As 2015 begins, some of us feel the motivation that comes along with a new year, while others resist making New Year's Resolutions. It's easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the New Year. However, true entrepreneurship requires productivity and motivation.

• Look back to see how far you’ve come. When feeling overwhelmed or in a rut, I like to reflect on how far I’ve come (or my business has come) in the past year. Listing the specific accomplishments and basking in the glory of attaining specific goals is a surefire boost to your system and will give you the clarity you need to chart out what you want to accomplish next.
• Define your goals. I know this is a common statement. Most people talk about setting goals but they don’t actually do it. To define goals, they need to be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely). You don’t just wish to lose weight, you need to define is by setting a goal to lose 20 pounds in 8 weeks, starting January 2nd.  A few years ago I got sick of the weight I was carrying, and committed to losing 60 pounds. I started on November 1^st and lost it all by the following May. I practiced moderation. If I only wished I’d lose the weight, I’d have gone nowhere. (It helped greatly to have a partner in achieving this goal. For me, I had two. At work, Jon committed to losing weight and we ended up encouraging each other almost daily. At home, my wife signed on the help me by encouraging better habits, and setting a table where my options were either healthy or healthy.)
• Practice gratitude.  Build a habit of gratitude in your daily life. Stop and be mindful of now – what’s around you, who is around you. Pay attention to the beauty of nature, and the goodness of your family and colleagues. Develop a habit of gratitude, and you’ll stoke a fire within that can provide you the energy you need to thrive instead of just survive.
• Encourage others. As a leader, you can tire out if you aren’t surrounded by people who encourage you to succeed. The best way I’ve found to surround myself with encouragement is to get everyone around me involved as an owner. At work, this means encouraging each person to be an owner in the business. At our firm, we practice open book management. In the past two years, we’ve gone from two owners to an entire office of “owners” as each person has an active part in the business, with everyone having a clear line of sight in how they contribute to the whole. At home, this means getting the entire family involved in the “ownership” of the household. Whether at work or at home, each person has responsibilities and a voice in how things are done. When people are encouraged to speak up and take action to “own it” they become passionate about their involvement. You work and family life will prosper in ways you have never imagined!

Connections is ready to come to your rescue!

As this year begins, you may want to consider a few changes in your work environment that is a gift to your colleagues, and a can provide a boost in productivity for the entire year. Consider upgrading all the desktops with single displays to dual displays. This one gift can garner up to 33% increase in efficiency for the user!

For those who like to work from home, plan to deploy a strong remote access solution that can make working from home as seamless as being in the office. No I’m not talking about GoToMyPC… I’m talking about a real business grade remote access solution.

If you’d like some help implementing one of these “gifts” for your team, give us a call! If you’d like to pay us a visit to see how we implement the four points above, we’d be happy to have you visit our office to meet all of our “owners”!

Happy New Year,

David Bennett