Building Your Foundation 2020 Planning

Hello and welcome to episode number 16 of The Strategy Corner, where our goal is to get you to take action. I’m your host, Michelle Zink, the owner of Intentional Solutions Corp. Today’s strategy is building the foundation to develop your 2020 vision. Just a reminder, all of December is devoted to helping you, my listener, plan, dream, and develop your 2020 plan and vision. We took a look back last week at 2019, and now we’re focusing on answering questions to build your foundation this week. All of the weeks will add up in developing your 2020 vision. Now, not everyone will want to do all of this, but I do know for a fact that when you ask yourself questions in different ways, you come up with different answers, ones you never thought of. So if you’re thinking this might be too long for you to do, maybe it isn’t. Maybe you should go all in, and do all the work in December, and see what comes up.

Or you could always just choose and pick the ones that sound best to you. There’s no real wrong answer or way to do this, but I do know that planning is the key for knowing what you want and actually getting it. So again, today is the foundational questions for the series of Building Your 2020 Vision. And before we jump in, I’m just going to share with you where I am right now on developing my 2020 vision. So I did exactly what you all did last week, I went and did my 2019 review. And, as I shared in the podcast, I was really surprised on some of the things that I’ve found. Now when I’m talking about these foundational questions, these are the questions that I’ve already answered as well, and some interesting things came up for them too. So when I ask you these questions you really need to be open and honest with yourself, because the more that you can really think about these questions, the better you have answers and solutions to things that you have questions about. So I’m going to jump into the questions now, and then share, as I go along, things that jumped up for myself as I did this.

Okay. To begin, there are six questions that I consider the foundational questions, ones that will help you determine specifically what you should be focusing on in 2020. Again, we’re building upon here, so this is just the first step and dip your toe in to your 2020 vision. These are questions that you need to ask before you start really dreaming about 2020 because it will help you to determine where you need to put your focus. The six questions are broken up into three categories. The first category is for business. So when you’re answering these questions, you want to think about your business. Now, I know that the listeners that listen to my podcast are business owners and executives, so just think about your business perspective for these two first questions.

The first one is what 20% of sources are creating 80% of my problems and unhappiness? I’m going to repeat that. What 20% of sources are creating 80% of my problems and unhappiness? The reason why we ask ourselves this question is we want to find out is there anything that we’re doing that we don’t want to do? Something that we actually could outsource or something that we could give to someone else to do. Because the more we’re focusing on things that we love to do and that make us happy, the more productive and the more sustainable the workload that we take on is possible.

So for me, when I did this, I realized that the 20% of sources that were creating 80% of my problems was, in a nutshell, admin stuff. So admin things like running errands, sending, weekly blog and podcast information to my marketing department, researching topics, ideas, creating, you contacts in my Google contacts. So things of that nature were causing me problems and unhappiness. And so what I decided to do, based off of this question, is I decided to look to get someone to help me for just a couple hours a week. Because when I looked at the things that were creating 80% of my problems and unhappiness, I realized that these were pretty simple things and things that I could actually have and give to somebody else who could do them and then create space for me to focus on this next question.

So the next question is what 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of my desired outcomes and happiness? Again, we’re talking about your business, so I’m going to repeat the question again. What 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of my desired outcomes and happiness? I’m going to read that one more time. What 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of my desired outcomes and happiness?

This is where I really sat down and looked at what do I really love to do when it comes to my business. And what I really love to do is I love to be in front of my clients. I love to be doing EOS meetings. I love to be developing programs. I love to go to events, and meet people, and connect. I like to do panel discussions. I love to coach clients. I love to coach groups. So when I think about the things that I really love to do that give me the 80% of my desired outcomes and happiness, it does involve being in front of the client, and then also spending some time by myself to develop ways that I can serve my client through developing programs.

So when I look at, again, comparing what I don’t like to do or what are causing my problems and unhappiness, and if I can see where I can provide some opening for myself, if I could hire someone to just have them even just work for me as a 1099 employee for even five hours a week. How that could really open space to create pockets of time that I can actually go and do the things that bring me the best outcomes and the most happiness for my business. So that’s one thing that, based off of these questions that I answered, that I decided in 2020 I’m going to get an assistant, get someone to help me with the admin stuff, and I’m just going to start small. I’m just actually going to start off with a, young lady who is a college student who watches my daughter. And I just realized that by just utilizing her help, this can help me to create the space, and to develop the time necessary that I need to grow and build my business.

