With the holidays upon us, for many, it is a time to reflect, spend time with loved ones and friends, and celebrate a New Year.  But, for the highly successful, it is also a time to set yourself for a fast start and success in the New Year.

While everyone else is spending time focused elsewhere, if you spend just a small fraction of your time on a few key things, you can drive more business and set up a great start to your year.

Here's a few ideas for you.

1.)  There's Gold in Your Past Customers

The end of the year is a great time to contact customers who have done business with your before and re-engage them going into the next year.  Even if they left your product or service - remember, they bought it once before.  Connect with them and give them an incentive to come back.  It could in the form of a discount or added services, or even a free month.  Do what makes sense for your business.  If you get just a few clients to purchase that will make a difference for you in the following year.

2.)  Review the Tax Laws

Tax laws are always changing and many entrepreneurs miss out on tax benefits simply because they don't know they exist.  Things like R&D credits, entity structure, and end of year planning with pre-tax retirement vehicles can make a big difference in how much money you keep.  For example,  if your business is doing over $200k in profit per year and you have not looked at the benefits of an S-Corporation, you may want to, especially in the US, as the new tax laws allows for some substantial credits to your business.  As always, you should review these things with a competent tax professional, but don't miss out on what the laws allow you to do.

3.)  Setup New Joint Ventures (JVs)

As mentioned above, for many businesses, they use this time of year as downtime and things are slower.  It is the perfect time for you to reach out to potential partners and discuss how your businesses could work together in the new year.  One great partnership can grow a business substantially, so if you have been thinking about a potential partnership with someone or another business, there is no better time that now to get it setup and have it ready to hit the ground running in the new year.

As entrepreneur or even solopreneur, you can use these 3 ideas to really make a difference for yourself.  So, while everyone else is focused on their next ugly sweater party, take a few extra minutes to work a few of these and get ahead in the new year!

I am going to make a guess that you don't have everything you want.  Maybe you don't have the success you think you should have.  Maybe you don't have the relationships you think you should have.  Maybe you don't have the money you think you should have or the health or body you want.

Why not?  Why is it that people want so much, but get very little of it?

There are two reasons.  First, most people don't get what they want because they actually don't know what they want.  They think they do, but when it comes down to it, they don't know.  Think about the things you "think" you want.  Are they true?  Are those really the things you want?  Or when you think hard about it, do you find you actually want something different.

I won't say that you will ever be crystal clear on all that you want.  But, you should take the time to do some deep thinking about it and challenge yourself to make sure.

Second, and more important, is that most people don't get what they want because they simply are not willing to do what it takes to get it.  And that also goes to the first point in that most people don't know what they want.  Think about it.  If you truly and deeply want something, you will move heaven and earth to get it.  You will do whatever it takes.  You will work around the clock.  You will keep going through the setbacks that get in your way.  You will not stop until you reached your goal.

If you are not getting something you say you want, it is probably because you really don't want it that bad.  It is not as important as you make it out to be.  That is OK.  Understanding this helps us to fully understand the things we do want and to re-prioritize and go after them.  Use the 80/20 rule.  Out of all the things you think you want, most likely 20% or less of them are the real ones - the ones you will stop at nothing to get.  Go after those.  Make them a reality.  Simplify, Execute.  Succeed.

​Now go get what you want.

Earlier in November, we lost a legend and one of the greatest "Misfit Entrepreneurs" of the last century in Stan Lee.  If you know anything about Stan's story, he started working in comics as teenager in the family business.  It took him a long time to get success and when he did, he had issues with lawsuits that caused him to file for bankruptcy in some of his companies.  It was later in life that he really finally had success financially.

His biggest success to me was the fact that he was married for 70 years to his wife and that he inspired generations to go after the impossible and make it reality.  The characters he created were just like you and me.  In most cases, average people that found their gift and used it for good or to change the world.  You have that ability as well.

To honor Stan, I pulled 5 of his most memorable and useful quotes to inspire you...

1. "You know, my motto is 'Excelsior.' That's an old word that means 'upward and onward to greater glory.' It's on the seal of the state of New York. Keep moving forward, and if it's time to go, it's time. Nothing lasts forever."
2. "With great power comes great responsibility.”
3. "Another definition of a hero is someone who is concerned about other people’s well-being and will go out of his or her way to help them — even if there is no chance of a reward. That person who helps others simply because it should or must be done, and because it is the right thing to do, is indeed without a doubt, a real superhero."
4. "Every day, there’s a new development. … There’s no limit to the things that are happening. "
5. "Luck is one of the most important things in the world and really has a role to play in everything, and in marriage, I’ve been lucky enough to be married to the same girl for all these years."

My wife sent me this video the other day and I was amazed at the m incredibly important life-lessons is gives in less than 2 minutes.  Watch it and you'll see what I mean.

Here are 3 lessons I took from this powerful video...

1. We live in our own rigid "shells" in our lives and as we grow, it can be confining which for most people leads to complacency.
2. In order to truly grow, we must be willing to face our discomfort and cast off our "shells" and seek bigger ones to grow into.  
3. Times of stress in our lives are times for growth and we should look at them this way and seek the opportunity of our next "shell."