Time change
Time change
This past weekend, many of us fell back an hour
We all (except for people in some parts of Indiana) repeated the old mantra last Saturday night when we stood in front of our clocks, hands raised, for the semiannual rite of the Daylight savings time clock adjustment. Spring forward. Fall back. And then of course we question ourselves making sure that we weren’t supposed to Spring back and Fall forward.
So, we reset our clocks.
We changed the batteries in our smoke detectors.
And, we added a couple of pounds of air to our tires.
Was that it? Was that everything we were supposed to remember to do? Au contraire, mon ami.
There is one more thing. The Fall to Winter transition season is an energetically powerful time of year. Fall is the time for abundant colors. Fall is the time for our grand bursts of energy as we rake leaves and toss the football around.
Planning for the happy holidays and beyond
Traditionally, fall is the time for taking stock of our resources and planning for the happy holidays and the bleaker months that follows.
One of your greatest resources is your business. As you travel through the time and space, you are anticipating or expecting business that may not be manifesting. It may be time to reevaluate and rewrite your business plans.
Yikes. I used a term that strikes dread into every entrepreneur. Business plans are the planning work that underpins ad supports the fun stuff you get to do with dogs and their people. Keep reading. It’ll be okay. http://petmassage.com/?product=creating-marketing-your-animal-massage-business
Reevaluating and revising business plans
Okay, your business plans are in a folder … somewhere in your office. Somewhere. Pull it out, blow the dust off. With trembling fingers, you pull open the folder’s cover. There, there. That was easier than you thought. Now, look at the first paragraph. Is there anything there that resembles where you are now, what you are doing, and the trends you see in your business? Hopefully, there is.
What you wrote as a plan last year, though, or in 2005, may no longer be relevant to your current life and situation. Perhaps if you had revisited your business plans more frequently, you might have stayed the course; and been more focused. Or, you may notice that your business plans no longer apply.
And what if it does not? What if things have changed?
If your business plan is no longer working for you, that’s really good news. Here is an excellent opportunity to redefine your business. What are your short term goals for this happy holiday season? Are you promoting gift certificates for the happy holidays? Are you promoting products in the best ways you know how? Are there additional resources you could access to help you attain your new and improved goals?
After you have determined what you want to accomplish in the next 2 months, visualize what is possible for 2016. Then, where is your future focus? What are your long term goals? Where would you like to see your goals for the next 3 years, and the next 5 years? You are a visionary.
Goose bumps
As I write this I feel goose bumps. I feel that someone, perhaps you, will recognize just how much a designated couple of hours will enhance your business. Perhaps you’ve been sailing along, and the stormy seas have tossed your little boat a bit off course. Maybe this reminder will have the effect of a positional release for your business. Read where you imagined you were going. Now, with the understanding of more time in the saddle, you can identify where you might have been misguided in your expectations or had too little experience to understand the terrain. Now, in the new light of knowing what you do, you can rethink what is possible. Now, you can redirect your energies. Now you can change the batteries in your business.
Last week’s message was that we have choices.
Each decision we make is the best we can do with the experience and information that we have at the time. We have choices. All the choices we make are important.
We make mistakes, again, based on the experience and information that we have at the time. We forgive ourselves for being naïve. It happens. We are doing the best we can.
Well now. Here we find ourselves with a lot more experience and in present time. The business plans you are about to revise will document the vision you have at this moment in your history.
And, as you have already seen, it is okay to be wrong. You survived so far, and in many ways, prospered, working with the assumptions you had in the past. And, now you are ready to embark on your new path. You are getting optimized with strategic planning.
Are you ready for your future?
Perhaps you’ve been a tad unaware of the course you’d found yourself on. Recognizing that you have veered into a path that is a slight deviation from your intended course, is the only way for you to know to check your compass. Then, based on what you know now, you can make more informed decisions about where to redirect your energies.
Basing your new play on current information and insights, drawn on practical experience, this is your opportunity to validate what is working and explore some alternative paths; ways and means that allow you to move toward a more successful and comfortable quality of life.
We’ve reset our clocks. We’ve changed the batteries in our smoke detectors. We’ve put away our summer clothes and brought out the sweaters and parkas. We are putting our lives in order. How timely!
There are great opportunities in the choices you can make. Especially when they are based on the perspective you have right now.
Get ready for your future. You are the only one who knows what you can do. You are the only one who can make the magic happen.
Make it so.
Keep improving
While you are planning your future success, include continuing education. Perhaps you’ve noticed that you’ve become a bit rusty or, worse still, set in your ways. Each PetMassageTM is a uniquely bliss-filled learning experience. There is so much magic in every dog we touch and so much beauty and grace that we have the opportunity to facilitate! If you think you know it all, you definitely need a reboot.
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