As we stride into 2023, countless business advice websites have published articles with titles such as 10 New Year’s Resolutions for Small Businesses Owners in 2023. Each of these articles lay out some interesting advice such as “learn to delegate”; “focus on quality, not quantity” and “create realistic organisational processes”. As helpful as these may be, are they really tackling your business’s core obstacles?

Resolutions

Resolution = “a firm decision to do or not to do something”

With such a strong, demanding word, our brains are compelled to achieve these desired outcomes. However, that is just what these resolutions are: outcomes. It’s a fantastic idea to envision and manifest the kind of business you want to be running. Nevertheless, how can that ideal be attainable unless we first execute some self-rumination, diagnosing the problems derailing us, to begin with? With such a mentality, we are left with “no room for failure. Yet, failure is inevitable.”

Personal Resolutions

In our personal lives, for example, Marla Tabaka writes that 80% of our new year’s resolutions fail due to ‘unrealistic goals’, as we consistently target the incorrect issue. For example, how many of us have resolved to be healthier for the new year by going to the gym more? And, how many of us have succeeded at this resolution? Most likely, even less than 20%. 

What if, instead, you took a step back and contemplated what it was that held you back from being such a fitness fanatic in the past year? Could it be poor mental health, a lack of time or maybe a lack of confidence? Through this self-reflection, we can target the genuine obstacles curbing our success and avoid the chagrin of failing to achieve our resolutions. We might realise, for example, that going with a friend to an organised class once per week may be the way forward. 

So, how can we approach business self-reflection differently?

There are a host of different ways to self-reflect. For example, several businesspeople, Melinda Gates included, pick a word of the year to turn to when encountering difficulty, rather than choosing a definitive resolution. 

Here at Make Happy, we employ Creative-Problem Solving (CPS) in the formation of new business goals to facilitate assessing and addressing the true problems. We would approach the gym resolution differently:

  • Don’t move straight to action – i.e. booking a gym class for every day of the week.
  • Pinpoint the real problem, perhaps that we aren’t confident enough to go by ourselves.

By looking at the problem through a different lens, we actually make our goals more achievable. Through deliberate reflection and problem-solving, you begin to define and solve your 2023 goals both professional and personal.

If you are looking to change your business in 2023, contact us about our CPS workshops.