085. How to Course Correct and Still Achieve Your Goal for the Year

Welcome. I am marketing expert and business coach Melissa Kellogg Lueck. And this is the Doing Business Like a Woman podcast where we are exploring and teaching you how women are reinventing the way business is done and money is made to help you create greater impact and financial freedom one business at a time. Well, hello. Hello my friends. Happy Friday. How's things? I'm really excited to chat with you today, all about being the last day of the quarter, the last day of the month of June, the last day of the first half of 2023, and just want to encourage you as I am just be checking in with what's going on in your business, what's going on in your mind, and thinking about how we want to set ourselves up for success in the second half of the year, the coming month, the coming quarter. And so I wanted to just walk you through what that might look like and what I am going to be doing for my own business or what I am in the process of doing as far as setting myself up and what I've been learning, what I've been thinking about and helping you to really go to that next level in your own business. So the first thing I want to talk about is evaluating. And this has been the biggest game changer for me in my own business and my own life even. This is a process you can use in any part of life or business. My hair is curly today because it's kind of damp out. It's kind of funny. And evaluating really helps you to take all of the learning that you've had up to this point and then catapult your self, your business from there. When we're not evaluating, we're missing out on all of those lessons. And so I want to just walk you through the process that I use to do that and really want to encourage you to take time. I'm taking time. I have today, this morning already. And I will over the course of the weekend and really just sit down and evaluate all of the parts of my business that I am keeping track of, that I'm tracking, that I want to see growing and that I want to see improvement in. And so I'm going all the way back to what my goals were for the beginning of the year and just kind of looking back and seeing where I'm at on my way to those and what's going on there. So evaluating. So the process is. And what I have started out doing already today is just like I just started journaling, like what are my overall thoughts about the year of 2023 in regards to my business myself so far. And so I just kind of did a brain dump of all of those thoughts, and they were not very organized, But I really started to see, like, some of the patterns, because our brains are innately looking for patterns. And so I always find it interesting to just allow those patterns to come out and see what kind of wisdom comes out. And so I encourage you to just think about maybe taking some time and doing that. But that is not really the. The, like, the formal evaluation process. But I thought, oh, that was really interesting. So some really interesting things came out for me in what I noticed about my thoughts about this year and some ideas that I have going forward. So that was really helpful. But then what I suggest and what I will be doing is a formal evaluation of. I always do one of the month. So I'm going to evaluate June. I'm also going to evaluate Q2, since this is the end of Q2. And then I do want to look at the first half of the year and see kind of what the trends are in my business and what's happening. Because one of my students that I worked with last year, she has this fascinating business where she helps businesses look at their data and what their businesses are trying to tell them. And I just love this concept that our businesses and the data is always trying to tell us a story, right? Like it's trying to tell us something. And so we look at the data points, and then we draw conclusions from those. And sometimes those conclusions serve us, sometimes they don't, right? As far as our thinking. But I like knowing what my thoughts are about my business and then also looking at the data, right? Because generally our brains are more doom and gloom than the actual truth is. And I told, I think, every single one of my clients this, but we all fall into this trap. And I do myself, if I were to say to you right now, what do you know? How's your business doing this year? Nine times out of ten, people are like, oh, I'm not making as much as I wanted to. I don't have as many clients as I want to have, like, all of that. But then when I say, okay, well, let's go look at the data, the data actually shows growth. And so. So our brains are always underestimating our progress. I think a lot of times. And when we actually look at the data, we're like, oh, dang, I made a lot more money than I thought I did at this point. Right. So I really encourage you to make sure you're looking at your numbers and that's something I can help you with. Please reach out to me if you would like help in figuring out how to look at your numbers or I have a really simple tool that I give all of my clients around tracking their revenue and forecasting. So I'm always willing to share that. So just reach out to me. Okay, so then as far as our formal evaluation process, what I want you to do is start out by answering the question. It's a three question. I gotta. It's a three question evaluation process. And so question number one is what is working and where did I see my growth? And so I want you to just make a list and you always go in the specific order so that it really opens up your mind to learning and to growth rather than, than going to that doom and gloom part. We'll get to the doom and gloom part, but let's just go first with what worked this quarter, this