Reflect and Renew: 18 Questions to Refresh Your Business Every Quarter

Every quarter, I like to reflect and renew my business goals. It’s a great way to know that you’re on the path you want to be on. Certainly, you can also realize if you’re on a path that you no longer wish to continue down, too.

Either way, reflecting and renewing your goals and commitment to yourself is a fantastic business tool that I’d encourage any business owner at any stage of the game to do, especially us purpose-driven entrepreneurs. If we lose sight of why we’re doing something, business can become a slog, but oftentimes we put our own needs far down on the priority list that it takes a while for us to realize when something is not quite fitting correctly anymore.

Here is how to perform your own business goal setting reflect and renew audit, along with 18 questions to ask yourself to get the most out of your time reflecting and recommitting to yourself and your goals.

Reflect and Renew Step 1: Celebrate

Most of my clients are high-achieving women that are constantly driving for more. Oftentimes, celebration is not included in that quest for more. When celebration does happen, it’s a quick pat on the back before moving onto the next goal. If that’s you, too, know that it’s okay. But also know that it is time to add some celebrating back into your goal setting and reflection routine!

The longer you go without celebrating your accomplishments, the more resentment could build up. Sometimes, it isn’t so much resentment as it is just feeling burned out and apathetic about your business. No matter what, the goal here is to inject some positive energy into your routine and recognize all of the amazing things you’ve done in the last 3 months!

For the sake of the examples, I’m going to use 3 months as the reflection period. Pick a timeframe that feels best for you to explore and answer these questions:

• What are the top 3 accomplishments from the last 3 months that I want to note and celebrate?

• What am I most proud of accomplishing in the last 3 months?

• What felt easy, free, joyful to do these past 3 months? (Note: It may not be related to how your current business stands now. That’s okay! Still write it. We’re celebrating everything that feels good!)

Related Reading: The First Step To Manifesting Your Intentions 

Reflect and Renew Step 2: Acknowledge the Lessons Learned

You may have a lot of lessons that you’ve learned this past quarter or you may have one big theme. Either way, we cannot move forward if we don’t acknowledge the past. Understanding and leaning into the knowledge that you’ve gained from these experiences is so helpful when reflecting and setting new goals (or maintaining the ones you’re working on). You’ll not only be able to forgive yourself for any “mistakes,” but you can see them as growing points on your journey.

Answer these questions to help you reflect on past lessons and what they’ve taught you that you can use as you set future goals:

• What was challenging and/or difficult to do?

• What pulled me out of my zone of genius? How often was I outside my zone of genius?

• What caused the largest roadblock/breakdown/frustration? (Note: This may be a situation, a client, a task, or a timeframe. For example: by Friday, your energy was drained and any work produced was not your best.)

• How can I work with those challenges to make things more fun and enjoyable in the future? Do I even want to work with them or would I like to eliminate them entirely?

• What would I like to continue doing? What would I like to stop doing?

Related Reading: 5 Ways to Set & Maintain Habits with Ease 

It is here where you may notice that what you’re doing is no longer in alignment with how you want to share your gifts with the world. Don’t judge what’s coming during this reflect and renew step. Just note what’s happening and how you’re feeling as you’re doing it and move onto the next sections to help you refine what you’re doing and how you’re doing it.

Reflect and Renew Step 3: Think to the Future

We’ve celebrated and reflected on the lessons from the past. Now is the time to look to the future and what you want to do with your time! This is also the time when you look at the lessons you’ve learned and decide whether you want to continue navigating the path you’re working on or pivot to a new path.

Ask yourself:

• What do I really want to do with my days? What would allow me to feel the values I want to associate with my days and the work I bring into this world?

• What kind of future do I imagine for myself in the next 3-6-12 months? What do I desire most?

• What would me in 3 months most want to have accomplished?

• What would be possible if…

Related Reading: Mindset and Mantra: What If It’s Possible 

Reflect and Renew Step 4: Create Future Goals

Let’s wrap all of these reflections together to create strong goals for your future. As they say, powerful goals that will help you make progress toward your future vision are: Specific, Measurable, Actionable/Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound. Think through the specific actions you’ll take to bring purpose, joy, and value-filled time into your day.

• What’s the very next step I can take to support myself and my progress toward my goal(s)?

• What would it look like if it were easy?

• What kind of support will help me achieve my future vision?

• What do I think will be a roadblock for me in accomplishing this? How can I anticipate these challenges and plan for success regardless?

• What will I do each day/week/month to move myself toward my future vision and goals?

• When will I review my progress and check in on my successes and tribulations? How will I reward myself when I achieve that goal? Will I give myself consequences if I don’t?

Related Reading: Accomplish Big Goals with the 12 Week Year: How to Have the Best Quarter Ever 

One thing I know about business is that it’s constantly changing. As they say, change is the only constant. We’re always growing, learning, shifting, breaking apart, and coming back together. And I always like to take time to reflect on where I’ve been and where I’d like to go at certain milestones. I find that new months or quarters are great times for that.

After all, what good is all the change you’ve been doing if you don’t take a moment to reflect and consider how you want to continue implementing and/or iterating it in the future? I hope this flow helps you to perform your own business goal setting reflect and renew session!

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