How to Win the Second Half of 2021 This is the half-time game plan for entrepreneurs.
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It's hard to believe that it's 2021. But yes, we've made it halfway through 2021. In a recent meeting with my clients, we worked on strategies to make sure we meet the goals that we set out in the first quarter of the year into the third and fourth quarters.
What's more, the business landscape is constantly evolving as competitors innovate and forces outside of our control never stop changing.
Now is the time to change the strategy, and make the second half of 2021 the time to breakthrough.
In order to win, you need to focus on the long game. You need to have strategies at halftime that will keep you going. The strategy doesn't have to be perfect. If it fails, you adopt, adjust and execute another one. But if you don't have a plan of action, you will not achieve your goals.
Here are three strategies to keep in mind as you create a plan of action.
1. Don't worry about the score.
The score is feedback; it's telling you what you're doing right and wrong based on your execution skills. If you like the score, double down on what's working. But if it isn't, look at how you can change the score. Change your approach, and don't be afraid to take chances.
One trap I see entrepreneurs fall into is that they focus too much on the micro-wins or micro-fails instead of playing the long game. The score is a reflection of where you've been, not necessarily where you're going. You have the power to change the game plan and change the score.
Related: Your Odds of Succeeding Improve When You Create a Success Plan
2. Disrupt and stabilize at the same time.
You have to be ahead of the game by asking yourself how you can disrupt your business deliberately. This way, you are constantly innovating. If necessity is the mother of invention, you are giving yourself that necessity, rather than waiting for life to catch you off-guard and react.
Once you innovate, you have to stabilize. The challenge that I see with a lot of entrepreneurs is that they constantly innovate, but then they don't stabilize their game plan to follow through.
When you get comfortable with what you're doing, you stop growing. To truly excel, it's not enough just to be comfortable being uncomfortable. You must actively seek out situations that make you uncomfortable, so you will always be growing.
Related: Storytelling vs. Uncertainty: How 'Scenario Planning' Will Help You Decide in the Future
3. Recommit to your vision
Anybody can have a dream, but not everyone can have a vision. A vision is something that you can see and feel before it happens. A vision is something worth fighting for. Now is a good time to ask yourself if you're committed to a vision, or if your vision has changed. Don't be afraid to reset your vision — as you grow, so do your aspirations and desires.
Share your vision with others. The more people you share your vision with, the more they can hold you accountable. That accountability is leverage. The more leverage you have, the more you will act upon your vision.
These are three questions you can ask yourself as you create the strategy for the second half of the year:
- Who will suffer if I don't do this? We do more for others than we will do for ourselves. If it's only about you, you are vulnerable to procrastination.
- Who do I need to become to make this happen? Every level requires a different version of you. When you are clear about who you need to become, you can reverse-engineer the action plan.
- Will this make a difference 10 years from now? Most people overestimate what they can do in a year, and they underestimate what they can do in a decade. Keeping your vision in your long-term plan will create a pull that will allow you to overcome micro-failures.
Remember the game is not over yet. Now is the time to create a half time strategy to finish the year strong. The difference between those who win the game and those who are wishing and hoping for their dreams to come true is consistent, intentional action.
Related: Traditional Career Planning Is Dead. Here's the New Path to Financial Security.
