So every year comes and goes by! That’s exciting right?
Whenever it is December, and you are ready to welcome a New Year, it is so exciting!
But you may also have a guilty or uncomfortable feeling at the back of your mind about your progress in business? If so, this post is for you!
Do you remember how you started a New Year? Say, this year?
You were all pumped with excitement, had various plans, goals etc.
But at the end of the year, have you achieved whatever you planned (think about last year)?
If the answer is no, then your business has not reached the level it could have reached if you had got everything right.
So what went wrong? Well, that’s a complicated question because the answer varies from person to person and business to business.
But if you look at the big picture, there are certain fundamental things that you need to address in order set things right.
Why should you do that? Well, if you are not happy with the results you got this year, then you should do whatever is necessary to set things right in the coming year.
You cannot afford to waste another year with mediocre results or shortcomings, right?
Let’s see what could have gone wrong and how to fix this.
Consistency is the key
So do you remember how you started the year? All pumped up with enthusiasm, right?
So you went ahead and created a lot of content for your blog – for the first few weeks of January.
Related reading: How to create irresistibly shareable content?
And then the numbers dropped in February, and then again in March. And before you know it, you have lost all enthusiasm!
This certainly would have reflected in your business.
Not just with content creation, but with networking, promoting and in other things, you would have lost enthusiasm.
Lack of consistency is the direct by-product of this.
Once you start to lose enthusiasm, and sink back to your regular lethargy you lose consistency in whatever you were doing.
If you were publishing 1 blog post per week in January and February, you would have cut down that to 2 posts a month, and then eventually to one post per month.
Now I am not saying that you should be publishing one blog post per week.
For your kind of business, if publishing once a month is the right frequency, by all means go ahead!
Or if for your website audience (and the business you do) publishing only when you have something valuable works, it is fine too. Many entrepreneurs go that route including myself.
However suddenly increasing the publishing frequency just because it is January and then going back to your pre-Jan schedule will confuse your readers.
Whatever publishing frequency works for you, you should do it consistently.
I share the system I use to consistently create content for multiple blogs in this post: The downright simple system that I use to create content consistently for my blogs!
Not just with publishing but this also applies to anything you do with blogging. Networking, promotions, etc.
Watch this video where I talk about how you can be consistent with ANYTHING you do with blogging:
So why is that you were able to write 2 blog posts a week in January, and connect with 5 influencers during that month, while the same became impossible in April?
That takes us to the next point….
Take up only what you can
You have most probably taken too much.
Just because it was the start of New Year and you were so excited, you decided to use all of your zeal in doing things.
This is not a bad thing.
But if you commit to stuff that you cannot continue doing in the long run, you will naturally have to recess.
This happens because, your body and mind has certain capacity above which you cannot function.
Even worse, you will lose self confidence and enthusiasm when you are burned out (and you WILL burn out).
Related reading: Desperate blogging doesn’t make you money (Find out what does!)
Don’t bite more than you can chew. That will lead to burn out!
For this, you have to have control over two things:
- How you take up your own tasks, and
- How you let others decide your tasks.
When you are setting goals, or planning a year (or month, or a week, or even a day) you have to make sure you don’t set unrealistic goals; and that you don’t put too much into your to-do list.
When others hit you up with favour requests, offers or whatever, don’t say “Yes” in all occasions. If you have to say “No” just say so.
It is much better to say “No” upfront rather than saying a “Yes” and then failing to keep up the promise.
This also applies to taking clients – if you are offering a 1-1 consultation or a service like website design, don’t take too many clients in a given month and then struggle to keep up.
Planning never fails
The next most important thing that guarantees your success in the New Year is planning. Trust me, planning never fails!
Plan your year, month, week and the day. Your plans should align with your goals – the big picture.
You should plan so that it is your route to your destination. Your goal is your destination.
You break the big goal into manageable chunks, make short term goals. And then make plans to get there.
Essentially, no matter if it is towards your short term goal or the long term goal, your plan is what will get you there. It is the route you should take to get there.
Planning a year ahead gives you so much clarity.
Instead of waking up everyday and working blindly on tasks that come to you, if you plan, you know what you do and what you have to achieve.
From my years of experience doing home based business, I know how crucial it is to have clarity.
Related reading: 5 Key things you should know if you promised yourself to make money online!
Without clarity you are prone to waste a lot of your time and energy. It will not be clear to you as to why you do what you do.
It is like taking a flight without knowing where you are going. Your whole travel could be a total waste, right?
