As we approach the New Year, it can be tempting to make resolutions for your business – like increasing sales, updating your digital presence, or trying something new. But hey, have you ever thought about making anti-resolutions? Instead of just focusing on what you should do, consider what you shouldn’t do in 2024. Anti-resolutions are actually proactive measures that businesses can take to ensure they provide value and make improvements without spreading themselves too thin. You know, like setting limits on your monthly spending or working on a side hustle project that complements your current initiatives. Anti-resolutions give you focus and open up exciting possibilities while also protecting you from overextending.
Set realistic goals
At the end of the day, we are all human. We make mistakes, we have limits, and we need room to breathe in our everyday lives. The same thing goes for our business practices. While you want to set goals for the new year–with your clients and yourself–make sure these are within the realm of possibility. Setting yourself up with a list of to-dos that isn’t humanly possible will not look impressive to anyone after you fail to complete them. Especially in marketing, many of us feel the pressure to say ‘yes’ to all our requests, but in the new year, we should also learn it’s okay to say ‘no.’ Set limits with the people around you, and don’t give yourself goals you know you can’t achieve. We’re not saying you shouldn’t strive to improve in 2024, but don’t be unrealistic.
Take risks
We know to be successful, you’ve got to have a great strategy. After all, how can you get somewhere new without a map to guide you? Still, we’ve all read a strategy or two that sounds really good at first…until you realize it’s almost the exact same as last year’s annual plan.
See, it’s easy to keep trying tried-and-true methods to bring in business. They’re reliable, comfortable, and—let’s face it—easy. But around here, we find comfort in the uncomfortable, and that means you have to be willing to take a risk every now and then. If your business isn’t hitting your goals with what you’ve been trying in the past, it’s time to change it up. In fact, we challenge you to try one new approach in Q1. That can be a new tactic, different accent color, changed bidding strategy, you name it. No matter what it is, by starting your year off with something new, you’re automatically breaking the mold. Sure, it might fail, but it might also give you insights or success you never thought you’d find. You’ll never know until you try.
Find strength in failure
If those risks mentioned above do, in fact, fail, there’s no need to have a meltdown and feel sorry for yourself. This year, make it your goal to analyze your downfalls(big and small) rather than just soldiering on.
You’d do well to follow our example. Whether it’s as a team or one-on-one, we take time to delve into what went wrong and why when something happens, or a pattern pops up. It’s not a bad thing; it’s necessary for our growth. This is not to say that we’ve healed every dysfunction we’ve ever come across or that we’ll immediately conquer any that come up in the future. But if you can train yourself and your team into this way of thinking, you’re putting yourself miles ahead.
Be kind, not nice
Make 2024 the year you address the uncomfortable. Have hard conversations with leadership, team members, and clients – heck, do it with family. If something isn’t working, or if someone just keeps screwing up, have an honest conversation with them. If you ignore problems, they fester and resentment builds. That’s no way to start out the new year…being pissed off.
We hope you take this to heart. Don’t start the new year with a long list of things you want to accomplish. Be kind to yourself.
Instead of placing unrealistic expectations on yourself, make a commitment to spend time alone, to decompress, write, and just reflect.
Happy New Year all, we’re thankful for you and we’re so happy to put 2023 behind us.
