You’re holding a fresh coffee, standing by the side of your car at a resting area along the Route du Soleil. ‘Cause after crunching a couple of hundred kilometers on your way to southern France, you felt like you could use a moment of rest, refuel, and reflection.
Evaluating your year may seem like a waste of precious time in the rush to the end of 2021. But actually, it’s comparable to that leg-stretching moment we ALL take when driving for hours in a row.
Looking back at the past year will
surprise you - ‘cause you hands down forgot what you made happen in January.
give you clarity - ‘cause right! That kind of client/job/workflow did not go smoothly because [reason y].
create peace of mind at the start of your next year - ‘cause you’ll have an overview, lessons learned and new resolutions in a nice list.
make your next year better - ‘cause all of the above.
K k, but how do I evaluate?
Depends a BIT on the kind of creative business you run. But mainly, it comes down to three aspects you’ll have to think over.
Take a calendar or tracking tool or wherever you bundle your work. First: be proud if you see the list of work you managed to achieve - no matter how small or long your list is. You did this!
Then you evaluate:
1/ Your work
What kind of jobs did you like/dislike and why?
Which clients did/did not respect you as a professional and why?
2/ Your business
How did your marketing go?
How did your sales go?
Did your operational processes go well? What could’ve flown smoother?
What‘s your annual revenue?
3/ Your personal happiness
Did you make enough time for yourself?
Did you do enough of what makes you happy?
What did inspire you this year?
Did you learn what you wanted to learn?
Now you have a list of facts.
And you see very clear: what went super well? What made you happy? And what did you miss? What do you never want to experience again? How can you re-budget your time & change your habit so you will be more efficient next year?
With this list in mind, you can compose
a list of things to plan in 2022 (plan them now, those lunch dates that make you happy of city trips that inspire you)
a list of actions: what will you handle differently (and how) to avoid the stuff that didn’t go well.
Ready?
You’re on the road again!