How sharp is your ax? Five tips for achieving optimum effectiveness

The turn of every new year always generates a plethora of goal setting activity.

This year, consider closing the gap between your actions and objectives. Become more effective at what you do. Abraham Lincoln is said to have uttered some practical words in this regard. If he had six hours to chop a tree down, he’d spend five hours sharpening his ax. For most of us, it’s time we spend sharpening our axes that produces the results we’re looking for when the chopping begins. Before you start chopping trees this year, spend time sharpening your ax.

Here are five ax-sharpening tips to help you achieve your goals this year:

1. Document your processes. Business owners remain so near to their business that sometimes it’s difficult to see what’s right in front of our noses. You can get around this by documenting your processes in writing. You’ll be surprised how new solutions and opportunities present themselves when they’re in front of you on paper.

2. Embrace technology. We’re the beneficiaries of technologies that have improved the speed, ease, and transparency of client-facing interactions. How have you embraced new technology to reach new prospects and better serve clients? Are you taking advantage of marketing tools that leverage your ideas almost immediately? Automated transcription services, for instance, can help you get a polished blog post up in minutes. Cloud-based graphic design tools offer email templates and exciting graphics for timely, professional marketing pieces. Technology can help you scale your business and improve client-servicing processes, too.

3. Leverage your cooperation with people. The surge in working from home has created new opportunities to build collaboration among your team. Find new ways to unite team members by delegating responsibilities. Assume that your team has skills and abilities more significant than you suspect. See what you can do to develop their potential to the fullest. You’re sure to increase productivity, interaction, and happiness among your team.

4. Focus on your ideal client. Face-to-face meetings have trickled or stopped altogether in some places. Have you considered what actions you can take to reach new prospects and effectively serve existing clients? Develop a consistent new lead strategy that is working even when you’re away from your desk (content marketing, for example). How are you making yourself visible to your ideal clients in the community? What are you delivering tangibly to your clients and prospects that demonstrates your value?

5. Engage your unique wisdom and abilities. We all have outstanding skills to do something well, and, likely, yours come naturally. These passionate abilities give you energy and excitement. Putting them to work has been shown to boost productivity and teamwork. Find ways to eliminate what drains you by delegating or outsourcing those activities so that you can focus on an unimpeded quest for your goals.

Remember, it wasn’t the chopping of the tree that Lincoln recognized as vital; it was the sharpening of his ax. Put these tips to good use when sharpening your ax as you grow your practice in the direction you have imagined.