Business Development Specialist

How many people out there are telling you to set your goals for 2010, without goals you wont truly achieve blah, bah, blah; don’t get me wrong goals give you direction and it is great to have them, but if you had them last year, shouldn’t your first priority be to review the previous year, the highs and lows, what worked, what didn’t, relationships gained, relationships lost.  It is equally as important to review what has been achieved, what worked and what didn’t before you go about setting your goals for the next year!!

Look back on events, what did you learn from them, write it down, if the event is positive can it be replicated in the coming year, if it was negative how can you avoid something similar happening this year?  At the risk of boring you, let me give you a snap shot of my year in 2009:

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  The Happiest Day of My Life

  January - Got married, my family travelled half way around the world for the big day, the weather was beautiful, the day perfect what a start to the new year!

• February - On honeymoon in the Bay of Islands, experienced Waitangi Day at Waitangi an experience that will stay with me for ever, watching the wakas launch and soaking up the carnival atmosphere, awesome.
• March – A month of recovery from the last two months of excitement, knuckling down to work.
• April / May - The low time of the year, redundancies at work, in my office a sacrifice will be made, the working environment was terrible.  On a personal front I find out my wife is pregnant
• June / July - Survive the redundancy process as a result job roles change and that comes with a realisation that my time where I work is coming to an end, I begin the process of really evaluating what I want and where I need to be, I re-evaluate my goals.  I see my baby for the first time in a scan, the wonders of technology.
• August – With new goals in place I start the ball rolling, I find myself a web designer who will build a site for my new business.
• September – My web site is launched, I find my first customers, I experience my first little wins which cements in my mind that I am finally on the right track regarding my career.
• October – I start networking and spreading the word for my business, I’m blogging furiously, my web site is being found in search results and I find another new customer.
• November - I see my baby with a 4D scan, truly amazing and very humbling, I get accepted into a business networking group and pick up another couple of clients.  Towards the end of the month I secure my first big contract lasting 6 months, it’s the job I need to finally go out on my own.  I hand in my notice with my current employer.
• December -  I send out my first invoice for my business, I find I get extra work from my old employer, Xmas is here and we enjoy our last quiet Xmas without children, a wonderful end to a wonderful year.

My year was full of personal highs, work was a different matter completely, there was a good deal of change, change which I new I could not live with longer term, but it was the catalyst to change everything that I was doing, I had to review my goals, which I did, set myself some new ones and off I went.  2010 is looking very bright, goals have been reviewed and adjusted for the changes that will inevitably come with a new family but an exciting year it will be and one that I can’t wait to experience.

Whatever you do, review your previous year first, learn from your mistakes, hold on to the things you did well and remember when you’re setting your goals make sure they are realistic.  Have a wonderful and prosperous 2010