Okay. So think about this. When you answer these questions is there anything small that you can do in 2020 that would help you outsource or delegate 20% of the sources that are creating your 80% of the problems and unhappiness? So that you can focus more in on the desired outcomes and happiness in your business. So something to consider as you’re going through and answering these questions.

The next set of questions is for your personal life. So this is where you need to think about your personal life. And like I keep on saying on this podcast, personal and professional lives go together. So when one is out of whack, the other one is out of whack as well. Back in the day they used to talk about how you should have your personal and professional life separate. And I do agree that you shouldn’t be bringing a lot of your personal issues to the job, where you know you’re talking about maybe problems with your husband or loved ones. But I do agree that your personal professional lives, if they’re both in alignment, then you will be a more productive person at home and at the job, at the office.

So if you are doing things in your personal life that bring you joy and happiness, then that joy and happiness is going to overflow into your business as well. So let’s dive in to the personal questions. The first one is what 20% of sources are creating 80% of my problems and unhappiness. So as you see, there is a theme here. We’re looking at business and personal life and asking similar questions. Again, personal life, what 20% of sources are creating 80% of my problems and unhappiness? For me, things that came up were chores. I have to go to the grocery store on the weekends, and so I saw that going to the grocery store created my problems and unhappiness. And then all the chores around the house, cleaning, laundry, all of those fun things didn’t bring me much happiness. Not enough date nights. I realized that even though I always have an intention of going on at least two date nights a month, that I don’t really do that. And so that’s one thing that I realized that’s bringing me unhappiness, is not actually adhering to and setting those date with my husband.

And then also I’m just not dreaming enough. I feel that when I don’t dream enough, then the ideas don’t come up. So for my personal life, it’s kind of dreaming about what are some fun things I’d like to do with my family on the weekends. What are some fun vacations we’d like to plan? If we have vacations, what are some fun things we want to do on those? So again, being more intentional about thinking about and dreaming about the fun things we want to do. So for a personal perspective, since I went ahead and looked at those chores and realized, well, number one, I can’t get rid of all of them because I am a mom, and I like to keep a clean house. So I can’t get rid of all of those.

But one thing I did do was I outsourced my grocery shopping. So I don’t do it every week. But I did join Shipt, based off of the revolution that chores were bringing me down, and creating problems and unhappiness for myself. And so I signed up for Shipt, and now I use it every other week maybe. Or just whenever I’m feeling overwhelmed with a lot of tasks and chores to do, I’ll go ahead and sit down with a cup of coffee and order my groceries. Now, just to let you know, they do charge a little bit of a fee on the food, and in the past I haven’t wanted to go in and do that. But now realizing that time is such a important thing for me when it comes to creating the life and business I’m dreaming of, I realized that I am willing to and want to pay that little extra to have the convenience. So it’s just something I decided on.

So again, personal life, what are 20% of sources that are creating 80% of my problems and unhappiness? Go ahead and brainstorm those. And then the next question for personal life is what 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of my desired outcomes and happiness? So, what 20% or sources are resulting in 80% of my desired outcomes and happiness? So for me, when I looked into this, I realized that having that time, undistracted time with Millie brings me to happiness. Having undistracted time with Adam, date nights or just doing activities together, brings me happiness. Doing fun things as a family and with friends brings me happiness. Creating play dates with Millie’s friends and their families creates happiness. Cooking dinner and having dinner with friends. So really these connectings or connections with individuals that I love the most brings me the desired outcomes and happiness.

So this was a great one because I really again saw that creating time to make intentional connections is key for my happiness. And so as you can see, there is a link. I love to be with people. I love to connect with people. But I also love downtime. And that’s one thing I realized too. When I decided in my personal life what 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of my desired outcomes and happiness, I did write down scheduled downtime noted and planned on calendar because then I can truly disconnect, relax, and engage. So I do love to be with people, but I also charge by myself or recharge by myself as well. And so having that scheduled downtime is really key for me to create the success I’m looking for in the future. Does it feel comfortable? No, but I do know that’s what I need to do.

