5 Things to Do for the Final Quarter of 2020 and Ways to Prepare for 2021

I’ve put together 5 things to do this quarter to tie up 2020 and plan for 2021.

Declutter

I hate to go all Marie Kondo on you but start by throwing out the old.  Now is a great time to declutter your workspace, tidy up folders and files, clear that desktop and cross the Ts and dot the Is on anything that is in your overflowing pending tray.

Once you’ve done that, it’s time to declutter your offering.  Look over all of the things that you offer in your business and look at it with a client eye view.  Is it simple, is it streamlined?  Can your customer clearly see what you offer, how it benefits them and what investment you’re asking?  Are you clearly conveying your value?  Anything that doesn’t really sell or isn’t either working or where you want to be for the future, now is the time to cut the ties and start fresh, positioning yourself for where you want to be in 2021.

Plan and Prep

Next up, plan and prep the first quarter of 2021.  Think ahead to how you want to spend your time in that first quarter (personally and professionally) and where you pro-actively want to put your focus.  Do you have a course that you would like to launch?  Do you have an event that you would like to host?  Whatever it is and whether it’s for you or your clients, now is the time to plan for what you want and put things in place.

It’s also a great time to start planning your content for next year, being more strategic about where and when you show up and what you have to say.  If you want help planning your content then be sure to sign up to Contented.  The next date is 6^th December for my one week intensive.

Get Your Marketing Looking Good

Now is the time to pimp your portfolio and to get your marketing on point.  Most people wait until 2021 to get started on this but if you wait until then you could be missing a trick.  What most people do is during January they contact designers and copywriters as they are ready to get started.  However, most designers and copywriters are booking NOW for January/February so if you’re thinking of having work done, you want to be researching the brands you’re interested in and reaching out now.  Even if you’re doing it all yourself, now is the time to be thinking about where you want to put your focus.  Some of the things you might want to work on may include: a sales page for a new course, a ‘work with me’ guide, some emails for initial client contact, a client welcome pack, social media story highlights slides or a sales funnel. 

Whatever you choose to work on, the two golden rules are:

1. Don’t try to do everything at once, pick one area for this quarter and make that your focus
2. Don’t be afraid to outsource – don’t try to do everything yourself

Hold a Strategy Day

I hold one of these every single quarter but this quarter is always my favourite as I break up for Christmas holidays straight after my strategy day.  For this day, take yourself somewhere secluded where you won’t be disturbed.  I go somewhere that I can walk but also curl up next to an open fire.  I have coffee and food brought to me so I don’t need to do anything.  This is where I plan my following quarter (and for this one, I plan my year).  I look at my upcoming launches, new offerings, new clients and overarching goals and make sure everything in the pipeline is part of the master plan.  It’s also a great opportunity to take stock and look over 2020 and work out what worked/what didn’t and what I’m taking into 2021 or leaving on the cutting room floor.  What you choose NOT to focus on is as important as what you choose to focus on.

Define Your Primary Goals

Before the quarter is up, I recommend defining your goals for the following quarter (and in this case, the year) ahead.  Now you don’t have to stick to this – things may change over the course of the year but if you don’t plan you could end up anywhere.  For me, I always aim to have one major goal per quarter and then two minor ones.  My major goal for this current quarter is to plan and set up a podcast and my major goal for last quarter was to launch Contented.  My minor goals for this quarter are to finish my ebook and also to launch my revamped Soul Sessions coaching package ready for 2021.  Basically, if I were to ask you at Christmas what your goals are for 2021 – I would like you to give me 3-4 primary goals for the year (these don’t all have to be professional but they have to be measurable).  And then optionally you could tell me some of your minor goals.  In short, you should be ready to start taking steps towards your goals the moment you hear the opening notes of Auld Lang Syne

So there you have it in a nutshell, how to prepare for 2021.  If you want to kickstart the year in style, be sure to check out my Soul Sessions coaching, currently being revamped ready for 2021 with only 4 places available for the year – more details coming soon!