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Over the last couple of years, I would help friends and coaches organize their businesses. It is all about managing the brain and staying calm. Building a company doesn’t happen overnight; it takes time. Heck, just planning social media is exhausting enough! Check out today’s blog about “Brain Dump and Quarterly Goals. It’s a friendly reminder to help myself as well! Are you looking to get on my newsletter and grab a FREE Social Media Calendar? Click HERE for that!
Here is a widespread conversation that I have with a lot of people:
Me: How’s it going? How is life?
Friend/Coach/Business Owner: I am good but SUPER busy and overwhelmed.
Me: I get it 100%. I hate to say it, but I don’t like the word “busy.” I want to think of my life as being “full.” I have a lot going on, but I make sure I stay on track.
Friend/Coach/Business Owner: Oh, that’s good! I like that. How are you staying on track?
Me: I will do a weekly brain dump and stay on my quarterly goals.
Friend/Coach/Business Owner: Do tell!
First, I think of my upbringing, as my Momma has been a go-getter her whole life. So props to my Mom! Second, I have goals and a vision NOT only for my personal and family life but also for my coaching and business. In my world, I am used to the BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goals), but as I have been running my business for over five years, I realized it is not always easy to look at the BHAG to be able to get shit done on a weekly or a monthly basis.
With that said, let me share how I organize my days and months so that this helps you with your everyday life and business!
Having goals has always been a HUGE priority for me, and when I think of plans, I think of goals that have been around for years, like my 28-year-old goal to qualify for Ironman Kona! While seeing those BIG GOALS is fantastic, you must break down those bigger goals into year goals. Because we need to realize that those goals will not happen overnight, remember Steve Jobs did not become an overnight success.
Questions to ask yourself heading into your year:
1. What do you want to accomplish this year personally?
2. What do you want to achieve this year in your business?
3. What do you want to achieve this year in your athletics?
4. How will you accomplish those goals? Be specific
5. When do you want to achieve those goals?
Tip: Even though you may see a BIG goal, you need to break that BIG goal down even further into the yearly goals. For your business, you want to be invited to the BIGGEST stage in your niche ever. How do you get there? Speak more? Sign up for Toastmasters or National Speakers Association. Truly break down the year to get closer to that BIG goal!
Before you start the brain dumping, you want to break down your year into quarters, and we know what that is all about:
January to March
April to June
July to September
October to December
I will make sure that my quarters are aligned with my brain dumping. For example, from January to March, I have many new athletes come on board, so I may have to focus more on the educational aspects of my coaching. As April to June rolls around, they get my “verbiage,” right? They realize I could be better at math and may figure out that my 2100 Swim is only 1900 Swim. Then from October to December, I may have athletes drop off. I need to start plugging more so I have spots available for the coming year, or I will take a break myself.
Tip: Grab a six-month calendar that you can write on. Write down the significant events that apply to your business and your life. Then, when you see the BIG picture roll in, you will see how much easier it is to break down your quarters.
I first heard this phrase, “Brain Dump,” from Angelica Kim. I must give her props because this has helped me with my business!
Every Sunday, I will pull out a good old fashion planner. Get out a pencil and start writing everything down. I will do the priority planning first. Then I will write out what I need to do with my:
Athletes and Client Workouts
Content Creation
Athletes and Client Calls
Website
This is a weekly brain dump as I need to focus on the week. If something pops up during the week that needs to be done, I will make it happen, but I have to make sure I move things around. For example, a priority is to get my blogs done for a month at a time, BUT this week and next week are tax time. So the focus will be the taxes, and the blogs must be knocked out a week at a time.
Tip: Make sure you do it Sunday before your work week starts. You can take 30 minutes out of your day to plan for the week. Grab some earphones, your calendar from your phone, a pencil, and your journal or planner, and start brain-dumping. Your family will thank you for it, as it does relieve some stress.
With a bit of time and organization, your family and brain will thank you for heading into the new week. I know how stressful it can be while you are building your new business or even keeping up with your business now.
If you want more guidance within your business, I teamed up with Training Peaks a couple of years ago and put together a Business Course for them. Click HERE for the link and start right away today.
Are you looking to get on my newsletter and grab a FREE Social Media Calendar? Click HERE for that!