As we close the end of 2019 and begin not only a whole new year, but a brand new 2020 decade, the question is not what goals are you setting, but what growth do you want to experience and become. As a coach, I never look at the person’s goal as only the goal we are working towards because in order to get somewhere new, there must be growth and someone’s career or business is not separate from who they are as a leader or entrepreneur. The two are inseparable and in order for a business or career to grow there must be change; the person leading it must grow right along side it.
What growth or change do you want in 2020 in your business or career?
In order to become new or create something new, the best place to start is with clarity and focus on exactly what it is you want. When you know what you want, everything else can align once that decision is made and action follows it. Growth in our business or career can also mean evolution and this translates to an adaptation to what is necessary, progress, and where you want to develop it. Take a moment to answer the following questions for clarity of the growth you seek:
1. Describe in detail, what growth you want to experience in your business and career and why you want this or what it will give you?
2. Who do you need to become or how do you need to grow or evolve in order to bring this vision about?
3. Define the clarity you have around the growth you want and what is your number one focus area for this growth/change?
Becoming the Growth You Seek
As a leadership coach, I empower people to become the leader they want to be, but may be experiencing blocks to or just not evolved to yet. Becoming someone new, a new leader or the best version of yourself is no small feat. Take a brand new leader who has never been in leadership before, they now have to be a visionary, presenter, decision maker, people developer, results maker, and lead teams. What if you are an entrepreneur who is amazing at your craft, but now you are running your own business and have to become a marketer, money manager, networker, sales person, and customer service. This is why we need to focus your attention on the area of growth you seek and then align it with who you need to be.
Let’s say you are an entrepreneur who wants to take your business to a six figure profit for the first time ever. A business owner who only looks at what the business needs to do in order to grow is missing half the equation. A six figure business comes from a six figure leader; an entrepreneur who is thinking bigger, has a larger vision, and is strategizing with the mindset of six figures. However, what if this entrepreneur is stuck in survival or has hit a plateau and therefore has not become a six figure business owner yet?
The answer lies in this question, “How do we become something we are not yet?” We become it by being it as much as we can in the present with small or big steps as if we already are it. This is not a fake it till you make it approach, but rather a step into it and own it now as if, with the actions of the person you want to become would be, do, and have. Oh yes, this will be uncomfortable and not feel natural, but you know what they say, “Everything we want lies just outside our comfort zone.” Robert G Allen
To Experience Growth we need to Evolve and Expand
We are creatures of habit and most of us flock to routine and comfort while we resist change, yet if we truly want to experience growth in our career or business, we need to evolve and expand. In one of my coaching programs to elevating leaders and entrepreneurs, the two pivotal and transforming elements that are required to elevate to the next level that we explore are:
1. Evolve: Where do you need to evolve, change, grow?
2. Expand: Where do you need expansion in order to elevate to the next level?
The first question above looks at the gaps of where you are now to where you want to go or take your career and business. This gap is where evolution needs to happen. My favorite place to really challenge my clients is in the area of expansion and how we can expand them, their possibilities, opportunities, network, visibility, and impact. If you answered the first question above and provided clarity on where you want growth, then we can dive right into where you need to evolve and expand in your business or career.
Do you see the difference now between stating a goal which is outside of you and external verses stating the growth you want to experience and the ownership and responsibility of becoming, creating, and activating this growth? This is where the real change starts and of course where the magic happens!
2020 Business and Career Growth Goals for Leaders and Entrepreneurs
Okay, it’s now time for you to participate in your own career leadership and business growth goals as we embark into a new year and decade 2020! So where do you begin and how about a step by step guide to reach your growth goals? Alright, you asked for it, so here it is:
1. What is most important to you or What do you need most right now?
2. Make sure what you want is in alignment with your top life values.
3. Begin by visualizing with eyes closed the growth you want in your career or business and add in what it would feel like to experience it.
4. After you spend about 10 minutes or so on that, write it down in detail and expand on it when and where you can as you write it.
5. Now examine where you are and your vision. Then with your leadership lens, write down what is missing from here to there. ie. Any gaps
6. What do you need to do to close those gaps? skills, knowledge, experience
7. Who would you be in the Vision: how would you feel, act, lead?
8. Focus on who you need to be and be those now daily.
9. Growth happens in stages and over time, what are some key milestones?
10. Have progress updates, accountability, and agility check ins weekly
11. Celebrate along the way and acknowledge your effort and progress
There you have a starter guide to jump start you towards your leadership, career, and business growth goals for 2020. When we shift our thinking and approach away from the goal or only the outcome to the growth we want to experience, we are now focused on exactly what we need to do in the moment and who we need to be now to experience growth. This way we are actually living our goal day to day and experiencing it now not at some end point.
Intentional Living and Leading our Own Growth into 2020
Possibly the most important aspect to growing our careers, leadership, and business is taking the time to be intentional with where you are steering it. We get so busy, there are so many distractions, and demands dictate our priorities, but in order for our lives and careers to go where we want them to, we need to lead it with the intentions we want to live. If you want more time freedom, greater impact, more money or to advance into leadership, then reflect on that main intention and let it direct your decisions, thinking, actions, and being.
When I look back on the past decade for myself, it has been a decade of career, leadership, and personal growth. As we roll into a whole new decade and I set intentions, this decade will be to serve at a higher level, create a greater impact, and expand into the being that will lead people to their own greatness and best life.
Wishing you all a great celebration to close out 2019 and health, happiness, fulfillment, and prosperity in 2020.
If you would like more guidance or coaching for your leadership, career, or business goals, I would be happy to coach you and offer a complimentary call to get you started. Email Jody at [email protected]
