Review the past week: Most small business owners do not review the past week, but it is extremely important you do so. What were the goals you set last week and couldn’t accomplished? What were the possible hindrances that stopped you or your team from accomplishing your last week goals? What was the significant impact of the goals you accomplished? What were the things you did right or wrong? These are the important questions you have to straighten out before you start your new week. Your last week shouldn’t be disjointed from your new week. Your new week is an extension of the past week. So, learn to roll over the unfinished tasks of last week into the new week. That way you will create fluidity in the results you get in your business. And like the say “little drops makes a mighty ocean”. All the accomplished series of tasks over several weeks will eventually lead to business success.     

Plan the new week: It is wrong to go about a new week following the same routine like most employees do. It may work for employees, but it won’t work for a business owner. Most employees are attracted to the salary at the end of the day, week or month. But as a business owner, you should be motivated by the growth of your business and then the income. So your new week shouldn’t be the same old routine; it must be flavored. Not flavored with unnecessary activities, but with productive tasks that will yield better result for your business. So, set goals based on the review of the past week. Set achievable goals and necessary tasks needed to be done or accomplished. I will advise you to plan your new week on paper, not in your mind. You cannot plan an entire day or new week in your mind; that is not planning. Your mind processes hundreds of information per minute, so, you can’t trust it to help you remember your routine for the new week. Whatever you do, plan on paper.    

Sleep early and wake up early: If you have taken the Sunday evening or night to review and plan the new week, then it is important to sleep early and not hang out late in a night club or watching a late night movie. Don’t even work through the night. Try and catch enough sleep. Make sure you catch at least 8 hours of sleep. That will keep you mentally refreshed for the new week. Your entire body will be refreshed too. Also, something spectacular will happen in your subconscious mind; it will process the entire plan for the new week, getting your body system ready for action in the morning. Yes, we have top CEOs and business leaders who barely sleep for 4 or 5 hours every day. There is nothing wrong with taking a cue from them, but on a Sunday night, make sure you allow your body rest for at least 8 hours so you can approach the new well mentally ready and otherwise.    

Show up at the office early: Whether you are alone or work with a handful of staff, it is important you be the number one person to show up at the office. Get the atmosphere ready for the Monday morning action. If you are your own very boss, get to action on what needs to be done. But if you have staff or team working with you, prepare the atmosphere to communicate the mission of the week to them. Start the meeting with a pep-talk. A good fifteen minutes motivational speech will put everyone in a positive mind frame. It will also fill the office environment with lots of positive energy. After the talk, get into the meeting proper, analyzing the past week. Don’t let your staff be your sounding board; engage them. Let them do the appraisal of the past week and also plan for the new week. Whatever you do, don’t forget to end the meeting with the necessary action plan for everyone. I won’t spent time telling you to teach yourself and staff how to avoid distraction; you should know distraction is not your good friend in accomplishing your goals. So learn to focus all your energy on what is urgent, important, necessary and productive.

End the day well: The only way to end the day well, whether things went as planned or not, is to keep yourself, staff and working environment motivated at all times. Monday is just the first of the five working days and the focus shouldn’t be on it alone. Whatever is not accomplished on Monday, can be done on Tuesday. Learn to manage situation, whether good, bad or ugly. That is where your emotional intelligence comes in. But whatever it is you are confronted with, make sure your Monday is as beautiful as planned because it may determine the success you will record the next day and day after. It will determine the success you will achieve throughout the week. So, keep the right frame of mind and your Monday will be splendid.