Better Plans Won't Grow Your Business — Behavior Change Will
Contributed by SBOC Member:
Pat Miller
Founder of the Small Business Owners Community
This content was first released in the new Small Business Summary Newsletter. Subscribe below to get insights like this straight to your inbox!
The Five-Year Loop
“This year will be different.”
How many times have you said that? January comes around. You make declarations. You set intentions. Maybe you create a vision board. You manifest.
And then it’s February. Or March. Or suddenly December again. And nothing has changed.
If you’ve been saying “this year will be different” for five years and it’s not different, here’s the uncomfortable truth:
Better plans are not the answer to a different life. Behavior is.
The Vision Board Trap
Positive mental attitude is important. Visualization can be helpful. Having clear goals matters.
But none of that changes anything if your daily behavior stays the same.
If you say “this year will be different” and it’s not different, the question isn’t “what’s my new plan?” The question is: “What am I doing differently?”
Not planning to do. Actually doing.
- Are you making 10 sales calls a week when you used to do 2?
- Did you double your networking activity?
- Did you raise your rates?
- Did you fire the clients who drain your energy?
- Did you stop “playing with your food” and actually move the business forward?
Positive mental images are great. But we don’t need a new year to make a change. We need to change how we behave.
The Behavior Audit
Take yourself out for lunch today. Not as a treat—as a confrontation.
Cut the crap and ask yourself: What am I going to do DIFFERENTLY to be in a different place six months from now?
Strip out all the non-productive time. Stop doing the things you know are just playing with your food—activities that feel like work but don’t actually move the business forward.
Instead:
- Double your sales time
- Half your expenses
- Go to the rooms where your people are
- Strip away the products that aren’t selling
- Double down on what does
The Promise
Change your daily behavior.
Your business will change.
I promise you. I promise you.
If you’re stuck in a rut and you’re saying things haven’t changed, why? It’s because you haven’t changed.
That’s your challenge for today. Not a new plan. Not a new vision board. A new behavior.
What will you do differently starting right now?
Key Takeaways
- If “this year will be different” hasn’t worked for 5 years, the problem isn’t your plan
- Better plans don’t change your life—behavior does
- Vision boards and manifestation mean nothing without behavioral change
- The question isn’t “what’s my new plan?” It’s “what am I DOING differently?”
- Change your daily behavior and your business will change
Listen to the full discussion on Businessing with Pat Miller.
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Contributed by
Pat Miller
Founder of the Small Business Owners Community
Pat spent two decades in broadcasting management and hosting. After leaving the radio industry, he spent time consulting small businesses and realized the support system for entrepreneurs was broken. Where could you find help for improving small businesses and building real connections with other like-minded people. In June of 2020, the Idea Collective Small Business Community was born.