Choose a Focus for the Next Quarter

Choose a focus for the last quarter.

Usually, this is where I’d tell you to set goals. Set big goals. Grow your business. Make more money. Do all the things that make sense for you. I’m going to a different approach today because we’re in a different time right now.

I want you to choose a focus for the last quarter of the year. It can be business or personal. It honestly doesn’t matter.

What do you want to focus on the most? What’s most important to you right now? Choose a word that resonates with you and write it out on your desk. Keep it by your side. Do you think about it and what you’re doing.

Do you want to focus on growing your business?

Is this the time for you to focus on creating memories with your children?

Are you ready to take on new clients and serve more people?

What is it that you want to do for the next few months? What does your heart say? Does your head agree?

Throughout 2020, I’ve had multiple focus areas. Q1 was all about the business. I was getting back into the swing of things. I joined a mastermind group; I was moving forward; 2020 would be a BIG year for me. I had launches planned and all sorts of projects brewing.

And then, March 6th, my son’s preschool closed for Spring Break and never went back. My focus for March was survival mode. None of us truly knew what was to come. We were all trying to adjust to a life that felt like it shifted upside down overnight because, honestly, it did. My friend and I took our boys to Great Wolf Lodge for Spring Break. We spent three days there having fun, relaxing, playing, and just loving life. We got home on Wednesday night, and the next day our family went grocery shopping and prepared to be at home for weeks per Dr. Fauchi’s recommendation. In 24 hours, we went from Spring Break at Great Wolf to planning on staying home for weeks. By Saturday, our preschool decided they wouldn’t reopen on Monday morning. Preschool didn’t reopen until August.

March-August, my focus was 100% on my family. My son was four years old when the quarantine began. My husband’s company is considered essential, so he’s worked outside of the home for most of the last eight months. My son and I worked out a deal, and he watched a movie each afternoon while I worked for 90 minutes. Yeah, I ran my business on 90 minutes of work during the workday (plus some early mornings, nights, and weekends, as needed to catch up).

Once my little guy started back to school, I shifted focus back to work and building the business. Then, this exhausted mama took some time off work to figure out what her focus would be because I don’t know about you, but when my brain is overwhelmed, I don’t know what to focus on. I took a few weeks last month, and I didn’t work. I still had a lot going on, but I didn’t create content in September. I prepped all of my September emails in late August and signed off. And I focused on me. I started walking again in the mornings. I started watching some training that I couldn’t keep up with during the early days of the pandemic. I met a friend for iced tea. I worked on the house and got things pulled back together a bit. And then, I sat down and decided it was time to figure out what I was going to focus on for the rest of the year, and I made some decisions and got back to work.

And I want to challenge you to do the same thing. I know this year has been challenging for many of us. I know you may be far from where you thought you’d be right now. I know it may be frustrating or disheartening but don’t give up. Take a little while, think about the goals you initially set for yourself for this year, and decide if they’re still realistic and achievable. It’s OK if you can’t make them in the original timeframe you wanted; that doesn’t make them (or you) wrong.

What are you going to focus on for the next two months? What’s going to help you prepare for 2021 to be an excellent year for you personally and professionally? You can figure this out. Let me know what your focus is for the last few months of 2020. Mine is on providing value in everything I do right now. I want to grow my business, but more than anything, I want to add value to your life in everything I do for work.