My 2013 Balance Sheet

It’s the last day of the year. Time to do some year-end accounting.

Debits

I blindly put too much trust (and invested too much money) in people I didn’t know and who didn’t deserve it. I was angry with them when I have only myself to blame.

I created dependents and was angry when they continually needed me for what I should have better prepared them to do for themselves.

I sometimes over-committed and struggled to keep up. Any stress I felt was a result of my unwillingness to say “no” to some smaller things so I could say “yes” to bigger ones.

I didn’t read nearly enough.

I sometimes didn’t follow the systems and processes I put in place, and in some cases didn’t build a system or process where I needed one.

I sometimes allowed myself to enter a frustrated and unresourceful state and gave up when I should have worn people down until they relented and did what was right.

I was sometimes unclear with my instructions. I sometimes delegated poorly.

I was sometimes short with people when I should have exercised empathy, patience, and understanding.

I sometimes made poor decisions about my health and my diet.

I was sometimes unavailable. I didn’t leave enough margin.

Credits

I hired Beth to help with my bookings.

I hired Jess to help with my calendar.

I spoke in Australia, England, the Netherlands, Ireland, Washington, DC, New York, South Africa, Columbus (Hometown Gigs!), Canada, Boston, Minneapolis, Chicago, Danville (Illinois) San Francisco, and Abilene, Texas.

I had the opportunity to share ideas, coach, and consult with salespeople, sales managers, and sales organization from around the world.

I met dozens of new people I am now happy to call friends, and some I now call family.

I licensed three frameworks to ThinkSales out of South Africa.

Every business in which I am involved is bigger than the prior year by at least 12%.

I became a contributing editor at SUCCESS Magazine.

I spoke 40 times in 2013.

I shed 25 pounds.

I saved and invested more money than I had planned to.

I took two family vacations (much more difficult than it sounds, back to that margin thing).

I drafted the manuscript of book one (editing now for a 2014 release).

I drafted the manuscript of book two (editing after the launch of book one later in 2014).

I built a new site for my speaking business which will be launched in the first quarter of 2014.

I built a training site for salespeople and sales organization which will be launched in the first quarter of 2014.

On balance, a good year for me. Now what about you?

Questions

What were your major “debits” in 2013?

What were your major “credits” last year?

What does your balance sheet tell you that you need to do in in 2014?