Chances are you'll be lifting your heads from your laptops soon. Even if you can't quite tear yourself away from your emails, the most dedicated business owner will see the magic of the close of the year and the start of the new one. You may have kept yourself so busy over the past 12 months that you haven't had had the opportunity to rest and recap. Now is a great time.
This is the season of the senses - so there's no hard work here, no homework - there's been enough of that. It's about tapping in to the way that you feel. Do you absolutely love your business? Do you believe that you have been put on this Earth to do the sort of work you're doing? Are you riding so high that everyone can see you? Are you so clear on your message that you're being interviewed, writing columns - books even and people are listening, really listening? Do you wake every morning with figurative butterflies? That's how you should feel. Even if you have to work through the night, it should be thrilling and powerful for you. If you haven't got the fairytale then you're not paying enough attention to yourself and your work, which means you won't be giving your absolute best to your clients. The result can mean struggle, vagueness a sort of bumbling along in business.
Look properly. I'm putting you in front of the business mirror. You know, THE MIRROR - it's the one that talks to you. Is it smiling radiantly back at you or is it grimacing, about to tell you a few truths? This is your inner voice; your most savage critic but something that by its very nature has the potential to be your closest and most trusted advisor, personal coach and motivator.
Spend some time looking in to the mirror and ask yourself how you feel. See yourself and your business as it really is. What language does the mirror use - fruitful, burgeoning, wealthy, successful, giving, fun, radical or gruelling, aching and worrying? Which images does it conjure up around your business? Are you seeing a Dickensian workhouse or are you having a ball? If something is misaligned, if clients are far and few between or you're not attracting the funds or the projects that you'd love, then give the mirror a quick polish and peer inside. Ask, what is it that you should be doing, how it is you want to be feeling, how you feel about yourself right now and how that affects your business. What are you not giving the business that it really deserves?
One of the best gifts is your energy. Ask what it would take to boost your energy this year. You need to be a whirl of excitement. Your audience needs to feel it. Every piece of work, every phone call, every email, every meeting should be approached with that Christmas-morning excited feeling, the anticipation that you are amazing, business is easy, fun and booming and you're about to be shoulder deep in gifts - fantastic projects to work on, money coming in from every quarter and the most wonderful clients, colleagues and contacts. Embrace your work with that sort of engaging flair and you'll be noticed by others, by the media and by those who can support you. You'll notice the work you attract is high level, commanding fees to match. You'll notice too as you rush past the business mirror that it's grinning back at you, with an impressed look on its face.
Looking in to this mirror is about seeing more than what's on the surface. It's beyond that - deeper than that. It shows you that what you put in, you get out. Describe how you'd like your perfect clients to be and be one yourself. Create style and substance, keep giving more, deliver constantly better work, always impressive and always exciting. Come back to the mirror as often as you can. Keep noticing the way you feel, what you are giving and what you are getting. Does it feel like you? Are you putting every part of yourself in to the business, every product you provide, every part of the service? Does it feel like the truth? It's just you and the mirror, so look hard and answer honestly. Every part of your business is a reflection of yourself - make sure you love it.