What if you could change the last year of your life?

It’s time for a little introspection and calendar inspection. Right now we’re in a sweet spot in the calendar where the year seems almost over (and with it the unending United States Presidential race!) but still with more than 4 months to go, there’s plenty of weeks to do the entrepreneur hustle.

We’re just about in the transition to a new season – you know this when the retail stores start putting out decorations for holidays 3 months from now. I swear I saw Valentine’s cards already for sale and rolled my eyes all the way down the aisle.

But what I’d like you to do with me today is to take a look back at the events of this year that you wish you had a “do over” button for and would like to preempt next year. I’ll list some questions and recommend journaling as we go, and you fill in your first response.

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Ready? Let’s rewind to December…

• It’s that sweet week after Christmas when the business world is a little quieter and everyone is buying new organizing bins, diet books and making SMART goals for the new year. So when the ball drops at midnight on December 31st I feel ready to go! Except, I wish I’d thought about finishing… [fill in the blank].
• Going into the new year always feels like possibilities. I look at the people who have surrounded me this year, both business and personal support, and I recognize now that I also need…
• Things are always creeping up on me last minute, if I’d planned far enough in advance I would have loved to go that that event…. and next year I’d love to be a speaker at…. or sponsor a booth at….
• Looking back on my finances, there are some recurring charges for software that I kept way too long. I should have cancelled… and… so long ago! I’m also trying out this new service… but I’ll have to evaluate if it’s still working in a couple months.
• Speaking of what’s working and not working, I had to part ways with some staff this year. Next time I’ll know that the first sign of something going wrong was….
• Everyone’s taking off for vacation, I guess that’s what people do for Spring Break. I wish I’d planned a trip this year, next year I want to go to…. and I really should plan to do that next year in….
• When I did my taxes this year I realized there were some shifts I could be making such as… and …. I’ll work to get those things in place before this fiscal year is up.
• Wow, I really miss those great conversations I had with …. and … I’m definitely going to reach out to them.
• My clients have made me really proud this year. One of the things I’ve always wanted to do for them was…
• It’s probably time to create a process around this for my clients, to make my life and their programs flow much easier…
• Speaking of making my life easier, it’s already August and I’d thought I’d already be done with…. To make progress before the end of the year I need to…

Continue to journal for any ideas that come up, people you need to reach out to, projects that have been unfinished or goals you have pending.

When you’re done, read it through out loud, and decide where to put your energy these next few months.

You might read your list and consider that you really need someone to edit your videos, because it’s crushing your soul and taking way too much time.

Maybe you’ve read back and realized that you promised yourself this was the year you’d take that beach vacation, and nothing’s on the calendar.

Perhaps you’ve been seeing signs of disengagement from a team member and know it’s time to move on, but it’s so hard to do so.

No matter what this exercise has brought to the forefront, I want you to know that everything you wrote down can change moving forward. You can think over what can be shifted next year and make adjustments to your plans, team, support, and systems.

I love the quote from Robin Sharma “Don’t live the same year 75 times, and call it a life.” You have the power to change what you do and improve yourself, your business, and your relationships.