Believe it or not, we’re almost halfway through the calendar year of 2020. And, odds are, this year has not gone to plan for almost all professionals, business owners, and entrepreneurs. Under normal circumstances, now might be a good time to begin to review your annual goals by pulling out a smart goals worksheet and grading your performance. Of course, the current situation is far from normal.
So, how can you measure professional and financial progress this term with any accuracy? We’ll explain how here:
Relative Metrics
People can go crazy by comparing themselves with their neighbors –– or worse –– their competitors. However, the fact remains that COVID-19 has affected everyone. One easy way to gain a more accurate picture of your financial status is to study how your closest cohorts are faring. If, for instance, your business has seen a 15% drop in profits, you might think that you’re experiencing an unprecedented catastrophe. In reality though, your competitors may have averaged a 30% drop over the same time period. Remember, just because you’ve had things hard, it doesn’t mean others have had things easy.
Reserves & Savings
Savvy professionals create rainy-day funds and savings accounts to address unexpected problems. The problem with emergency funds is that they’re not intended to provide permanent solutions. Ideally, you should continue to invest in your savings –– even if you’ve had to take some money out to cover short-term costs. Don’t assume that you’re out of the woods yet!
Effort
For the vast majority of professionals, it’s now impossible to reach the goals they set for themselves and their organizations at the beginning of the year. This isn’t for the want of trying. In fact, many professionals have worked harder over the past few months than they ever have in their entire lives. Don’t consider these efforts wasted just because you fail to hit a few targets. Rather, log the time and keep track of all the projects you’ve completed. This is a more accurate representation of your achievements so far this year.
Positive Outcomes
Part of being a successful business leader is learning how to make the best of bad situations. Believe it or not, millions of people have managed positive outcomes despite the events of the past few months. If you’ve managed to retain all of your employees at a small business –– then that itself is an achievement worth celebrating. Behaving in a financially responsible manner now is difficult, and it can be easy to adopt a negative attitude about everything. That’s why focusing on the positive is so worthwhile.