Motivational Tips To Finish The Year Strong
It’s that time of year where every small business owner and self-employed individuals are looking for a final motivational push to finish the year strong. Finishing the year strong is important for entrepreneurs so that they have real closure and look forward to the next year. It can really put their minds at ease knowing that they ended the year with their full strength and effort. The new year is a time to reset and focus on new goals for your small businesses and entrepreneurial journeys to evolve, so moving into it with optimism about the future is the best way to get the new year started. By following the motivational tips below, you will easily be able to finish the year on a high note.
Start Each Day on a Positive Note
Starting each day on a positive note, begins with focus and intention, which is the best way to set yourself up for success. Spend a little time in gratitude that you have your own company or are an entrepreneur and are gifted with full control to pursue opportunities each new day brings. Starting your day with a positive mindset consists of a morning schedule that makes you happy, an optimistic approach to the day, and having confidence that goals will be achieved. Starting a day with this kind of positive energy is crucial to eagerly tackle new challenges and unleash creativity and productivity.
“Either you run the day, or the day runs you.”
Jim Rohn
Complete the Hardest Task of the Day First
Following the morning schedule that gets you off to a positive start — which is different for everyone, but can include gratitude, a nutritious breakfast, a hot latte, and a morning jog — it is time to check the hardest thing off your daily to-do list first. It is not only important to have a list of tasks to complete or milestones to move toward each day, but to prioritize them correctly in order to accomplish more. Completing your most difficult task of the day first, also known as eating the frog, is a productivity method that sets you up for success early in the day. The technique eliminates spending a day in dread of the challenging task. Once it is complete, you get an adrenaline boost from your accomplishment, which keeps you motivated the rest of the day.
“If it’s your job to eat the frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it is your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.”
Mark Twain
Maximize Your Efforts in the Final Stretch with Short-Term Goals
There is no better time than the final quarter of the year to set short-term goals to maximize your efforts and ensure a strong finish. You can set short-term goals that help you achieve the long-term goals you set earlier in the year or come up with new short-term goals that will benefit you as you move into the new year. Short-term goals are beneficial in how they are easy to start, give you quick feedback, define deadlines, prioritize tasks, and show you what you can accomplish in a short time. Quarterly projects are less overwhelming when they are broken down into easy manageable tasks that can be completed each week or month. In addition, you can see what new strategies work best by making short-term strategic goals and evaluating the results to see which ones to move forward with.
“There’s no shortage of remarkable ideas, what’s missing is the will to execute them.”
Seth Godin
Spend Time Reflecting on the Year
Spending time reflecting on what you have learned, what you have accomplished, and what still needs to be completed this year is necessary to finish it strong. You might have learned that some business strategies lead to better results than others, that your business priorities have completely changed, or that some projects need extra time and resources to be completed by the end of the year. It is also important to reflect on our strengths and weaknesses, the hard lessons that we have learned along the way, and how our time was used the most efficiently when drawing up the final quarterly goals of the year. Reflecting on the company’s performance toward the end of the year allows you to work toward new areas of opportunity and take advantage of the time you have left in the fourth quarter to accomplish your yearly goals.
“Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
Winston Churchill
Start Pivoting Now!
You don’t have to wait until the new year to start pivoting the company in a new direction. After reflecting on the past quarters of the year, we often times see that some of our goals and strategies need to be changed. You might have discovered a new opportunity to pursue, a more efficient way of doing things, or your priorities for the company have completely changed, so you need to reevaluate what needs to be done in the final quarter. Sometimes pivoting requires us to face mistakes and bad decisions that we made in the past and then make adjustments based on what we learned. It takes a lot of courage to change the course of your company at the end of the year, but facing your fears and new challenges are necessary to achieve success and new growth.
“Every problem is a gift — without problems we would not grow.”
Tony Robbins
Look Ahead to the Future with Optimism
Finishing strong helps you start the new year strong, so look ahead to the future with optimism. Having a clear picture on how you want the next year to go will serve as motivation to finish strong. Maybe next year you are rolling out new brand colors, looking to grow your social media presence, or are taking on new clients. There is so much to look forward to each year and finishing strong is going to lead to a more pleasant future with new ideas, goals, and adventure. This final push matters, and we wish you the best of luck to finish strong!
“Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.”
