THROW AWAYYOUR RESOLUTIONS
AND SET ALTERNATIVE GOALS FOR THE NEW YEAR
than half-blindly looking forward with broad resolutions,” Ferriss said in a 2018 blog post.
At the start of each new year, about half of all Americans set at least one New Year’s resolution, a promise to themselves that they will thrive in the coming year. Unfortunately, research from YouGov Omnibus, an international market research firm, found that only 1 in 5 Americans stuck to their resolutions. The fallibility of New Year’s resolutions is why few successful CEOs or leaders bother making them.
At the start of each year, Ferriss spends an hour going through his calendar from the past 12 months and making a note of every person, activity, or commitment that sparked the strongest emotions, both positive and negative. The most positive events get rescheduled immediately for the new year. Meanwhile, the negative ones get put on a “Not-To-Do List” and hung up where Ferriss can see them. “I do believe in starting the new year with new resolve,” says Melinda Gates, co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, “but instead of adopting a resolution, I choose a word of the year — a word that encapsulates my Gates says that words like “spacious” or “grace” have helped her center herself and serve as a reminder about what she really wants to focus on. In 2019, Gates chose the word “shine,” stating that, “It’s a reminder for all of us to turn on the lights inside of us, lift each other up, and shine together.” aspirations for the 12 months ahead.” You most likely screen your calls, as do most prospects. FixYourFunnel allows you to send a text message before a call so clients and prospects know the purpose of the call, making them more likely to pick up. There’s also a live texting feature, which is a great tool for teams looking to stay connected in a way prospects actually want to respond to. Trackable SMS links and a mobile survey feature, among many other features, help you better understand how your customers are interacting with your business. We started using FixYourFunnel at our firm this winter, and we’ve been especially impressed by the direct-to-voicemail feature. It’s allowed us to communicate information to our clients with less intrusion into their day and keep them up to speed on what we’re doing at our firm. For any team wanting to improve communication with their clients, FixYourFunnel is worth a look. PICK A WORD OF THE YEAR WITH MELINDA GATES.
Around this time of year, plenty of articles pop up with hot takes like, “Don’t set New Year’s resolutions; make goals instead!” Unfortunately, if you haven’t been making goals already, you’ve likely been setting yourself up
for failure. Setting goals, achieving them, and making new ones should be a habit all year long, not just something you do on Jan. 1. The start of a new year is still a great time to reflect and strategize, but rather than fall on an old cliche, take a page from two of the most successful people in business. REFLECT ON 2019 WITH TIM FERRISS. For decades, entrepreneur and best-selling author Tim Ferriss made New Year’s resolutions every year. Then, he developed a better strategy. “I have found ‘past year reviews’ (PYR) more informed, valuable, and actionable
BIZ TOOL OF THE MONTH: FIXYOURFUNNEL
Every business owner knows how important it is to have a good line of communication with customers or clients. With so many ways to reach out to people, the problem isn’t so much how to do it as it is how to do it in a way that actually gets through to them. FixYourFunnel is a service that seeks to solve this problem, offering integrated phone and text messaging services that make it easier and more efficient to stay in touch with customers and prospects. FixYourFunnel can get messages to clients without interrupting their day. During the holidays especially, communication is crucial, but you don’t want to bombard people with calls. With FixYourFunnel, you can opt to have calls go directly to voicemail, so clients get the pertinent information without getting a call in the middle of their meeting or focused work time. All you have to do is record your message one time and send it out to your contacts. This option is also great for announcing promotions and updates, like holiday schedules. ADD THIS TO YOUR COMMUNICATION ARSENAL
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