Last year’s look-ahead for 2012 was a 5-point manifesto. Reviewing progress against that list, I see that I did pretty well, with only #2 falling a little short – which is not a bad track record.
This year, I’m keeping it tight. I’m going with a 2-rule manifesto.
Rule #1: Be accountable
We’ve all got metrics to measure ourselves against. Revenue, connections, sales, errors, accomplishments – all of those are important. The trouble comes when you focus too much on one area, which usually means that other important metrics wind up taking a back seat.
If you focus exclusively on incoming revenue, you might miss some mistakes that will cost you at least some of that revenue. If you concentrate only on building more connections in the industry, you might lose some long-term relationships that are just starting to ripen.
For me, accountability this year will be tied to two metrics: raising the revenue gained from the speaking side of my business, and widening my marketing net beyond the mid-Atlantic region. Tracking both will be easy, and each will challenge me to focus very tightly on activities and outreach that will move my game-plan forward. Accountability – at least here at Mighty Casey Media – will be baked in to the spreadsheet I’ll use to track that game-plan.
What accountability will you bake in to your 2013 goals? How will you track your progress? Who will you report to? That last one is a challenge for me, since I’m a solo-preneur. Stay tuned, since one of my accountability check-boxes will be reporting progress here, on the Mighty Mouth Blog.
Rule #2: Laugh more, bark less
That’s a purposeful scrambling of the “wag more, bark less” bumper sticker I see … everywhere. My version of wagging is laughter. If I’m laughing, there’s less risk that I’ll be screaming. Given that one of my core purposes in life is working to effect positive change in the healthcare industry, I can wind up screaming pretty easily if I don’t keep myself in check.
Barking = screaming in my world. We’re all about avoiding the screaming wherever possible. That does not mean that I’ll dampen my ferocity. Hell to the no. What it does mean is that I’ll find ways to wrap the bitter medicine in a big lump of maple sugar. “Bitter medicine” is hard truth about how healthcare has to shift from paternalism and a gold-rush mentality; the lump of maple sugar (and my biggest challenge) is finding the humor that will make that medicine go down … without resorting to barking.
Those are my Simple Rules for 2013.
Happy New Year.
