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Author: Christy Geiger Article source: http://www.themillionaireblog.com/. Used with author's permission.
Do you find yourself amazed at how quickly the months pass? Do
you find yourself in a small panic over all you know you have to
do and how little you feel you are actually accomplishing? Join
the crowd! We live in a busy world where our time, priorities and energy are constantly challenged. The reality is that there is simply not time for everything and we don't have enough energy to complete everything.
What do we do? There are 5 simple steps to create greater success
by managing our time and getting things done in business and life
that are important.
1. EVALUATE. What do I really want? Where am I headed? What am I
doing now?
2. GET REAL. What is really important that will impact and
support your long term goals the best? What is not important?
What is distracting me? What is not really supporting my long
term goal?
3. PLAN. What do I need to do to accomplish my goal? What are the
KEY action steps? How will I do this? What schedule or strategy
will keep me focused?
4. FOCUS. Who do you need to be and what structures do you need
to have to accomplish this (mindset, attitude, accountability)?
5. MONITOR/EVALUATE. Am I doing little, unimportant things? Am I
procrastinating? What is working/ what is not? How could I
streamline what I am doing?
What happens with good intentions and goals…
Plans begin as ideas in our head; we desire to have or do
something. The key to the success of the idea is a plan. You know
the saying, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." Sometime our
ideas will make it to paper in the form of a SMART goal and
sometime not. If we do write a goal people sometimes we will
create some action steps, but rarely do they take the time to
thoroughly think through what actions are actually needed at each
stage to accomplish the goal completely. Sometimes people will
start planning and get overwhelmed at how much work it will
actually take or get overwhelmed with the process and give up.
Often our goals remain our dreams because we fail to carve out
time to make them reality. A management tip is to create a plan
from start to finish. With this plan, decide if you have the
time, energy, resources and desire to bring it to completion.
Next, estimate HOW LONG each task will actually take. It is
common to underestimate how much time each step will take and
therefore it never gets done. Remember, if you are going to add
something to your schedule, you must also plan to say "No!" to
something else to make time to accomplish your goal.
Step 1: EVALUATE…
To create an effective plan, begin with a careful evaluation.
Most people are constantly evaluating their present state without
much problem. We are constantly assessing, "What do I really want
right now?" We look at things around us and talk about what we
would like to be different in our life. We talk about our goals,
New Year's Resolutions, current intentions, etc. We often state
them as fact and sincerely intend to accomplish those in our
life. We see how they would make a positive difference and desire
for them to happen. There is a small percentage of people who
also evaluate the questions, "Where am I headed?" and "What will
it take for me to get there?" Evaluation is a tool that allows
you to anchor where you are now, determine where you want to go
and create markers along the way to ensure you stay on course.
Without a longer term vision, we tend to react to current
situations, "I need to make more money, I need to lose weight, I
need to get this business off the ground, etc." This leads to
wandering through life without focus or purpose. Evaluate the
present and then also evaluate the future and what it would take
to get there.
Step 2: GET REAL...
Then, get real. Does this fit in with where you are headed with
your long term goals in your life? What is doing this going to
get you? What is the cost (consider time, money, energy,
emotional, etc.) Are you willing to pay it? If you do really want
this, what is going to be important that you do? What is
distracting you from making this happen?
Identify Key Result Items:
o Write exactly where you are headed and what this is going to
get you.
o Identify what you will have to do and write that down.
o Identify what you will have to say "no" to and commit to 3
things you will have to stop to make this happen. Identify what
this will "cost" and write down how you will "pay" for it. (This
is not just financial, it may be something intangible like -
COST: time with the family, PAYMENT: work later during week, but
home Friday for dinner and family day all Saturday.)
o Identify 5 main distractions and how you can eliminate those.
Step 3: PLAN…
Next, plan what it will take to make this happen. You already
have some Key Result Items from your Get Real Exercise. Take
those and add to the list other ideas of what you know you will
need to do to accomplish your goal. What are specific action
steps you will need to take? Stop a minute and in your mind focus
on your long term goal. See it in full and complete form. What is
there? What are you doing? What do you notice about yourself and
your actions? Now, in your mind walk backwards what did you do to
get there? For example, if part of my long term goal is to have a
thriving independent business, I may visualize myself in an
office with the flexibility to be remote. Part of what I would
need to do is establish an office, design portable systems, have
a virtual assistant, have tools and resources for office work,
etc. This becomes one Key Result Area: A functional Office. Then
I walk backwards and plan steps I would have taken to create this
functional office. Put dates on each broken-down action step and
estimate what it will take to make each step happen (time, cost,
etc.). Allocate completion targets accordingly.
Step 4: FOCUS…
Now that you have your plan flushed out and in place, who do you
need to be to accomplish this? Going back to your vision of your
completed goal, what mindset and attitude did you have throughout
the project? How did you do this? What schedule or strategy kept
you focused? What systems of accountability did you have in
place? What kept you on track and focused? One of the most common
errors people make is IF they get their plan complete, they begin
work and get caught up in the rush of life again and start
reacting and forget about their plan. When you created your plan
you were looking at the big picture. When you are working in the
trenches of life, you are limited to see what is in front of you,
unless you stick to the plan. There is nothing wrong with
evaluating and refining your plan as you go, but only when you
are looking at it in perspective of the whole picture and not the
short term moment. The story is told about the caravan crossing
the Sahara desert. The desert was barren and large. Many parties
got lost crossing the great plains as they could not see their
destination over the horizon. A team went in and put in markers
for travelers to focus on as they crossed so they would use each
marker as a point of reference until they could see the city.
This allows many parties to cross the treacherous desert in the
most direct and efficient path. This is your plan. Plan it well,
establish milestones to focus on, trust them and stay the
course!
Step 5: Monitor…
Step back occasionally and evaluate what you are doing. Go back
to step one. How are you doing? What is working what is not? Are
you on track or off course? Make adjustments to get on track,
re-design what is not working to new solutions and refine the
plan in area that would increase efficiency or results toward
your goal. Keep your long-term goal in mind and check to make
sure your short term goals are supporting the long term goals.
Notice your behavior. Accomplishing big goals is hard work. Plan
first and keep your eyes on the pre-set short term goal that
position you to reach your bigger vision.
Bottom line…
None of these strategies are rocket science. The challenge is to
maintain the discipline, focus and clarity to implement these
basic strategies. Evaluate your long term goal, be realistic,
plan, set structures for focus and have check points to monitor.
Invest your time in your plan and maintain the course once it is
set. If you are serious about these goals, take action today.
Insure your success by developing an accountably system for
yourself. Hire a coach as your strategic partner to run with you. Find a buddy in a similar situation. Whatever it is, build
environments to support your vision. Take the time to plan and
design structures for success and you will see a difference!
Here's to you and your success! Have fun! Christy Geiger is a strategic planning coach and the owner
of Synergy Strategies, a business and life-coaching company
that works with IBOs and professionals to implement their
thousands of great ideas in ways that will maximize time,
energy and effort! Through solid vision, goal and strategy
planning, clients are able to maximize their personal
effectiveness and accomplish their mission! Visit
http://www.synergystrategies.com/
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