Sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of our progress; we need to quantify where we’ve been and how successful our plans for the previous year have been in order to make the plans that will get us where we want to be. In December’s Stitches Magazine, my perennial Ask an Expert column covers the process of judging just how well one has done and what it takes to get prepared and pumped up for the year ahead.

Though I encourage you wholeheartedly to head over to the digital version to read the article in its entirety, here are the high points:

Start with the numbers— Just as it sounds, if you’ve been tracking your overhead, costs, and income (and if you haven’t- start now!) you can fairly easily figure out your profits. Start there. Though money isn’t everything, it’s the base metric for business success and for the continued ability for your company to operate and grow.

Take stock of your mastery— Ask yourself if you are a better, more capable, and higher-quality decorator than you were at the beginning of the year. Have you made strides to be a better decorator or business person? What have you learned? Positive movement here is a win.

Have you remained aligned with your purpose?— Can you point to consistent work that proved that you’ve kept your purpose in mind, whether that’s in business, social good, improving the lives of your employees, or some other good that you are after? If you can point to consistent work that fulfills the greater purpose of your business and your work, that’s another big win.

Have you increased your exposure?— Though popularity for its own sake doesn’t mean nearly as much as purpose, gaining reputable connections and maintaining a higher profile in your industry and community is key to creating opportunities for your business. If you’ve become more popular and increased the good opinion of your work, that’s a great sign that you are doing something right.

Combine it in to one question— Has your business been profitable, increasingly able to take on projects, purposefully focused, and more important to your community and peers in 2015? If that’s a resounding yes, breathe a short sigh of relief and get ready for the coming year.

Taking on the new year means generating some personal energy and interest to get you started; here are the top ways I, as an experienced decorator, get and keep myself revved up.

Cultivate a beginner’s mindset— I remind myself constantly that there’s always something new to learn and that every project may offer a chance to innovate and improve. Learn to crave the uncomfortable space just past the edge of what you know how to handle- that’s where all growth happens.

Share, teach, and talk— Engage in the community at large, whether that’s the community of your peers in the industry or your local community. Being involved, seeking to help others, and joining in the larger conversation gives you more to aim for and look forward to than you will ever have if you go it entirely alone.

Measure and evaluate more often— It becomes very easy to spin one’s wheels chasing the false sense of achievement one gets from being ‘busy’. It’s all too inviting for those of us who grind to do unnecessary work if we don’t evaluate what that work is (or isn’t) achieving. Set goals, measure progress, and re-evaluate those goals often.

No matter how you go about it, the real key to improving business performance and staying motivated is realizing that all of this is a process; it’s about showing up every day, even when it doesn’t go to our liking. Push past the resistance that tells you to wait for inspiration or to rely on good luck to get things done; show up, do your work, share with others, and repeat. You’ll find the gains and the growing sense of momentum you need to succeed.

Check out the full text at Stitches Magazine!