You need to clearly see what you want to achieve so you can actually achieve it.
Setting up realistic goals and associating them with the action plan will make sure you get there!
Doing is more important than planning
So I’ve talked a lot about planning. But there’s something even more important than that. It is doing. Taking action.
A plan is just the route to destination. It is up to you to take the route and travel or leave it abandoned.
If you have written down your plans for this year in your planner, and yet have not achieved your goals, then it is obvious that you have abandoned your plan.
You didn’t take the actions. There might be a thousand reasons for not doing things – but that doesn’t matter.
At the end of the year, your success and progress stand still without any improvement – you end up being in the same position (or even worse); while your competitors and peers are skyrocketing.
Related reading: 9 Solid tips to stop envying successful bloggers and actually becoming one!
It means that they are doing things. Doing matters a lot.
A few paragraphs above I said, planning never fails. But the plan itself does fail if you abandon it without taking action.
So you need to switch gears between two modes when it comes to rocking it in the New Year –
- Planning mode, and
- Doing mode
Note that this doesn’t mean you should do all by yourself.
You can outsource certain things to freelancers (if you are a one man/woman army). You can assign stuff to your team (if you have a team).
It doesn’t matter how you manage to do it, but doing is what counts in the end.
So think about this – how much “doing” did you actually lack this year? Fix that syndrome in the New Year.
Related reading: How to MAKE time for blogging no matter how busy you are!
Remember, actions only will get you results!
Over to you…
Are you going to fix things in your business? Or let another year pass just as it did all these years?
There is no point in doing the same things again and again and expecting different things.
If you didn’t see success in your business in one year, make sure you change your strategies for the New Year.
Related reading:
Why your business is not making any progress (and why nobody cares)
5 Reasons why your business is not moving forward
One magical thing that will solve the problem of stagnation in your business!
Pause and analyze to find out what worked and what didn’t work.
Do more of what worked and either tweak or ditch what didn’t work.
If you set these things (that I discussed in this post) right, you will be able to see success in the coming years.
Leave a comment right below and let me know which of these aspects you lack and how it affected your business success in the past year(s).
Don’t forget to share the post so your friends can get aware too!
Jane..All the best for your future endeavors. I am sure the educational material that you are talking about will be useful to all of us. Looking forward to it..Cheers!
Thank you Sree. I wish you all the best for a rocking 2016 🙂
Hai sister this is my First comment on your blog I am web developer from Tamilnadu India
In 2016 i am plan to started My Own Bloigging website to Teach about wordpress,seo and some Internet Marketing Stuffs.
I am regular reader for this blog your all posts are help Me Improve My skills in Blogging side Also.
All best for your future Plans Sister
Advance happy New year.
Hey Santhosh, glad to meet you and to know that you are from Tamil Nadu. Happy to help 🙂 All the best and I wish you a very Happy New Year 🙂
Jane,
Wish you the best for your future endeavor too. You will reestablished yourself and double your followers. Yes, I was curious and wanted to learn more about the person behind the scene. 2016 will be your year to transform and evolve your online present the way you wanted.
Hey Patrice, thanks a lot for the wishes. I wish you all success in the New Year!
Hey Jane,
For many of us we start out strong, focused and determine at the beginning of the year. But as the weeks and months go be we tend to become less focused and determined whether we have a written plan or not. This is what happened to me so I’ll have to streamline some of my plans.
I know for one I was taking on too much and doing to much. I saw some improvements as far as skills but still there needs to be work done. When you try to force yourself and become less focused at the same time the quality of your work dominishes. So with that said I will be working a lot smarter.
Thanks for sharing the tips and your plans Jane! Have a great day and Happy Holidays !
Hey Sherman,
You are super correct. Forcing yourself to work hard will only make you tired (physically and mentally). You will lose focus that way. Working smarter is the key.
I wish you all success in the New Year. Enjoy the holidays 🙂
Cheers,
Jane.
Hi Jane!
Awesome to hear your progress and what you have in store for 2016.
I started out rather slow, peaked in the middle and ending it now at around 80%. I didnt reach some o f the goals but I grew to understand myself and when I work best. I guess this year was a year of discovery for me. I cant wait for 2016!
Happy holidays to you and your family!
Hey Dennis,
Thanks for sharing your position! All of us have some goals un-achieved, I’m sure 🙂 As far as we are aware of it, it can be done!
Have a wonderful time these days and I wish you a successful New Year!
