How To Do A Cleanse For Your Business

As you probably know, January is one of the most popular months for people to enroll in weight-loss programs, go to the gym, and cook at home.

It’s a time for a fresh start.

A time to reflect on the year ahead and set new goals.

If you’ve caught the feeling of renewed motivation that often inspires us this time of year, now’s the perfect time to do a cleanse and hit ‘refresh’.

And I’m not just talking about for your health…

January is the perfect time to do a ‘business cleanse’.

Seriously! Doing a cleanse for your business will help put you on the right path to reaching your goals for 2018.

Following the steps of a traditional cleanse, cut out the ‘toxins’ in your business, put a “healthier” plan in place, and take focused action so you can see quick results.

Are you ready? Let’s go!

Set Your Goal Or Intention

Before you embark on a cleanse, you usually have a goal in mind.

For some people that might mean losing a few pounds or fitting into that little black dress before a big event. Or maybe they’ve just been feeling sluggish and want a reset.

But there’s usually more to it than the numbers on a scale.

People challenge themselves to do a cleanse because of a deeper ‘why’.

They want to feel more confident so they can finally go for that promotion, they want to have the energy to play with their kids at the park, or maybe they want to feel sexier in the bedroom.

Think of your business goals the same way.

You have a goal – say, signing on 5 new 1-on-1 clients in the next 60 days.

But you also have your deeper ‘why’, like wanting to help women feel more confident so they can excel at work, shed their mom guilt, or connect with their partners in the bedroom.

It’s helpful to tap into both your goals and your ‘why’ before challenging yourself to do a business ‘cleanse’.

Your ‘why’ is your business driver. It’s your motivation.. It’s the reason you stick with it even when things get hard. When you know your ‘why’, everything else is just a little bit easier. But without it, it’s easy to lose sight of your ultimate goals and go off course, or worse, give up.

So grab a sheet of paper and write your ‘why’ in big bold letters at the top.

Now, think about your priorities for 2018 and set goals for this year.

If you had goals last year, take some time to look back on them and reflect on how things may have shifted in your business and if you still want the same things.

The goals you set should feel good to you – they should align with your ‘why’, light you up, and feel like a challenge but also attainable.

Create A Plan

When you’re gearing up for a cleanse, you start by getting familiar with the protocol or plan so you know “the rules” and what’s going to help you succeed and complete the cleanse.

You then clean out your fridge and pantry to remove processed and toxic foods and hit the grocery store to stock up on healthy, whole foods.

This makes you less tempted to go for the unhealthy snacks in a moment of hunger or cravings. And it makes space for all the healthy foods you’re bringing in.

Planning and preparation is the key to success.

When trying to reach any business goal, you also want to have a plan going in.

Having a plan will help you stay on track to meet your goals and keep you from spinning your wheels and getting distracted.

Unlike with a cleanse, you might not have an outline to follow to achieve your business goals.

So what should your plan look like?

Your plan should focus on tasks that directly help you reach your goals. Tasks that aren’t directly related to achieve your goal should be left off the plan (at least for now…more on that later).

To do this, ask yourself a few questions:

• What have I been doing in my business that has worked – ie. what’s been getting me clients or helping me book strategy sessions?
• What tasks am I not seeing results from? For example, am I spending hours every week in Facebook groups or writing recipes, but not getting any kind of engagement from people?

Once you’ve identified what tasks propel you towards your goals and which end up just wasting your time, it’s time to cut the ‘bad’ and replace it with the ‘good’.

When you remove the tasks/projects that aren’t serving you and your business, you’re making time and space for the things that are most likely to help you reach your goals. It’s the “crowding out” theory you may have learned in nutrition school.

Now all you have left are the tasks and strategies that are going to ‘nourish’ your business and you can start putting a plan together that allows you to do more of those tasks.

For example, if speaking has been your most successful strategy for getting clients, create a plan that helps you to get more speaking gigs in the coming months. Your plan might look like:

Monday: research health clubs in my area

Tuesday: send a pitch email to 5 health clubs

Wednesday: reach out to 1 referral partner about setting up a speaking opportunity

And so on.

Take Action

Now you’ve prepped your food, removed the unhealthy temptations, and laid out a plan of attack to stick to this cleanse. All that’s left is to actually do it!

The hardest part of any new regimen is sticking to it.

But if you’ve ever done a cleanse before, you know how good it feels once you start seeing and feeling the results. You’ve got more energy, you’re sleeping better, your skin looks brighter, your clothes fit better – you wonder why you didn’t do it sooner!

The same thing happens when carrying out your business cleanse.

It can be difficult at first to stick to your new, streamlined plan. You may feel tempted to jump back into those tasks that you identified as “time wasters” because they feel comfortable and maybe you even enjoy doing them.

But once you start booking more client calls, getting new sign ups for your programs, and connecting with more people, you’ll feel amazing about your results and want to keep the momentum going.

Assess

Once you finish a cleanse, you no doubt take some time to reflect on the experience. You examine your results, your numbers and your feelings.

In business, reflection is just as important.

Look at how your focused efforts have impacted your business.

How do you feel? Did you get more clients? Did you reach your goals? What is your energy like after cutting back the tasks that weren’t serving you?

Add Back

After you complete a cleanse, you start to reintroduce some (or all) the foods you cut out, being mindful of how it makes you feel and how it affects your body. Ideally, you find a new balance that fuels you and makes you feel great from the inside out.

In your business, you might start to reintroduce other tasks that you cut.

Maybe this means you add back posting in Facebook groups or trying to get guest blog posting gigs to return to your goals of growing your online presence. This will be different for everyone.

The important thing is to remain mindful of your time and where you’re putting your energy. Just like when reintroducing foods to your diet, you want to take notice of how it makes you feel and how it impacts your business .

A cleanse can have huge benefits in a short amount of time, whether we’re talking about your body or your business.

Taking the time to cleanse your business will have a lasting impact that makes the effort totally worth it!

 
Now I’d love to hear from you!
Do you think your business could use a cleanse? If so, what results would you like to see from the cleanse? Share your comments below.