And then the other additional questions that I think are fun to ask just from a perspective to get your brain to open up a little bit more, and really think about what could come up for you is, this is one that are additional questions. So there’s two here. If I could only work two hours per day, what would I focus on? Okay, I’m going to go ahead and repeat that again. If I could only work two hours per day, what would I focus on? For me, what came up was sitting, or excuse me, setting up in person meetings with clients and with prospects is how I should spend those two hours per day. And then also coaching. So being with clients, being with prospects, and coaching clients and prospects is where I should spend my two hours per day. If I only had two hours, that’s what I’d focus on. So again, if I could only work two hours per day, what would I focus on? And again, this is to help you to get more specific about what you need to focus on.

And then if I could only work two hours per week, what would I focus on? And for me, this all came down to face to face meetings with clients, and face to face meetings with people of interest. So it would be face to face things with clients or potential clients. That’s where if I only had two hours per week that’s what I’d focus on. So really developing those relationships, and serving courageously to my current clients and prospect clients is where, if I only could work two hours per week, what I would focus on. Now, as you guys know, I don’t work two hours a week. I don’t work two hours per day. I work more than that.

But what it does is it helps you to feel what constraint would be like. And if you were constrained, what would you really work on? And what I noticed too is that when I’m feeling overwhelmed and maybe I’ll only have a half an hour of time in a day, or maybe because things happen, right? Maybe my daughter got sick or I had a client change schedules. Multiple things can happen where my schedule gets changed. So what’s great about answering these questions is when I feel the need to only have a small amount of time to do something, I can look at this list and realize, “Okay, this is where my attention needs to go.” So yes, I only have maybe a half an hour, an hour, but this is where I really need to focus to create some traction for the day. And by doing that, it makes me feel good, like I’ve done something. And I feel like I’ve accomplished up thing through the day. And again, this is only when weird situations come up when you don’t have the time that you thought you’re going to have.

Okay. So now it’s the part of the session where we go ahead, or the podcast, where we go ahead and we turn it to you, your calls to action for the week. So the first action step is to set aside one hour of time this week to sit down and write your answers to these fundamental questions. That’s right. Just take one hour. We’re creating constraint in 2020, we’re setting time limits on things. That’s what I’m practicing with and I’m going to be sharing that with you all as we go along here. So just take one hour, set your timer, sit down with a piece of paper. I like people to write things down, but if you want to use your computer you can. But I always write it down and then I retype it if I want to keep it for the future.

So I’m going to go over the questions again. So the first one is for business. So when you’re thinking about your business, number one, what 20% of sources are creating 80% of your problems and unhappiness? Number two, what 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of your desired outcome and happiness? Again, that’s for business.

Now we move to the personal life. For your personal life, what 20% of sources are creating 80% of your problems and unhappiness? Number two, what 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of your desired outcomes and happiness?

And then the last additional questions that I put together, just because I feel like they’re fun and they help you to figure out what your main focus should be, is, number one, if I could only work two hours per day, what would I focus on? And if, number two, if I could only work two hours per week, what would I focus on?

And remember, keep this simple. Don’t overthink it. Just write down what comes up. Because in the end of December you’re going to have a lot of information that you’ve been accumulating based off the questions I’m asking you. And you’re going to be able to look back and see, “Okay, based off all this, what do I really need to do in 2020?” And that’s where the last podcast that we’re going to do of 2020 is bringing in that strategy piece, and utilizing, and looking back at what you’ve actually put down. And then developing that true strategy for 2020, and then your vision for the first quarter. And remember to have fun with this. I know it seems a little bit heavy and maybe counterintuitive. Well, it is counterintuitive, to actually plan ahead of time and to decide ahead of time. But it might feel uncomfortable because you’ve never done this before and that’s okay.

Again, take it slow, do what you want to do, but just know that in order to get what you really want in life, you have to put some time into it. You really need to think about it. You need to get off that busy train, and really focus on and develop that muscle where you start thinking creatively, and you really think about what would make your life better. Because if we don’t take the time to think about it, we’re never going to be able to create it.

Okay, now please go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play and subscribe to The Strategy Corner. You can also go to my website, intentionalsolutionscorp.com and sign up to get my weekly blog post, which also has a link to the latest podcast. You can also go to my show notes to view all the questions I ask here today in the podcast. So just in case you’re running on the treadmill or you’re driving in the car, just go to the podcast and look at the show notes if you want to do that. Or just relisten to the podcast and write down the questions as I go, whatever best serves you. Okay.

Until next time remember, through action and growth progression happens. Let’s take action together. Thank you and create an amazing week.