month, this year, so far. Where did you see all of your growth? Like revenue, you know, how many clients did your email list grow? Like, all the numbers you might be tracking. And then like, so those are kind of the situational facts. Also I want you to list, like what thoughts are working, what kind of thinking is working for you, what kind of energy you've been in that's working for you, where you maybe have seen your mindset grow and where you've seen improvement there. Like all the, all the good stuff, all the things we want to celebrate. Just create a brag list on yourself, on your business and then, and this doesn't have to take hours and hours or days and days. You can actually do this in 10 or 15 minutes. Normally when I sit down to do this, I just constrain myself and I'm like, okay, 10 or 15 minutes, let's go. So 10 or 15 minutes, you know, where's that growth? Okay, and then question number two is what didn't work and where are my opportunities for growth? Like, where would I like to see more growth, right? So all, you know, if you go back and look at your goals, like think about, you know, what, what didn't work, like for me, it's like one of my goals. I have certain email list growth that I want to be achieving, right? And so that would be one of the things that didn't work for me, that the, some of the strategies I tried to grow my list didn't work as well as I wanted them to. You know, so there's definitely opportunities for improvement there. There's definitely lots of opportunities I see improving in my mindset some of that stuff, right? And so just kind of the, all the, the factual things where what are not working, maybe launch that didn't work as well or promotions or whatever, and where you'd like to see improvement, where your opportunities are for improvement. And then finally the third question is, what do I want to be doing differently, thinking differently, the different energy I want to be in for this next month, quarter year or half of year, right? And what are my greatest lessons? So what am I learning and what am I going to change, right. Going forward and just taking that time, once you get to this third step, this is where all of that inner wisdom, all of this noticing of trends and things happening all comes together and it's just so beautiful. And then what I also would ask is, and I'm just looking back at my notes here because I have, I've been making notes all week that I want to talk to you guys about and so share with you what I'm learning. But one of the things is like, okay, say that. So one of the questions is, okay, so I want more business, I want more clients, right? I didn't, didn't meet my goal there. So ask yourself, why don't I have more clients, right? And list all the ways, all the reasons that come up for you and then you can solve for those. And what I really want to encourage in this evaluation process is, is I encourage you to look at it more with your scientist hat on and not like judgmental, critical, mean girl hat, right? Because this isn't about judging or criticizing yourself or your business or your clients or the market, the economy. It's nothing about that. What it is, is about. Let's just look at where we're at right now in our business and assess with our scientists hat on. So this for last month or this last quarter, the first half of this year is all been a science experiment, right? And so now we're going to look and analyze the results of our experiment. And if we got the results that we wanted, that we planned for, that is awesome. Let's celebrate that and let's re reverse engineer it. Like really look into all the learning. How did this all work so that you can go out and create it again? Because any result that we're creating is not a fluke, right? I always think it's funny when clients will say like. Or people that I talk to will say, well, I don't know how, you know, this work business just keeps coming to me or people keep referring me and I don't understand why. And it's very simple. It's like you created such a great client experience or result or whatever that people can't wait to tell other people you create those results. And so even in your greatest successes, I want you to evaluate those and learn as much as you can from them about how you created that result. What was your part in that? Right. And so that is the magic of this process is that, yeah, the economy might be changing. Yeah. The demand for your product or service might be ebbing and flowing. Those are all circumstances that are out of our control. But we still have agency within ourselves and within our business, within our sphere. And so evaluating going through this process will really help you to see that. And then once you see that, then you have all the power, right, to go out and create new results, different results, better results, whatever you want to create next. Okay. And so if you want to go through this process with me, I would be happy to walk you through it. It's something that I absolutely love and you know, walk through it with you in specifically regarding your business. So just message me, reach out to me. I'm always happy to help you with this. And then once we're thinking about moving on to next month, this third quarter, second half of the year, there's some things I've been thinking about in my own business and how I've been thinking about growing my business that have really helped. And I started reading this book this week called 10x is easier than 2x and by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy. And it's been a really interesting book. So that's a recommendation from me to you. Go check out that book. I probably should have the link and put that in there. Also, I want to just link to. If