I’m a pretty resolute guy. I’m not one to set New Year’s Resolutions in January and then let them deteriorate into nothingness by February. Actually, I’m bent on self-improvement and personal development, so I love making New Year’s Resolutions. Every year, I have some that are personal, some about family and some related to Infusionsoft.
When I decided to write out my top three resolutions for 2011, my first inclination was to share my resolutions related to Infusionsoft. But the more I thought about it, the more I felt it would be great to share my top resolution in each area of my life — Personal, Family and Infusionsoft.
So, at the risk of being overly personal, with the hope you will agree with me that our professional accomplishments are only sustainably achieved to the extent our personal lives are in order, I share with you my top three New Year’s resolutions.
#3: More Reflection Time.
In the heat of the 2010 battle, a year in which Infusionsoft went from burning a million dollars in January to becoming cash-flow positive in December, I struggled to find time to catch my breath, let alone find quiet time for reflection. As the year has come to a close, I’ve done a little more reflection and have found it is empowering in all aspects of my life. The small amount of reflection I have done recently has enabled me to be a little more grateful, a little more patient, a little more peaceful and a little less hurried. Resolution #3 is to block out specific chunks of time on my calendar, shove everything aside, take a deep breath and reflect on my experiences, challenges and accomplishments.
#2: Weekly and Monthly One-on-One Time With My Kids.
I have six kids. I am the CEO of a fast-growing, successful software company. My responsibilities frequently collide. Although I’ve figured out a pretty great balance, I haven’t spent as much one-on-one time with my kids as I’d like (we do a lot of group stuff). In 2011, I’m resolved to spend at least 10 minutes weekly in focused, “I’m-all-about-you” one-on-one time with each of my children, as well as at least an hour-long block per month in some sort of fun, one-on-one connection. When I first set this goal, I felt like 10 minutes per week and a one-hour block per month was pretty pathetic. But after talking with my wife and friends, I realized I probably wasn’t too far outside the norm. Whatever the case, this is Resolution #2.
#1: Customers’ Usage of Infusionsoft.
During 2010, I re-learned the painful lesson that in a software company, the overall customer usage rate is the most important driver of the business. We accomplished great things in 2010, working very hard to help our small business customers get the benefits of our marketing automation software. In 2011, we are taking this initiative to a whole new level. I have set one of my operating metrics around our customers’ usage rate and that metric cascades down to the rest of the organization. In the software business, usage is king. My relentless focus on usage is Resolution #1 for me.
Whatever your resolutions are in 2011, I wish you the best of success!
