| Let’s
name a day once every three months as “Solo
Entrepreneur Day for Fixing Missed Opportunities!”
It
is important to set aside time to look
back on the past few months and question
the things we've let slip by. Once we
highlight stuff we can get on and fix
it. Like you didn't know that.
Here
are my Top 5 Actions for fixing missed
opportunities:
1. Go back through your diary
Spend
a few minutes looking back over the past
three months (or past year if you haven’t
done this for some time!). Look at where
you spent your time, what appointments
you had that have not led to anything.
Remember the people you met and the conversations
you had. Did you follow up as effectively
as you might? Did you explore all the
possibilities?
2. Clear out your Rolodex/card file/wallet/briefcase/palm
pilot/car/handbag
Look
particularly for people who've slipped
off your radar. Consider relationships
that may benefit from some rekindling.
It's funny how often we leave a networking
event with a swagger of cards and a great
sense of achievement only to leave the
cards in a little pile to gather dust
and coffee stains. Take a fresh look.
What was it that was so interesting back
then?
3. Check through your emails
I
don't know about you, but I have developed
this very unhelpful behaviour of marking
an incoming email as 'urgent' and then
promptly ignoring it. The sooner Mr Gates
invents something like a hand that can
reach out of my monitor and slap me round
the chops the better.
Regularly
clearing your email in-tray is a hugely
liberating experience. Action what's needed,
ditch the rest.
4. Clean out your files
Boring,
boring, boring. Necessary, necessary,
necessary. Often amongst the junk is some
stuff we kept deservedly. Find it, unfile
it, action it.
5. Make an announcement
Invite
your clients, customers and staff to point
out missed opportunities. A few months
back a delightful man pointed out that
one my new projects was so exciting it
was as if 'I had a lion by the tail'.
Did I? Yikes!
Yes
I did. Yes I DO! So often others see things
in us that we cannot see ourselves. What
tail do you have hold of? Are you going
to grab the lion while you have the chance?
I know I am, starting next Wednesday.
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