you want to connect with me and have me help help you walk through this evaluation process, I'm going to put a link to my calendar right here in the comments. So you're always welcome to schedule a call with me that way. So this book and other studying and coaching that I have been a part of has been so interesting and just really thinking about the entrepreneurial creativity. So as we're thinking about what do we want to be creating in the coming months, quarters years, really considering how can I get creative in my business? So rather than I think something just in full disclosure about myself and my own thinking is that I've gotten caught up in this whole thinking around the economy, right? Like oh, the economy is not as good and oh, businesses aren't spending money or whatever. None of it is true. And even if it Is true. I'm still in business, right? And so as an entrepreneur, as the CEO, as the person in my company that's responsible for bringing in the money and bringing in the clients, I need to use my creativity and figure out a way to operate and to make money in any and every climate, right? And so that for me, because I know that there is is demand. And so I encourage you to build a case for yourself like this too. Like build a case for yourself that, you know, there's demand in the marketplace for what you are offering. And if you can believe that there's demand, like any demand at all. Because most of us aren't looking for like millions and millions of people demand. We're just looking for a couple dozen, right? Or a hundred. So, you know, is there, are there a hundred people on this planet that you could help? And for me it's like, yes, of course there are. Like, there's so many people that I can help, right? And so what are all the reasons that, you know, I am not working with them or they're not working with me? And come up with your top three ideas and use that entrepreneurial creativity and try those things, right? Solve for those obstacles of why they're not coming to you, why maybe they don't know about you or whatever. And so this idea of entrepreneurial creativity has been such a real game changer for me of just like setting my mind free and just say, what if I throw all the rules out the window and I could just dream up anything in order to help more people and serve more people, what would I do and what something I want to try. And so I've come up with some ideas personally that I'm really excited to try. And so I encourage you to do the same thing if you want. You have more capacity in your business and want to be bringing in more clients, just open up your mind to that creativity, entrepreneurial creativity. Because that really is what sets people apart. So it's number one, it's like believing that there's that demand and that you are in demand and then thinking of all the creative ways to reach your people. And this is something I absolutely love doing with my clients. So if I can help you with coming up with new ideas, creating content of different ways to reach your people and communicate to your people, I am happy to do that. Reach out to me so that creativity. And then so this book, 10x is easier than 2x. Really the idea behind this book is that like the 8020 rule. So it's like 20% of the work that we do creates 80% of the revenue. And so if we want to be growing and making exponential leaps in our business, we focus on the 20%. That is like our zone of genius. And then we either delegate or eliminate or automate the rest of it. And then that allows us to go to use 100% of our time on that 20% that is working really well and creating all that revenue, right? So then when we put our attention on that 20%, it's just going to expand, and that's how we can make those huge leaps in our business. I mean, that's simplifying it extremely. So I encourage you to read the book because it's really good. So think about that for this next month, this next quarter, like, what's the 20% of your business that's working really, really well? And how can you spend more time there? Right. How can you put more attention there, whether it's a specific type of client, a specific type of your service offering? So just consider that. And if you want to talk through it, reach out to me. I'm happy to do that. I was learned about this different her when we give up on our businesses, it's so interesting. I don't know why I'm stumbling on this. Okay? Basically, there's a lot of different ways that we fail ourselves in our business, right? And so this was such great awareness that I have around what's happening or, you know, what can continually be happening with myself, my business people. I talk to my clients and just kind of having awareness around this. I wanted to bring this up. So one way to fail is not doing anything, right? It's basically saying, well, I want to do this, I want to do that, thinking about it, and then just never taking action, right? So you're failing ahead of time by not doing anything. Another way to fail is to let your doubt win and creating evidence to prove that your doubt is true. So I see this a lot right now with people and even with myself, like, thinking, oh, well, the economy is changing and the con, things are weird, the market is weird, and that, you know, I doubt. So the subtext is, I doubt people are going to hire me or I doubt people are going to spend money on my service, right? And so then when you have that thought, then that is basically setting your mind on the job of looking for all the evidence of how that doubt is true, right? So your mind, your reticular activating system, which is the part of your mind that goes and proves what you believe is true, is going to Go out and see, find all the truth for that. So it's going