Have you noticed how your beliefs can have such an effect on your life? What you believe is naturally enough true in your own mind, but have you ever considered how some of your beliefs may be allowing you to surge ahead, whilst others may be holding you back?

People’s beliefs about money, for example, can say an awful lot about them, both positive and negative. Some people come up with terms such as “money is the root of all evil”, whilst others say (or sing) “money makes the world go round”. Of course there is no right or wrong in this example, but first consider how your beliefs may be affecting your life. If you believe money to be “evil”, then you will want to avoid it, and push it away. If however, you believe it to be good, you are ready to welcome it into your life, and therefore it is far more likely to come to you.

I once worked with an interesting couple of business owners, who were involved with care, but entirely through the public sector i.e. placements were made, and therefore prices were dictated by the county council. However, they wanted to expand, and needed more money, and wondered how best to go about it. When I suggested going into the private sector, one of them in particular said she didn’t want to do that, as she didn’t see why people with money should have preference over those without. I pointed out that if they went down this route, and were thereby able to generate more profits, it would then put them in a position where they could have the choice to subsidise those less well off. So perhaps money could be a good thing in that instance.

So before you push things away, because you believe them to be bad, perhaps it is worth giving them a second or third look, and question whether your beliefs might in reality be holding you back, both for yourself, and indeed, your business, your team and your clients

So what is your marketing budget for the coming year? As we all know the temptation in tough times is to pull in your horns, and save money whenever possible. As a result the marketing spend is very often one of the first, and seemingly easiest ways of reducing costs, but does it really make sense to do that?

Let’s assume money and cash flow are both tight, and therefore you may well have legitimate worries as to how you are going to keep the business afloat. The old adage that unless a business is growing, it is dying, is still certainly applicable, but in times like these, just keeping things on an even keel is hard enough. However, whether growing or at least keeping at a similar level to last year, right now you need to be noticed, so you must continue to let people know you are around.

So have you set targets for the year? Again whether setting increases on last year’s sales, or keeping them the same, you should be planning your marketing strategy to achieve this. All businesses will lose some customers from time to time, so just to maintain similar sales to last year, you will need to bring in new business. If that is your decision, you can keep marketing spend relatively low, but you will need to be very clear who you are targeting, and therefore how you will promote your business in each niche that you have. If, however, you have grander targets, and wish to expand, then you will need to set your marketing budget accordingly.

Remember marketing doesn’t necessarily mean spending huge sums of money. Be smart, and creative, and you may well be surprised how much you can achieve on a relatively low budget.

In many of my blogs, I write about how to improve something in your business, or how to plan ahead, or how to change something or someone. However, one thing which we all tend to forget as business owners is how to improve or change ourselves.

No doubt you have all heard about people who claim to have multiple years of experience, whilst in reality they only have one year of experience, repeated however many times. Just continuing on, on the same old path, doing the same old thing is not only very limiting on yourself, but necessarily the business will not progress either.

So what are you going to do differently this year? For yourself, for your business, or for your employees. I have mentioned in the past that I believe it is part of an employer’s responsibility to help their team to develop and become the best they can be. Well that is only going to happen if you set the example of developing and improving yourself. If your employees see you changing, learning and developing, they will realise that if the “boss” feels it is a good thing to do, then surely it must be for them also.

Continuous improvement and development is good for any business. Never be content with good enough. There are always things which can be done better or faster or just differently, but in every case, they should bring benefits to the business, which should all ultimately be financially positive for you as the owner, and for your team.

I hope you all had great Christmas and New Year breaks, and are feeling refreshed and recharged, ready to take on the challenges which 2011 will bring.

Personally I had a lovely time with the family doing all the things I most enjoy. Good food, good drink, good company and a general feeling of well being which emanates from the contentment of enjoying these simple, yet vitally important, aspects of life.

I had a very interesting conversation with one of my friends, talking about New Year Resolutions, and goals in general. He told me that someone he spent New Year’s Eve with had said that he simply wanted to be happier in 2011, which naturally provoked the question, what did he mean by that? Apparently he was a vastly successful businessman, with a string of highly impressive achievements behind him, but he felt that he never really appreciated what was going on around him, and all the good things he had in life.

Essentially we agreed that what he really wanted, was to be living in the now, and instead of always wishing for something better somewhere in the future, he should be enjoying what is happening right now. I remember my mother always used to say “the journey was part of the holiday”, and we always used to laugh at her as children, saying how silly she was. Whether she knew she was giving great advice for life, or genuinely was talking just about our holiday, I am not sure, but just think of all those things you may have already missed, and could still miss, if you constantly think of the better times ahead.

So for the time being, enjoy sitting by a crackling fire, reading a book, drinking some wine, or listening to music, whatever it is that you like to do. Obviously setting goals and planning ahead are still very important, but make sure you live life to the full on the way.