Gains and the Flywheel

As hard as it is to believe, we are nearly a quarter of the way through 2022. How are you doing on your personal and professional goals?

If you are like me:

Some good.

Some not so.

Some great.

Some ups. Some downs.

Some hits out of the park (Hell yes!)

What if you could use your results - both the positive and negative - to create the flywheel for your life and business?

"You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.

This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."

Steve Jobs, Stanford University Commencement Speech

You have everything you need to become even more successful from both your misses and wins. Learning from that -- mine for data in it -- to fuel your flywheel.

Use it to create more of what you want.

Most people, especially highly ambitious people, are unhappy because of how they measure their progress. We all have an ideal, a moving target that is always out of reach.

In Dan Sullivan’s book, ‘The Gap and The Gain’, he writes about when we measure ourselves against that ideal, we're in "the gap". When we measure ourselves against our previous selves, we're in "the gain". Dan goes deep on the process of measuring your current self vs. your former self to feel good about what you created, grateful and seeing your progress even when things feel tough.

Looking back to look forward is proven to boost motivation and confidence.

Recently, a client wanted to discuss where she should focus her business. She asked, what does success look like moving forward?

She ran through a litany of possibilities. She was deep in the 'gap'. Measuring herself and her business against some ideal and social media perfection.

We took a U-turn together.

While she knew her business had grown, it was not until she audited the components of growth that she saw her ability to powerfully lead herself and her business.

Here's what she discovered: Changing her pricing model meant she was now working less hours and making more money. This change empowered her to start showing up more confidently, which resulted in her clients expanding her remit with work she is most passionate about. Two new additional product offerings were also created. Oh yeah, she was also able to take off a month.

The insights allowed her to see a future fueled with what's working, what energizes her and how leading herself will lead her to the success she wants.

Get into the 'Gain'.

Go through your calendar - every day of Q1 — and see where you showed up big time, and where you did stuff you might not have imagined last year at this time. Where did you move the needle? What opportunities did you create?

From that mining exercise, what do you want to do more of as you move forward in 2022?

In the rush of your everyday you may not feel like you have time for this, but I promise you it’s a winner.