How to start a New Year gracefully as an entrepreneur

When you have just now stepped in to a New Year, all you worry is about resolutions.

You either are tensed about making resolutions or keeping them up.

For one, I am not a big believer of New Year resolutions because they are most likely prone to fail.

I am not discouraging you, right at the beginning of the year, about setting goals. But most of us make resolutions because everyone else is making it.

And we also break it by the second week or January, or say by the first week of March (if you are bit stronger), just like everyone else.

I see a lot of pressure among people, especially entrepreneurs, around New Year time.

So I decided to write this post to help you step in to a New Year gracefully.

#1 The New Year Resolution pitfall

Just as I talked about this a few paragraphs above, I want to emphasise this one more time.

New Year resolutions most likely fail. Or you most likely fail to keep them up.

And it is totally OK.

You don’t have to force yourself into keep up with those.

For one, please stay away from making very generic resolutions like, I will lose weight this year, or I will write more content.

These kind of resolutions are very generic and you will not be able to fulfil them by the end of the year.

Rather, get very specific. Tell yourself that you will lose XX pounds by March, and then XX by June and so on.

Make a resolution that you will write X number of blog posts this year, and then split your big goal into manageable chunks – like, X number of blog posts per week or per month.

The more specific you get, the more likely you will make out a plan to stick to your resolution.

On the other hand, if your goal is related to losing weight or eating healthy, December/January is probably the wrong time of the year to make a resolution.

I found this post to talk about the same.

Around festival season, and around winter, you are most likely to eat a lot.

Plus since this is winter, it is highly challenging to stick to a workout routine.

Plus, plus, winter means laziness, and preferring to stay cozy.

All these added make it highly challenging for you to keep up with your New Year fitness goals.

So it is most probably right to set a fitness-related resolution in April!

#2 Be thankful

Make sure you review the previous year and count on all the blessings you have received. Count on all the good stuff that happened to you.

And be very grateful for the same.

This kind of an act not only helps you to revisit and reflect on your past year, but will also make you feel a lot positive.

Think about the things you had going well. Think about how many things you get to acquire, enjoy and own, while others couldn’t.

You should also think about the progress you made in your business, no matter how small it is.

Think about all the great ideas that worked in favour of your business! 

Rather than focusing on what didn’t work, or how badly things went, you really need to focus on what worked.

Now, in the New Year, all you have to do is do more of what worked.

Regarding those things that didn’t work – rather than being upset about those, or feeling bad, you have to stop doing those. It is as simple as that!

In short, do more of what worked and eliminate what didn’t work.

Don’t forget to be thankful for all the good things you did and those good things that happened to you.

#3 Be appreciative of yourself

I can see that a lot of entrepreneurs are being too hard on themselves. 

Be it with their personal lives, or with their business or in the attempt to balance between the two, entrepreneurs work really hard.

As business owners, we need to put in extra hours and work smartly in the time we get.

Especially, if you have a day job, or a baby, or if you work from home you know what’s involved.

After putting in all the effort, most entrepreneurs are unhappy about the results. It could be because they are expecting results too soon.

Or it could be because a different strategy has to be implemented.

At the end of the day, whether your results are great or not, you have to be appreciative of yourself!

Be nice to yourself, appreciate and then focus on what needs to be improved.

Treat yourself nicely, pamper yourself and take enough breaks. More importantly, take good care of your health.

Remember, YOU are the most important asset in your business!

Get clarity!

Be very specific about your business goals.

While I emphasize that you need not pressure yourself about resolutions, it is very important that you have very specific goals.

In the first place, you need to be very clear about your business. For this, I highly recommend you to take up this questionnaire.

Once you fill this up, you will get real good clarity about your business – its purpose, goals, and things like that.

And then, after you have clarity, it is pretty easy to lay out a plan and work towards achieving those business goals.

To sum up…

So, step into this New Year gracefully. There is no pressure. You are not running a race. 

Be genuine as a business owner and give yourself fully to your business. But do it very nicely.

Treat yourself extremely nicely. Treating yourself nicely is more important than whether you succeed or not in your business.

Because, if you are in good shape and mental form, you can always succeed. 

Don’t let the New Year resolution pressure or the pressure of “to have to succeed” in your business make you treat yourself hard.

Start the New Year gracefully and succeed in your own terms.