Planners are professionally engaged in looking ahead but there is a lot of value in looking back and reflecting on experience. Good strategic planning begins with an evaluation of progress on prior goals. I also believe in the benefits of considering improvements that may not have been explicit goals or even in what came up unexpectedly.
In the spirit of Peter Drucker’s observation that what gets measured improves, you may decide that one of these becomes a goal for the coming year. You may just want to appreciate the benefit an accomplishment brought to your business or your life, even if you do not plan to repeat or build on it.
Here is a disorganized list of things that may inspire you to remember a positive event of the past 12 months.
- Developed a better way to describe what you do
- Increased average billings (not assets) per client
- Found a new way to solve a client problem
- Received better qualified referrals
- Delegated or outsourced more
- Got public recognition for an expertise
- Had fewer goals
- Referred more clients to other professionals
- Acquired a new planning skill
- Took more time off
- Delivered more financial plans
- Spent more time thinking strategically
- Implemented a new service
- Asked better questions
- Let staff make more decisions
- Stopped doing something you had done for a long time
- Mentored another advisor
- Changed something because of client feedback
- Standardized something
- Helped clients outside your target find another advisor
What do you think are your biggest accomplishments this year?
This post by Stephen Wershing first appeared on The Client Driven Practice.
