Many people are returning to work for the first time this week to start 2020 off with a bang. Here are our top 3 new year survival tips.

Hopefully everyone is returning hungry and ready to add value but it might also be the case that people are feeling fatigued and, having got off the treadmill for 10 days, are struggling to get back on again. As January looms large they struggle to see how they can surmount the first month of the brand new year positively.

It is certainly the case that Christmas and the New Year provide a rare opportunity for self-reflection and often people come to new conclusions about how they want to pursue the future. Often for owner managed businesses this is the realisation that you are working incredibly hard and that perhaps the exit is not as clean or as close you’d like and you’re faced pondering how you can realise your goals by working smarter and not harder. Perhaps you’ve even considered recruiting someone and trading profitability for time.

If you are one of those feeling a little lost or perhaps unmotivated by the prospect of January, we have put together our top three tips for getting through January positively and continuing to grow the business.

Linford Grey’s Top 3 New Year Survival Tips:

1. Communicate

It’s a new year! You have plans and goals to reach. Do not make the mistake of internalising these ambitions. Call your team together, lock down exactly what you want for the year and then brainstorm with the team how as an organisation each individual will contribute to the advancement of the business. Doing so will remove the option to doubt yourself and/or welch on the promises you’ve made to the bedroom ceiling at 4am in the morning.

At Linford Grey, we find that putting it out there keeps us all accountable and that as business leaders we are subsequently encouraged to believe in ourselves and motivate others to achieve.

2. Take a break

Take the team or key personnel out for brunch in January, advance your strategic conversations and mix it up with some real talk in a new setting. This provides everyone with some downtime, an opportunity to feel valued, it breaks up the monotony of the day and let’s face it who doesn’t like eggs, crispy bacon and American pancakes? You may find that in a different and more casual setting people are more willing to share ideas, be creative and enterprising.

 

3. Never stop running

There are very few people in the world that got rich quickly. Even those that we perceive did so will tell you of the years and years prior to their overnight success that they spent grafting like you are now. The problem with stopping completely for any period of time is that you immediately begin to seize up, your muscles ache, illness sets in and so does self-pity. Any runner will tell you the worst thing you can do mid-run is stop and any athlete will tell you, there is always more to give.

That isn’t to say you shouldn’t scale back and just tick over at times whilst you prepare for the next big event but never stop completely, doing so is a surefire way to fall behind and become disincentivised.

The best way to stay motivated and achieve is to keep moving forward.

If we can help you keep moving forward and help grow your business, please get in touch with us.

Linford Grey. Your intelligent friend. Your trusted advisor.