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How we can plan and create the business of our dreams this year by avoiding these 6 common mistakes.

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Hello, 2023! Here we are, a brand new year.

Whether you’re prepared and planned for the year ahead or not, I’m sharing with you 6 mistakes you need to avoid to have the best year yet, in life and business.

If you’ve made these mistakes, don’t worry. This is not about judging ourselves, it’s abut being aware of it so we can make changes and move forward. I’ll give you an action step you can take so they don’t hold you back in 2023.

Sound good? Let’s go!

mistake 1 - Planning too much

This one might sound counterintuitive.

Scheduling our goals is important, but what we don't want to do is plan so much that it's restricting and there’s no room for intuitive ideas or changes.

You don't want to feel so structured with your plan for the year that when you get an amazing idea you feel like you've got to park it as you can't fit it in.

This is where 90-day sprints come in.

I always recommend working in 90-day sprints. When you're planning your goals for the year ahead, we don't necessarily break down our 2023 goals, but we break them down quarterly. When we set our quarterly goals, that's when we start to break things down even more.

There's been studies and research that have proven that working in a 90 day block of time is the most effective and means you're going to get the most done whilst keeping up that momentum, and without burning out.

So if you're in a 90-day sprint and you get this amazing idea, most likely, it's going to wait until the next 90-day sprint, so your next quarter.

So when we schedule our goals, you can see your year at a glance, and it also gives you a leg up to strategically weave in seasons of rest. So that way, you're not running hard every single month of the year.

The action step: Create white space in your plan. Make sure that when you are planning out your year and your months that you've got whitespace. Remember boss, magic happens in the margins.

mistake 2 - looking to others

It’s a real mistake to plan based on what other successful people are doing.

We live in a comparison culture where it's impossible not to compare ourselves to others, especially online. So because we usually feel so overwhelmed creating a plan for a whole 12 months, we look to what other people are doing.

The main reason this causes problems for us is that when we plan based on what others are doing, we end up skipping all reflection of our own million-dollar lessons. Going deep into your business and yourself is what helps you make each year better than the rest.

I'm a big believer that one size fits all approach doesn't exist.

Can you look to others for inspiration? Yes.

But if you are planning and doing things based on what other people are doing, you will never get to where you want to be. You will never have the vision that you desire for your business and your life.

The action step: Simple: reflect. (Listen here to hear me walk through how to reflect on your year)

mistake 3 - unrealistic money goals

Mistake number three is setting goals that involve numbers that we’ve never come close to with no real understanding of how we will even hit those numbers.

I know you will most likely have an income goal for 2023. That's a good thing. I always advise my clients to set an income goal because it gives us clarity and it gives us something to work towards.

However, we don't want those numbers to be so far away, that we think that they're impossible and out of reach.

We should aim for the feeling that it’s comfortable enough, but it still gives us butterflies.

Yes, you can quantum leap and yes, anything is possible, but for your sanity and your mindset let's make it realistic as well.

Here are a couple of examples:

My private 1-1 client set an annual income goal at the start of last year. She thought it was a huge goal and a massive stretch for her. She didn't think that she would hit it. When we had a call in the middle of December, she said that she come in just shy of that goal. How mind-blowing is that? Thinking at the start of the year that it was impossible, and then reaching it.
It’s given her more momentum that's made her want to go bigger. So for 2023, we've set a different income goal, a bigger income goal, a stretch again, but not so much of a stretch that it feels impossible.

My mastermind clients are another great example of this and it shows why it’s so important to know your numbers and not ignore them, even when it feels scary.
So one of my mastermind clients has a monthly income goal in mind and she kept not reaching it and it was getting frustrating for her. So we mapped it out practically, looking at her capacity and realised even if she sold out each month she wouldn’t reach that income goal. It was so important to identify that so we could map out a new plan and come up with achievable ways to create that income goal.

The action step: Set an income goal and make sure you're pushing yourself with it. Think about the how by asking yourself, “Is my product suite set up to support this?” “Is my audience set up to support this?” “Are my systems set up to support this?” If they are great, let's go for it. If changes need to be made, or things need to be added, now you know your starting steps and your focus for your plan.

mistake 4 - not acting in alignment

How many times have you fallen into this trap?

Focusing on the “right way to do things” and not on the things that are in alignment with our life and business.

Honestly, I'm raising a hand right now because I have so many times. The thing is, we do want to make sure we're focusing on what works but there's a difference between what works and the right way to do things.

What happens when you don't focus on being in alignment and you're just focusing on the right way to do things or doing things because you think you should do them? You end up putting yourself in a box, feeling like a fraud, out of integrity, and you end up feeling lost.

If you're always trying to do things the right way, then you're just going to end up being like everyone else. We don't want that boss, we want you to stand out. If everyone's going down, you better go up. If everyone's going to the left, boss, you better move to the right.

Focusing on your alignment and what feels good to you, is what makes you stand out in a world where so many people are trying to be the same.

It's got to feel so good to you, and exciting and if it doesn't, what's the point?

The action step: Create a vision for your ideal day. Map out different parts of your day, and think about what your focus is, how you want to feel, and habits you do and don’t have.

mistake 5 - not leaving room for growth

It’s a mistake to plan out 12 months as if we won't grow and evolve and change at any point.

I have grown and evolved over the past two years more than I ever have before. When I became a mum, I changed. When I went back to work after maternity leave, I changed. At the start of 2022, I changed. When I launched the abundant Boss mastermind for the first time in 2022, I changed. I stepped into a new level. At the end of last year, I could feel the level coming for 2023.

I am not the same person I was last year and neither are you.

You might have a goal for 2023 that you plan to start in Q2 and when you get to Q2, you might not feel good about it anymore. It might not feel like you, but that's completely normal.

You've got to be a match to where you want to be energetically and embody that version of yourself.

The secret? The best way you can get to where you want to be is the version of yourself who has everything that you desire. Be her now. Don't wait until you've got what you want. What does she do? How does she act? How does she sell? How is she a mum? How does she spend her spare time? How does she show up? Be her now.

mistake 6 - not focusing on mindset

I wanted to save this one until last because I think it is the most important. It’s also the one that I am saying to you, with the most amount of love.

Please do not bring your shame and disappointment from this past year into 2023. Do not let what happened in 2022 dictate how 2023 is going to go for you.

Where your focus goes, your energy flows.

If you're operating from lack, you're going to get more of that. So please make sure you are focusing on your mindset and energy this year.

I like to describe it as splitting your business into six departments. One of those departments is mindset and it is the most important. If the mindset department is not solid, all other five departments will fail.

Your mindset is the foundation of everything. Your mindset is extremely powerful. It's the driving force behind how you show up for your life. Your mindset is your attitude. It's how you think about yourself and your life, and it affects the energy that you carry into situations.

Nurturing a healthy mindset is the best thing that you can do to be more productive. Having a solid mindset is more important than having the perfect planner, colour-coded schedule or organised to-do list. If you have an unhealthy mindset, you will waste your time and energy spinning in circles by repeating unhealthy cycles rather than growing and progressing.

Now getting your mindset right isn't like flipping a switch. We know that mindset work isn't just a one-and-done thing. It takes diligence and intentionality as we are always learning and growing as individuals. We need to make sure that we are frequently checking in and assessing our thoughts.

The action step: Reframe your limiting beliefs from 2022 to pinpoint what the limiting belief is, where it came from, and how we can change it. Please don't avoid this work. You will only be successful if you do this work.