A Whole New Year

In previous articles I discussed the concept of moving forward to keep the business going, but taking time to reflect in order to grow the business.

This statement is also true on a personal level, and a leadership level.

Simply moving forward allows you to just keep going — because you aren’t really taking the time to think about what happened, when or why it happened, or at least having some understanding of what worked or didn’t.

When we take time to reflect, on the other hand, we examine what exactly happened, who did it, why we think they did it, what do we think we did right or wrong, and how we could improve on what was done.

From information gleaned in reflection, many people are able to set specific goals. As the new year starts, I encourage you to think about how you might grow as a result of reflecting. I know it’s not easy to taking the time to reflect, especially when it comes to the personal level, occasionally reflecting on what happened as well as the experiences I might have had. But I do believe that with time, you’ll open up to what you could learn so you could grow.

For the last few weeks, I’ve been discussing supporting the support systems that support entrepreneurs and economic development groups. If you are in that space, I encourage you to reflect on what has worked what hasn’t. Ask yourself, What can we learn from the programs and activities we’ve done, what can we modify to make it better, and before we change anything, for the sake of change - what can we do with what we already have to move things forward?

BEFORE YOU GO

We see our blogs as opportunities for dialogue. Please share your thoughts as comments.

1. What tools or method do you use to reflect on the past weeks, months, or year?
2. What tools do you use to plan goals and partnerships?
3. What insights can you share with others?

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Faris Alami is Founder and CEO of International Strategic Management, Inc. (ISM). He works internationally, presenting Exploring Entrepreneurship Workshops and other entrepreneurial ecosystem — related ventures.