to find all the evidence that nobody's buying is true. Right. And that can be a very difficult and self defeating place to be if you're trying to build a business and your business is based on people buying. Right. So even if the economy is changing, we could say, yes, the economy is changing. That's a hundred percent fact. And we know that's a fact because you can go back and look at all the different economic markers and things always change. Right? Right. And so if things are changing, even if that's a fact, I still get to decide what I want to do about that. Right. I get to decide what my actions are from there. So just think about how, even if it's a fact, what am I going to do about it? I can't change it, but I can change the way I approach my business, the way I approach my marketing, the way I'm creative, know those sorts of things. Another way that we fail is by taking weak action and getting weak results. We kind of do this half hearted action, I've been guilty of this myself. We take this half hearted action and we're like, well, it's probably not going to work anyway, so I'll just kind of try it and I'll just prove to myself it's not going to work. And, and so that feeds back into that evidence, that doubt and that finding evidence that it's not going to work. Right. And I bring this up just for that awareness. Because when we are unaware that our thoughts are dictating how things, the results that we're getting because they affect our actions, when we're unaware of that, then we think it's just the truth that, you know, the doubt becomes true, becomes our truth. And if we're entrepreneurs and we want to be in business and we want to make money, we have to have this awareness and be willing to alter our thinking and be thinking in different ways that serve us and serve our growth and serve the growth of our business and our company and our revenue. Right. And then finally the, the most dangerous fail according to this teacher that I follow is that the fail of bringing everything to the field of play, right. And getting weak results and never trying again or quitting. So a lot of the times when we have an attempt, we're going to fail. That is just part of life, right? You're not going to bat a hundred, you're going to bat maybe 50%. And I'm using a sports analogy and I don't really know how to do batting averages. So sorry for you baseball fans, but. But. Right, you're going to swing the bat and you're only going to hit the ball half the time. And so. But you're going to swing with all you've got. You're not going to just swing once and then quit. I was talking to a friend yesterday. I was playing golf. It's like golf, if you're a golfer, you know that you go out and you play that game and you hit the ball, have a great hit, like one out of ten times. At least. That's for me. I'm a terrible golfer. So one out of ten times you're gonna have a great chat. But that doesn't mean I take one swing and I don't hit the ball and I pack up all my shit and go home. No, I keep swinging until I hit it. Right? So that can be the most insidious fail, is to give all of your energy to launching the thing or promoting or marketing, coming up with the ideas like giving everything to it, and it doesn't work that first time you try it and then quitting. And so this is where we go back to that belief in what you're offering and believing that it is valuable that. That you can help people. You have to go back to that belief so that you keep trying. You have to go back to that. Why? So that you will keep trying. Right. Because the more you fail, the more you will also succeed. The more swings you take, you know, out at the driving range, the more likely you are to have a great hit. And the same in our business. So I know I've gone kind of a little long today, but I thought this would be really helpful for all of you as we're thinking about wrapping up this quarter, this month, this first half of the year, and launching into the second half of the year. I just want to encourage you to keep going. Don't give up. There's always plenty more things for us to try. Let's look at the specific parts of your business that aren't working. Like, let's try to stay out of all or nothing thinking like, it's all working or it's all not working. It's somewhere in the middle. There's always going to be things that are working. There's always going to be things that are not working. And we can solve for the things that are not working. And little by little, we're going to get there right? And we're going to create that result that we want. We're going to get to those goals, but we'll only get there with our creativity, with our belief, with our not giving up, not quitting. And we know that having that belief is just as important as all the massive action that we're going to take as well. And when we have both of those together, we create magic. And so that's really what I love working with you, with my clients on. So if I can work closer with you, more specifically with you, I would love that. Please reach out to me. You can always message me on social media, my website, melissamkellog.com, you can schedule an appointment with me. And I would love to help you to be as successful and joyful in your business as possible. And I want to wish you a very happy rest of your Friday and I will see you next time. Take care you guys. Bye. If you like this podcast then you have got to sign up for my free on demand video training Grow youw Sales Doing what yout Love Where I teach you in depth my simple process that you can implement right away to harness your mindset and your skills to grow your sales to whatever level you want. So go grab that now. The link is in the show notes and I'll see you next time. Sa.