking for something to jump-start you, pick up the book Atomic Habits – Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results by James Clear.  I just recently heard about this book and ordered it.  I started it last night.  It’s not about goals but about the processes (habits) we can create to help us achieve far more than we thought possible.  It is outstanding so far!  If you have read Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit or Jeff Olson’s The Slight Edge, this book is an excellent compliment to those.