How much time do you devote each month to your own professional development? I’m serious. When was the last time you took a step back to look at your business as a whole and not just focusing on whatever task is in front of you? I want to share an activity that my business mentor ingrained in me very early in my career as a business owner – a monthly self-meeting. It’s been a pivotal part of my business success. Here’s how I do it:
Within a week of getting my company’s bank statements, I reconcile my accounts and run the following reports for the previous month: profit and loss, cash flow, and balance sheet. I also pull the list of all my income sources from the previous month. I’ll need these for my meeting.
For my self-meeting, I block out 2 hours and remove all distractions. This is my time to focus on me and my business. I start my meeting by writing down (by hand) the celebrations since my last self-meeting. These might be things like a successful end to a client’s case, reaching one of my financial goals, or being selected to speak at a conference. It’s always good to look back and see the progress I’ve made, especially since I’m the only person at Carter Law Firm. It’s easy to focus on what I could be doing to improve that I forget to give myself kudos when it’s earned.
I also look at my networking activities from the past month, what networking events I have coming up, what business ideas I’m toying with, what concerns I have, what opportunities might be on the horizon, and whatever else comes to mind. This is my time to look at my business and process how things are going and where I want to see them in the future. By the end of my self-meeting, I have a list of things I want to accomplish by my next self-meeting. At the subsequent meeting, I will review this list and acknowledge my successes and also look at where I came up short and what contributed to that happening. I also make a list of reflections and write out things that I’ve learned in the last month and what issues are currently important to me.
Then I shift my attention to the company’s financials. I look at where my work is coming from – which tells me what marketing techniques are being effective, what type of legal projects are bringing me the most revenue, and I review my expenses. I maintain two spreadsheets: one tracks how much money I’m making from each type of legal work I do and the other tracks my spending. These spreadsheets help me see month-to-month how money is coming and going from the company and by the end of the year it gives me a clear picture of the state of my business affairs.
Sometimes it’s hard to make my self-meeting a priority, particularly when I’m busy. However, it is enormously helpful in terms of my business development as well as understanding who I am and my priorities as a business owner.
Do you do a periodic self-meeting? What’s your process like?
