How did I achieve my midyear goals?
Member feature : by Susan Smit of VA Connect
To keep a healthy mind I believe everyone should set goals for themselves and work hard to achieve those goals. Setting goals and achieving them is what motivates us and keeps us going and striving for even better. It is always healthy to assess your goals every few months to see if you are on track. Setting goals are important, no matter how big or small. My goals started out 2 years ago, but every year, twice a year I still check-in to see if they are still valid.
Growing my business
One of my goals was always to expand my business by getting more clients. VA Connect helped me achieve that goal. More clients do mean more work and more stress if you don’t plan and prioritize properly. When growing your business means not being afraid of new challenges, for example taking on a client that is from a different background and culture than you. When a client doesn’t share the same views, background or culture as you, you might initially find it difficult to work together and for you to keep the client. Therefore, making an effort to learn how to work with and approach people from different cultures and backgrounds will only benefit you and your business as you will be able to work with a bigger variety of people. If you do struggle with this, there are many blogs to help educate you on this specific topic, called cross-cultural challenges. A must-read is The-effects-of-cultural-differences-on-global-business
Keeping a healthy mind
An important goal for me is trying my best to keep a healthy mind. In stressful times it isn’t always easy to stay positive and to keep a healthy mind. Clients can be very demanding at times and want certain tasks done immediately, this can cause excessive anxiety and will lead to you overworking yourself if you are too lenient with your client and don’t have set work hours. This is for me a difficult goal to manage. I am very driven and want everything done now. Not always good for myself or the people around me. Therefore, it is extremely important that you always schedule time away from your business. During your time away from your business you should make a point of:
*exercising
*eating healthy
* getting enough sleep.
All of these things can have a positive effect on physical and mental health. By doing so you will feel refreshed and positive and ready to take on whatever task you’re given next. If you struggle with mental health, visit my blog on Selfcare vs Burnout to recap.
Surrounding myself with more like-minded individuals
I always try to surround myself with people who share and support the same goals as I do and also people I can learn from. Surrounding yourself with negative people who aren’t goal-driven could quite easily have an impact on you. I become less motivated if the people in my circle don’t share and support my goals and dreams. This is why I spend my time with people who are striving to be the best they can be and who are working towards achieving the goals they set for themselves. For me my time is valuable, I will not waste it on loafers.
Getting a client that challenges me to learn new things
With pride, I can say I have a client like this. AND I LOVE IT. It is important to always have an open mind when it comes to learning new things. Different clients will expect different things from you. If a client expects you to complete a task in a different way or by using an unfamiliar method or app than what you’re used to, you must be willing to learn how to utilize the new method or app. By doing so you will only enhance your own skills and abilities and this will help you with future clients. The more skills and experience you have, the more favorable you will appear to future clients. One word – UPSKILL
Stop procrastinating
Procrastination is something no one should ever start doing. Once you start procrastinating you fall behind on work you should be doing and already should have done. By leaving tasks to the last minute you only cause unnecessary stress for yourself. Procrastination could cause you to rush to get the work done and this could result in poor work quality and mistakes that could easily have been avoided. To avoid procrastination from happening schedule and prioritize all the tasks that you must complete and then stick to the schedule! There is no better time for planning your next day, than the night before.
Confidence
Confidence is one of the biggest goals everyone should strive for. I believe in myself and my abilities. Having confidence in your work ethic and abilities will lead to better work quality you will be proud of.
Bringing it together like this, reminded me that I am on the right track. My very cross-culture business leads me to challenge myself. I grew to be better, more efficient, more lenient and more time conscious. I love weekends to the most now, because my week satisfies my mind. And my trusted circle maybe became smaller the last 6 months, but so much more rewarding.