You’ve Got a Goal– Now What?
You’ve taken the first major step in the goal setting process by outlining your goal. Hopefully you have created a goal that inspires you, that keeps you awake at night, that drives you with every breath that you take. So what comes next?
It’s time to take that goal and break it down into a series of manageable steps. Why is this necessary? Simple—because this goal is probably so fantastic, so amazing, that it is far off, barely visible in the horizon. It’s probably so far off, in fact, that it becomes daunting, almost to the point of being overwhelming.
What’s necessary at this point is to make this goal realistic, and bring it into the “now.” You can do this by outlining the series of steps that it will take for you to get from where you are today to where you want to be at the end of journey.
In other words, you are going to create your very own action plan. There are several important factors to keep in mind when building your plan:
1. Leave No Stone Unturned. Make your plan as detailed as you reasonably can. Set deadlines for the various roadposts in the journey. That being said, don’t go overboard with this part of the exercise by going into too much detail. Outline what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, and what you need to complete it. Than move on.
2. Vary Your Plan of Attack. Give yourself as many options as possible to achieve your goal. Have back-up plans, and if you are feeling particularly ambitious, have back-up plans for those. For example, if you were wanting to lose weight, make sure that you have several different fitness regimens, several different diets in plan. When you have an array of options, you give yourself room to maneouver when the inevitable roadblock occurs. Also, by varying your plan of attack, you keep your mind and fresh and interested.
3. Make Sure Your Plan Begins with Something You Can Do Today. Having a goal plan is swell and dandy, but it is meaningless without the will to pursue it. Make the first step of your goal plan something that you can commence today, at this very moment. Doing this will infect you with the habit of taking action, and it will give you momentum into the next crucial few days. And no—just writing out the plan isn’t the first step in your journey. It has to be something that you act on.
4. Make a List of the Resources You Require. This could include money, equipment, a gym membership, some type of special education. You may need so much that it is overwhelming. Don’t be swallowed up by this needless panic; write out a list of exactly what you need, and slowly acquire everything on it.
5. Be Willing to Be Flexible With Your Plan. The fact is that you are constantly evolving as a person. The person we are today is not the same person we were yesterday. Your plan should be the same. It should evolve with you. This isn’t an excuse to give up, or to avoid hard work. Being flexible means that the end remains the same while the means is open to change where necessary.
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