“You can’t move forward until you look back.” -Cornel West
By Rebeca Seitz
October! That time of year when your clients and customers are gearing up to celebrate and remember loved ones who have passed on (All Hallows Eve) and indulge in both giving and getting sweet treats.
All Hallows Eve (Halloween) stems from Samhain, the ancient Celtic celebration that marked the end of summer and harvest season and the beginning of dark, cold winter. It is believed to be a time when the veil between the next life and this grows thin. It becomes easier to feel and communicate with people and times past. Sometimes, that communication sparks new life on this side of the veil. Other times, it’s an opportunity to release the hold in this life from things that are no longer a part of it.
This is a good season for you to do the same, dear business owner. So, we created a five-step process to do just that.
- Take a look at the “dead” business ideas and potential avenues from yesteryear. Remember when you first got into your business? Why did you do it? What motivated you then? Who did you get in touch with? What did you discuss? Dig back into your emails and business plan from that time period and take a look. Make a list of each item that causes a spark of attention, recognition, joy, or curiosity.
- Now review your list. Ask yourself 1-3 minutes to ruminate on each item. If you find yourself wanting to continue the exploration of that item after the initial rumination, write it down on a new list.
- Review your new list. There are probably only a handful of items that graduated to this list. It may only be one thing! That’s okay. However many are on the list, allow yourself to indulge in a longer period of thought on each of these throughout the month.
- By the end of the month – Halloween – settle on which of the item(s) you are going to pursue. Add one actionable task to your To Do list for each of these. Just one! Do not write out an entire plan for how you will accomplish each of these newly-revisited things. Simply determine the first task that will bring the idea back into your everyday activity and add it to your To Do list.
- On All Hallows Eve itself, take a moment to give thanks for these ideas, relationships, and processes that helped get you where you are today. They helped shape the business person you have become, the business you oversee. You and your business are the sweet treats formed by these events and people who have passed through your life. Go pass that on to your clients and customers!
This is a good process to go through each year. While continually looking back can keep you from moving forward, a period revisiting is a good thing. Just ask the ancient Celts!
So, if you haven’t already, create folders in your inbox for “Relationships” and “Potentials.” From now on, when emails come through that fit these subjects, file them accordingly. These are the folders to revisit each year around this time to see what potentials or relationships “died” and might need to be revisited.
Happy October!