by Marilyn Suttle
The end-of-day review is a powerful tool I use to improve my performance with clients, while raising the bar on my personal effectiveness. It’s a simple practice that only takes a few minutes.
Right before leaving work at the end of the day, ask yourself:
What went well? What would I do differently next time? What do I appreciate about my customers?
Here’s why:
When you ask, “What went well?” it unleashes your brain to zero in on all the wins of your day. That makes you more resourceful.
When you make a habit of noticing what’s going right, you’ll more readily apply those same tactics to future situations.
When you ask, “What would I do differently?” it gives your mind time to rehearse better ways of responding to future challenges. Those mental rehearsals can catapult your effectiveness. It also helps you to avoid self-blame, shame, and guilt.
When you ask, “What do I appreciate about my customers?” it keeps your attention on the people who are the reason you’re in business. It helps you get your mind off the one or two curmudgeonly customers that bring you down, so you can see the overall purpose and value of all those who do business with you.
It creates a sense of closure to your work day so you can be more fully present at home with family and friends.
Not all self-reflections are helpful. Some can even sabotage your success. “What went wrong?” is not a resourceful question. It makes the little problems big and big successes little. Rather than rehearse better ways of handling workplace issues, you’re left chewing on troubles. As you leave for the day, you’ll feel frustrated, and your resilience will tank. You won’t be much fun across the dinner table with your family and it sets you up to start the next day from a less resourceful vantage point.
It also helps to do a similar end-of-year review. One thing that came from doing it yearly is I now keep a notebook to capture these reviews. Capturing these small daily reviews helps to recognize how small things done consistently leads to massive results in your business, profits, and sense of wellbeing.
What do you think? How could you build upon what’s going right and make adjustments to better serve your clients?
Marilyn Suttle is an international keynoter, and success coach for those wanting to attract and retain happy customers and expand their personal power. She specializes in creating prosperous cultures of excellence by creating “Suttle Shifts” in the way people think and act to get further faster and with less stress. Her bestselling book, “Who’s Your Gladys? How to Turn Even the Most Difficult Customer Into Your Biggest Fan” is the result of decades of experience and extensive interviews with CEO’s, managers, and front line staff of service focused businesses. Visit www.MarilynSuttle.com
