Business Artist Digest Dec 8, 2023

As I’ve mentioned the last week or two, my new book, The Business Artist, releases next month. I’m excited to officially reveal the cover!

Writing The Business Artist has been a big project, as any book release is. It didn’t happen by accident. Just like any other large project, it’s taken much planning and effort.

Now that 2023 is almost finished and 2024 is just around the corner, it’s helpful to reflect on the past year and look ahead to the coming one. Take about half an hour sometime in the next couple of weeks to grab a journal and respond to these four vital questions.

1. What was my greatest success in 2023, and why did it happen?

When you stop to consider your greatest win from this past year, you can figure out why it went well and repeat those dynamics for next year’s big goal.

Did you have help from key people? Did you plan meticulously? Were you especially motivated? Were you operating in your biggest strength zone?

There were factors that led to your success. I encourage you to reverse-engineer it and see what you can apply to your big goal for next year.

2. What was my biggest disappointment in 2023, and what did I learn from it?

Nobody likes to dwell on failure, but it’s important to think about your biggest disappointment from this year. Why? Because that can be your greatest source of learning.

Besides, there really is no such thing as “failure.” Failure is a construct we have created in our minds to judge certain events as negative. In reality, there are no such things as “wins” or “losses.” There are only events we categorize that way.

Knowing this, you can look more objectively at whatever you perceive to be a big disappointment. This allows you to reframe it as a point of learning and a launching point for turning things around.

3. What is the single biggest goal I want to accomplish in 2024, and why is it important to me?

You probably have several big goals for next year, like most people do. But what is the one singular goal that will make everything else easier?

What if getting healthier could give you more energy and confidence, and therefore make everything else easier?

What if launching that key product could give you great publicity and momentum, and therefore make everything else easier?

What if paying off debt could relieve some financial stress, and therefore make everything easier?

Think about the one goal that will give you more of the things you really want.

4. Who can help me achieve my big goal for next year?

This might be an unexpected question because creative types are prone to working alone. Let’s be honest: sometimes we are reluctant to share our success with others.

If you sometimes feel that way, I challenge you to begin taking a more team-oriented approach in your creative work. If you look at the great creative accomplishments in history, very few of them were achieved by one solitary person.

Michelangelo had a team helping him paint the Sistine Chapel. Neil Armstrong had hundreds of thousands of NASA, contractor, and government employees who put him on the moon. Steve Jobs had Steve Wozniak, Jony Ive, and many other key players in the Apple story before he passed away.

You won’t accomplish your goals alone. You’ll go much further with others on your team.

It’s easy to make success more complicated than it needs to be. Spending just thirty minutes to reflect on these questions can help you distill 2023’s biggest lessons for you and grease the wheels for an amazing 2024 in your life business.

- Adam

From the Blog

The Tension Between Creativity and Conformity

Before starting?Meahana, I spent thirteen years building and deploying simulations with the goal of helping clients become better business people and sales leaders. I’ve modeled various situations with clients and their executive teams many times.

The basic question always comes down to this:?How do customers and employees feel about the value of creativity?

The weighting of this answer is determined by the company (market leader, niche player, or new entrant) as well as the market growth rate of the segment (mature slow growth, medium, or hyper-growth).

Not surprisingly, new entrants put a premium on creativity!

Why? Because customers demand creativity, and it helps fuel a company's early growth. As companies and market segments mature, the “value of creativity” erodes as the focus shifts to building processes and increasing scale.

Adam Recommends

This week I wanted to feature a book that’s been making the rounds in quite a few leadership and entrepreneurial circles lately:?10x Is Easier than 2x: How World-Class Entrepreneurs Achieve More by Doing Less?by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy.

All of us would love to get twice as better, twice as productive, twice as profitable, correct? Of course we would, but we might also shrink back from that idea since we assume it means working twice as hard.

In?10x is Easier Than 2x, Sullivan and Hardy show us why getting 10x results is far easier than shooting for twice what you’re currently getting. In order too make 10X possible, you must focus on expanding what they define as your four most important freedoms—time, money, relationship, and purpose.

Imagine what could happen in your life and business if 10x results were possible. This is a great book to read over the holidays to help you get set up for greater success in 2024!

Business Artist Spotlight

As we know, the best creative minds do more than give us great art. They also help us to reflect, think, and improve through their work.

Such was the case with legendary TV producer Norman Lear, who passed away earlier this week at the age of 101. He was responsible for creating such socially groundbreaking shows as?The Jeffersons,?Good Times,?Sanford and Son, and probably his most famous creation,?All in the Family.

Many episodes of?All in the Family?featured the irascible and conservative Archie Bunker (played by Carroll O’Connor) arguing with his liberal son-in-law, Michael (played by Rob Reiner). Although they had very different viewpoints on just about everything, they talked it out and grew to love each other.

Through his role as a producer, Norman Lear made the world a better place by showing us how to get along even when we come from very different backgrounds. Perhaps that’s a great goal for every artist and business leader. Your creative work can set the tone and show the way to a better future.