Richard Branson
NASE Member Spotlight for October 2023
Bill Quinn is the CEO/Managing Coach of E. Quinn Consulting, LLC and The Quinn Quantum Academy, a 14-year small business coaching consultancy. Providing his business clients with 40 plus years of business coaching and consulting guidance in operations, team development, funding strategies, and partnerships. Bill has advised and consulted for a commercial photographer, property manager, a sound & audio company, an oil & gas developer, a fund manager of a $150MM investment fund, a hemp cultivation, an extraction & sales company, several home remodelers, and property maintenance contractors. Bill has coached and advised a smartphone and gadget repair company, a Software Engineer, a Cybersecurity Training Institute, a Commercial Bakery & Pastry company, an AV Tech company, a manufacturer of biodegradable products, provides advice to my son’s Leadership Development consultancy, and numerous business partnerships. Bill has authored 6 books, eBooks and workbooks, coordinating, editing, exterior/interior design, and self-publishing.
When and why did you join NASE?
I joined NASE in May of 2021 for business related benefits, seeking opportunities for new clients and expanding my network.
What inspired you to enter the field you are in?
My son called me in early 2008, sharing with me his experience with a consultant who had a degree from Princeton University that was providing consulting services to the department he worked for at his university. He told me that after having worked with this consultant, he realized that I had far more experience than his college educated consultant and that I should start consulting. At that point, I had 27 years of small business management, big ticket sales and business finance structuring experience. In April 2008, I started my sole proprietorship and became a small business consultant.
How do you market your business?
I market my business with email marketing, websites, landing pages, self-published books, an eBook, course offerings and joint-venture partnerships. However, my most effective marketing is word of mouth when exceptional services and products lead to my clients referring me to others.
What challenges have you faced in your business?
My biggest challenge has been mindset, and the people I allow in my business. When I learned to say no more, things got easier.
Do you have any employees?
Currently it is just me, no other full time staff. However, I do work with joint-venture partners and subcontractors. I am hoping to grow my operations to be able to hire some junior and senior consultants to my team.
What’s your schedule like, what’s a typical day for you?
I usually start my day early around 6 or 6:30am with administrative tasks. I will typically meet with clients between 10 am to 5:30pm Monday thru Thursday while aiming to have no more than 4 meetings per day.
What’s the best thing about being self-employed?
The best thing about being self-employed is that I am only limited by what I think I can accomplish. I’m able to choose who I work with and the type of project I work on. I have gained some very amazing opportunities as an independent entrepreneur.
What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received from a client?
The best compliments are when I have repeat business from clients and partners. Luckily, I have been fortunate that this has happened many times throughout my career.
What’s the most important piece of advice you would give to someone starting their own business?
The most important piece of advice I would give to someone starting their own business is to maintain a positive relationship-oriented mindset, and never give up.
The House Speaker Role Remains Vacant
As of October 20, 2023, the House is still without a Speaker. Republicans are divided over Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, who has been rejected twice for the position, following the motion to vacate that removed Speaker McCarthy from office two weeks ago. The House GOP conference originally voted to support the nomination of Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA); however, he withdrew his name from consideration after falling short of securing the necessary 217 votes coming out of conference. Rep. Jordan is in a similar position, facing a wall of opposition from nearly 22 House Republicans who are adamant in their opposition. However, Jordan’s office has announced that he will call for a third vote on Friday, October 20.
The situation has caused chaos among Republicans, a proposal to empower Speaker Pro Tem McHenry (R-NC) was met with opposition by the House Freedom Caucus who argued that the plan flew in the face of the intent of the role of speaker pro tem.
Republicans find themselves in a challenging position, with no Speaker, they are unable to conduct the business of the House, including advancing legislation. This comes at an importune time as the House has 29 days to pass the FY24 appropriations funding for the federal government, addressing the rapidly declining stability of the Middle East, and advance additional emergency supplemental funding to Ukraine. Not to mention, the continuing challenges of the Southern Border that require immediate attention.
This all has serious implications for the self-employed, micro-business and small business community, as shared in a letter to lawmakers in September, calling on Congress to avoid a costly government shutdown, “The 2018 government shutdown delayed over $2 billion in federal loans to small businesses as the Small Business Administration was unable to make new loans. Delays such as these disrupt not only the day to day operations of small businesses, but they put budgets in limbo, resulting in business owners putting off necessary purchases or hiring additional staff. The impacts of government shutdowns are especially damaging for small businesses because they don’t have the same resources as large companies to absorb even short term losses. Most small businesses operate on tight, carefully planned budgets and even minor disruptions can threaten stability.”
NASE joined the 12 of the largest and most influential business organizations in calling for Congress to fund the government through FY 24. Read the letter here.
*As of October 19th, Rep Jim Jordan withdrew from the Speaker race due to eroding support after a 3rd vote*
**As of October 25th, Rep Mike Johnson from Louisiana was voted new House speaker.