Happy new year!  I hope that you managed to have a break from the chaos that is fast growth businesses and start-ups!

I was lucky enough to spend 3 weeks in Australia after a long gap and I’m only just getting my business brain turned on again over the last few days now that I’ve recovered from jetlag.

I know for some of you it’s year end and January is out of control crazy busy.  I have a couple of clients who are in this situation – so I hear you!

Aside from the cold and grey here in London, I do like the start of a new year as I do feel like it’s a fresh start and time to reflect.  Aside from recognising what was achieved last year, I like the prospect of dreaming about new possibilities and how I want to upgrade my life in this new year.

I don’t particularly like to set those stereotypical New Year’s resolutions (“Get Healthy anyone?”), as I prefer to think of projects I would like to tackle that I have been mulling over for many months or years.  I also like to think of changes I would like to make in my career.  This is generally the time of year that I like to think about changing roles or going for promotions or completely flipping everything on its head!

I do find it difficult to get inspired while it’s the middle of the year and finding time to reflect and plan.  However, after a long break, it’s easier to start a fresh.

I usually start with getting a new journal (Clever Fox planner all the way), as I prefer to write things down, but of course this process can be done online if that is more you.

To get started, I like to spend time doing the following:

1. Write down all the things that I’m grateful for and things that I’m proud of achieving in the prior year.

I don’t know about you – but I find it quite easy to note all the areas of both my life and my career that I would like to improve on.  But I don’t often recognise what I have actually achieved and celebrate those achievements. 

A year is a long time, and spending 10 minutes thinking about it – you have no doubt achieved a lot.  It’s a good way to start the year and get in the right mindset.

2. I then think about where I want to be longer term (2-5 years) and what I could potentially do this year to get that one step closer to that longer term goal.

For example; if your goal is to be a CFO for a listed company in 3 years’ time, then what do you need to learn now and what role could you potentially apply for as a stepping stone to get to that longer term goal?

It’s great to dream and hope for the best with longer term goals.  However, they probably won’t be achieved if there is no action towards it.  Just a small step gets you that little bit closer to getting what you want.

3. Going back to that longer term goal, I think about what could block me from achieving this goal – work out strategies or how to mitigate these blockers so that I could reach that longer term goal.

For example, in order to get to that CFO role – do you have the right mindset?  Or do you suffer terribly from imposter syndrome and don’t know how to deal with it?

What could you do / learn now to improve your mindset? 

One of my projects for this year is to pivot slightly from reducing my CFO roles slightly and more training to support financial professionals in their leadership roles.  It’s something that I really enjoy doing and off the back of that, I have a long list of projects that I want to schedule in over the course of the year.

I don’t spend days going through this and of course it’s always a work in progress and things always change.  But I find spending some time working out what I really want helps prioritise and focus for the year.

Happy journaling and goal setting!

If you need support and mentoring to improve your Finance Leadership skills, here are four ways I can help...

1. Get your FREE Guide: Stepping into the role of Finance Director or CFO
2. Follow me and let me know what challenges you are having right now.
3. Register for the mini-course, Upgrade your Management Accounts and get noticed by the business 
4. Work with me in the new / aspiring FD course and includes Q&A sessions where we can discuss all of your questions and how to apply your learnings to your current role.