5 Questions Every Business Owner Should Ask Before the New Year

Most business owners approach year-end planning with a list of goals they'll abandon by February.

They fixate on revenue targets and growth metrics, wondering why they feel empty even when the numbers look good. They plan their next twelve months based on what worked for someone else's business, not what brightens their inner flame.

But here's what I've discovered after years of coaching entrepreneurs and business owners: The questions you ask at the end of the year determine whether you're climbing your own mountain or wandering in circles at the bottom of someone else's.

So before you copy-paste another business guru's goal-setting template, make yourself a nice tea, cozy up with your journal and spend some time with these five questions.

1. Am I climbing my mountain, or someone else's?

Take an honest look at what you spent your time on this year.

Did your days reflect your Vision for your business and life? Or were you chasing milestones that looked impressive but left you feeling depleted?

There's a difference between lighting Lanterns on the path to your Vision and collecting achievements that mean nothing to you. One creates sustainable abundance while the other creates burnout.

Ask yourself: If no one else would ever know about your accomplishments this year, would you still be proud of them?

2. What Static am I carrying into the new year?

Static is the mental chatter and limiting beliefs that make every challenge harder than it needs to be. It's the voice that says you're not ready, not qualified, not enough.

Most business owners pack this Static into their plans for next year without realizing it. They set goals based on proving themselves rather than expressing their potential.

Ask yourself: What beliefs about myself and my capacity am I accepting that could be holding me back?

Bonus: listen to the recent podcast episode on mind expanders

3. Which Lanterns actually matter?

Every business owner knows that collecting achievements and being busy don’t always lead to success. This is the perfect time of year to see what you are really doing with your time and energy and be honest about which are lanterns that are important for you to light and which are just busy work.

Remember, lanterns are milestones that illuminate your path forward and open new possibilities. The ones that are worth lighting are distinct achievements that connect to something bigger than themselves. They're the literal path to your Vision.

Ask yourself: What's one Lantern I could light next year that would genuinely change the trajectory of my business and life?

4. Am I tending my flame or burning myself out?

You can't build a business that superabounds if you're running on fumes.

Too many entrepreneurs wear their exhaustion like a badge of honor. They sacrifice sleep, relationships, and wellbeing believing “that's what serious business owners do.” Personally, I believe the opposite. The most successful people I work with are the ones who prioritize their self-investment.

In my experience, the Universe isn't asking you to destroy yourself in service of your Vision. It's inviting you to grow into the version of yourself who can hold it with ease.

Ask yourself: What part of the Tending Triad needs some work in my life? (need a refresher on this concept? Get the Superabound book here)

5. What does the Universe keep whispering to me?

In quiet moments, you've probably sensed a pull toward something bigger. It could be a product or service that feels more aligned with your Vision. Or perhaps it is a way of working that honors all of who you are and what you need. For one of my VIP clients this year, she kept feeling the pull to reduce her company to a four day work week, without adding more staff to her team or sacrficing revenue because of it.

I am happy to report that in our work together we restructured her business, leadership and personal life to make it happen. Now she is enjoying a 3-day weekend and ending the year in a better place than she began it.

The life the Universe is dreaming for you won't create itself. It requires you to take the first step, even when you can't see the entire path.

Ask yourself: What am I being called toward that I've been too afraid to pursue?

The Truth About Year-End Planning

These questions won't give you a tidy twelve-month roadmap. They'll do something better.

They'll help you distinguish between the goals that keep you stuck in the swamp and the Lanterns that illuminate your path forward. Between the Static that weighs you down and the Vision that lifts you up.

Because the business owners who truly superabound aren't the ones with the most impressive plans. They're the ones brave enough to ask honest questions and act on what they discover.

Ready to Light Your Next Lantern?

If you're done with goal-setting frameworks that leave you feeling empty and ready to build a business aligned with your true Vision, let's talk.

Book a free consultation call and discover how the Superabound approach can help you create sustainable success without sacrificing what matters most.

The mountain is waiting. Your next Lantern is ready to be lit.

Are you?