Cheers,
Jane.
Fantastic post sharing with us Sheeba, I like this I didn’t know that the time of the posting could be a so critical reaching factor. Thanks for teaching us.
Glad you found the post useful James. You are welcome 🙂
Hey Jane,
I know what you mean about some people starting strong during the first of the year, eager to start getting some great results. I think they get a little deflated when things don’t happen the way they had thought they would so now things start to slack off. If only things happened quickly as soon as we put the work out there.
I do believe that being consistent in whatever action plans you intend to make for the year is so very important. That’s the only way you’ll end up getting any type of good results.
Wow, you changed your domain but sounds like you’ve given this a lot of thought. I definitely understand the direction you’re going and I think it’s actually a very smart move on your part. I also know that whatever courses you put out will really be beneficial to those eager to learn from you.
Thanks for this wonderful post, your great advice and your announcements as well. I wish you the very best moving forward and Happy Holidays.
~Adrienne
Jane,
One more great post. As usual great quotes to support your thoughts. I am also planning to create some new themes and plugins in 2016. Looking forward to hear more tips from you.
Wonderful, motivating post! Beautiful quotes. I have you on the blog for the first time and I liked you.
Thank you 🙂
Hi Jane ,
I liked your Thought in Post.You have a good plan.I’ve also set some goal for 2016.
Hi,
Great post, indeed consistency is really important thing which we must focus on and it will bring us great results in short time.
Thanks for sharing
Hi,
I read your blog on daily basis and this article captured my eyes. I started a new blog this week and i am working hard over it day and night. But this guide was very useful for me.
It certainly help me to increase visitors for my site.
Thanks,
I read your blog regularly. Now I’m just planning to launch my own new blog very soon in coming new year 2016. Thank you so much for sharing helpful information with us. Good luck ma’am 🙂
Hi, I am a new on this field and I have visited regularly on your blog, you have explained very well, I have got ideas on your blog as well after that I have started a blog. Thanks for sharing helpful knowledge.
Hey Jane,
I liked your all points but the one that i admire is instead of dreaming or thing make plans and implement them. I always think of do something but don’t make plans for it or takes a lot of time to plane.
However, thanks for the inspiring post.
Hey Robin you are not alone. I used to be like that. I used to think a lot about anything before doing it – I thought I was being cautious. But that was a hindrance for me to take action. Glad you liked the post 🙂
Hi Jane Sheeba,
I have failed miserably last year. I have some bigger goals for 2016 and hopefully I will be able to achieve them.
Hello Jane,
What a nice and interesting post every blogger striving for success should follow this new year…
Consistency is always the key to success after the planning and action.
Thanks for such a wonderful post. have a productive new year 😉
Hi Baba,
Thanks for stopping by! I wish you a very prosperous New Year 🙂
Jane.
Hey Jane
Two things, first your “thank you for the comment” strategy is AWESOME. Loved it.
And second, congrates with the switch.
I myself am extremely confused about my domain name “vebblabbs”, And i’m going to make the switch. But here’s what I want to know, you still are ranking pretty good after the switch.
Can I have a post , or quick tips about “how you managed to “not” loose the rankings” ? I did the switch once, but it took me almost a year to recover,
So help please 🙂 And thanks in Advance.
Hey Ecan,
I’m SO glad you liked my “thank you for commenting” strategy 🙂 It’s an automated set up! We did a sitewide redirect (302) from probloggingsuccess to janesheeba. So the rankings were intact.
Still it needs about 6 months to correct 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!
Cheers,
Jane.
Hey there, thank you so much for sharing the in-depth post and experience. I didn’t have a really good 2015 either but I’m trying my best this year to make everything better.
I completely agree. Consistency is the key. That is the truth with everything. Exercise, business, life.
Well said Scott. Thanks for your comment.
The key to success is planning and then putting your plans into action, not taking action is one major factor of failed dreams and goals set for each year. Once a target has been set for the year, the next step is to start working towards achieving that target, it doesn’t matter how you start but just take action towards realizing set goals and consistently keep working at it, definitely 2016 will be a better year.
Hi Jane!
Thank you for these precious advices! And I completely agree with all of them! Especially, I like this “A goal without a plan is just a wish”! True, we need to plan everything we are going to do! Another one good characteristic is consistency! We have to weigh everything that we are going to do! Thank you one more time!
yes planning is the key but what do you say keeping a good pace is really matters
and i really like your article great of all ‘doing is important then planning’