A few years ago I was inspired by my coach to think of three words to describe what I would like my coming year to look like. I’d previously had one word, but having read blogs by marketer Chris Brogan on why he chooses three, I decided to give it a go.
In the past I had not been one for goal setting and had been resisting creating a plan at all but decided three words seemed like a much easier and light touch way to have a focus.
Last year my three words were Clarity, Knowledge and Fun.
Clarity
Clarity was about being clear about the direction of travel for the business, as I had no idea where I wanted to go next or what that looked like!!
In 2023, I worked with Jodie Newman of The Business Allotment to come up with a new business name, and having that, became a Limited Company, which was a big step – that happened in April. I also worked with Jodie on our vision and values and for the first time am now clear on what the business looks like and what types of businesses we want to work with. Following this, I was able to finally decide that I was going to go ahead with a rebrand – and that will be coming in 2024.
Knowledge
This built on my 2022 word of ‘learn’ and was about attending relevant CPD and getting round to reading some of my business books at last. I did manage to read a few, only some of which I finished – the most helpful being The One Thing and Agencynomics.
Fun
In 2022 my word ‘presence; was about spending more time with friends and family and being present at that time, so the word ‘fun’ in 2023 was about having fun with the business and also fun in my social life and connecting even more with friends and family. I feel I had a lot of fun both personally and in the business last year.
So, what are my words for 2024?
Impact
As part of my vision and mission work with Jodie last year, it became clear how much I wanted to focus on my work with charities and businesses that ‘do good’, stemming from my time as a Scouter over the last 25 years and my love of volunteering and giving something back. I want us to be a ‘thoughtful’ business that supports those doing amazing, impactful things in the world. I also want my business to have an impact on those we support, and the wider business community. I want to continue (and increase) our charitable donations and when possible, enable our staff to take volunteering days and engage in meaningful community events. I also want to continue employing an intern, and take on a second, to provide university students with the real business experience that will enable them to secure meaningful employment in the future, and I want to be able to show them what working for a great employer looks like!
Identity
After gaining the clarity in our direction of travel, we will be rebranding this year and I am starting to work with a designer to come up with a new brand image that reflects our direction of travel and the types of businesses that we want to be working with. This will also include the evolving roles of our interns and their involvement in the development of the business going forwards. It is about ensuring that our whole team are on the same page and our mission and vision is clear. It’s also about understanding my role in my business community – who I am.
Anchored
Finally, anchored is about ensuring the business has all its foundations and core values firmly in place to take us steadily through the next phase of our growth. It’s about reviewing and putting in place new systems and processes that are resilient. It will see us move to MS365 this year and start exploring the tools within that to improve productivity and efficiency and help run the business more effectively.
These are the three simple words that will guide us over the next 12 months and will enable me now to review my goals in closer detail to ensure that everything we do helps us achieve these three words.
How do you like to set your business and personal goals? Do you have 3 words? What are they? Do let me know.
