If you are to succeed you need to keep your motivation high, you need to know that you are going to complete your goals. Every time you feel like you are loosing your way and/or your motivation, just look at the map you have made and it will come rushing back.
Here are the four steps to creating your master plan.:
Start by "painting" a picture of when you have completed your goals. How will you act? What will you do? What will be different? Make that picture as clear as possible (this will help your motivation when things get tough).
2. What needs to happen for you to complete your goals
List everything that needs to happen for you to have completed your goals. What do you need to have done? How much money do you need to have made? Who do you need to know? Anything that will needs to have happened in order for you to complete your goals.
3. Go back 90 days and do the same thing again.
What has to have happened 90 days before you complete your goals?
4. Redo this until you reach the present date.
Now you will have a complete plan, guide, for you to follow. Every step that has to happen for you to get from where you are today to your goals.
Your plans are not written in stone
Since you can not be completely right the first time you do this, do not be afraid to remake your plans as new realities develop. Use your plan to evaluate opportunities, dangers, actions and tasks. If you see that something isn’t helping you read your goals, don’t waste your time.
Making the plan will let you gauge your progress
By having you will be able to see how far you have gotten, what needs to be done next and if you are ahead of or behind schedule. If you don’t have a plan you will never be sure how you are sizing up.
It lets you be proactive and make the best of opportunities
Since you know exactly what needs to be accomplished and in what time it has to be done, you will be able to react to every opportunity and evaluate it objectively.
Will it help you move towards your goals?
Is it worth the time?
Is there something else that will give you a better return on invested time and effort?
It is the key of all successful businesses and people
All successful business (and successful people) have started with a complete plan of action.
They have known exactly where they are going and what they need to do. Even if they end up doing something completely different then they planned, the act of planning let them act on opportunities, react to changes in the marketplace and get the most out of their opportunities.
On the other hand, people who didn’t spend time planning their goals missed opportunities, went after the wrong ones and ended up running in circles. Almost all failed startups failed because they didn’t have a clear plan of action. Don’t let this be you and don’t let this be your life.
Conclusion
Spending time on planning will save you lots of time on execution.
Start by visualizing your goal and then planning backword 90 days at a time until you get to the present.
That way you will have a complete plan to follow. Exactly what needs to be done on a week by week basis so that you can move towards your goals.
