The Power of Organization
As I sit here and look at my office - a current mess - I ask myself how did we get here? Well, to be honest - my office was clean about a week ago, but in preparation of the new calendar year with goal planning for the financial state I’d like to be in, I told myself that I will be closing all old projects. I did not want to take anything that I did not have too into, the next year. Now, I’ve been saying this all year and inching closer and closer to achieve this goal, so my efforts this week are in full alignment with my personal and professional desires.
A small explosion of my documents as I organize my office in preparation for the upcoming calendar year.
Well, I began clearing projects by going client by client. Looking at old notes, my project management tool (that I just recently purchased), emails and more. I prepared myself for a final round of meetings with those clients prior to the end of the year to discuss and address those items that congregated on my list. Crossing off items and identifying the next steps, if not closed felt good! Client closure led me to cleaning my office - which I moved into, about 9 months ago. The pile of boxes were less as I did an initial round of cleaning a few months back, but I said to myself, if I’m going to close every project - this must include those that belong to me.
I pulled out boxes and piles of papers, that I realized in various iterations I had organized before - I had just left them undone. Not only had I left them undone, I realized I had similar notes and goals, repetitive in some cases because I had never closed it when I initially thought of it, therefore it kept resurfacing, and I in my "“organized fashion” wrote them down but would then again leave them hanging to dry.
These projects were IMPORTANT, as they were visions and goals for my personal life and my business! As I began to dig deeper, I could feel in my chest a sense of overwhelm. Fear began to arise because as I was digging up the old papers - the piles were becoming larger, my office became junkier and I felt though as I could not breath. I went and grabbed a glass of water, mumbling to myself to calm down. “Jamila, it’s ok. This is just what we have to do. Look at the progress we’ve made. Pictures are now hung on the wall, garbage bags are filing up, papers to shred are in the proper pile - you are making progress.” I began to calm down just a bit and sat down at the computer and said, I must write about this. I can’t be the only one experiencing this. I can’t continue to help my clients be organized while leaving myself in the dust. I am tired of walking around the same blocks, coming to the same corner and never crossing the street. I miust be consistent because I desire so much more for my life! My goals are LARGE and I have no plans of stopping!! But this, I find, requires us to go back to the basics. And in this case, being organized is the basics.
What so many of us don’t realize in our journey of Entrepreneurship and striving to achieve our goals - to become million and billionaires - is that we have to be organized! We cannot overlook filing our paperwork, documenting client progress, paying our own bills, and doing it all “on time”! Sure the IRS requires compliance in our finances through the vehicle of bookkeeping (which is organization of our financial transactions), but what about the Book of ALL Your Business - don’t you want to be organized? Don’t you want to know how much you make? Don’t you want to deliver on-time results to your clients through purchased products and services? Don’t we want clean offices? Scheduled calendars? To walk into a room of peace? I KNOW I DID!!! Throughout my growth journey, I’ve made mistakes along the way and as I sit back to think, a lot of it comes back to not implementing regular process and procedures - systems - to remain organized and maintain order. A little time investment here, goes along way.
So! I pledge today to share systems and process - structure and procedure with you all so that we can become ORGANIZED!!! In our calendars, in billing, in our payments, in our personal AND our business bank accounts. LET THERE BE LIGHT!! And I hope our JAC tips and tricks will help you along the way. So CHEERS to this next year and beyond!! We’ve got millions to reach - in paper and in people. This is more than just our thing, it’s a GOD thing.
Let’s GO!!!
Jamila
CEO/JAC