Monday
Jun092008
Working the plan to be successful in business.
Monday, June 9, 2008 at 7:30AM
I encourage my clients to develop an action plan for their business. This is a thirteen week strategic plan that lays out the specific tasks they plan to accomplish each week during the next quarter. The plan is important because without it you'll quickly lose focus. It's also important that you get the planning out of the way so that you can move forward and focus on meaningful ACTION.
Action is necessary for success, but the plan is so important because only the right kind of action will result in true accomplishment. It's not enough just to stay busy.
There are days when I drive home and I feel beaten, defeated, in the dumps...just terrible. These are the days when I was busy but I failed to get anything meaningful done. They are also the days when I didn't plan or when I didn't stick to the plan. I have long been in the habit of sitting down the day before, usually at the end of the day, and planning my tomorrow. If you've never done this I would encourage it. You have much greater peace of mind in the evenings and your brain starts to subconsciously work on the upcoming tasks. As a result you get to work the next day and you hit the ground running.
However, there are days when I get distracted, when I find it hard to stick to the plan. There are two ways that I combat this and try to make sure I drive home feeling like I've accomplished something during the day. First, I try to make sure someone is holding me accountable for everything on my plan. Sometimes I've promised something to a client so I don't have a choice but to get it done. Sometimes I'll ask my staff to hold me accountable. When I know someone else is looking over my shoulder I'm much less likely to get distracted.
Second, I try to envision that feeling I want to have when I'm driving home at the end of the day. I take just a brief moment and picture myself having accomplished everything on my list. I picture myself tired from a hard days work but invigorated by all that I've achieved. I picture the outcome that I want and that helps me stay focused on the tasks needed to get there.
So take a few minutes and decide what you INTEND to accomplish today. Start working your plan in bite sized pieces and keep moving forward. If you have one of those days when you don't feel like you've achieved much take a time-out and plan tomorrow. Then get some rest and forget about it. I've found this helps get back on track.
Action is necessary for success, but the plan is so important because only the right kind of action will result in true accomplishment. It's not enough just to stay busy.
There are days when I drive home and I feel beaten, defeated, in the dumps...just terrible. These are the days when I was busy but I failed to get anything meaningful done. They are also the days when I didn't plan or when I didn't stick to the plan. I have long been in the habit of sitting down the day before, usually at the end of the day, and planning my tomorrow. If you've never done this I would encourage it. You have much greater peace of mind in the evenings and your brain starts to subconsciously work on the upcoming tasks. As a result you get to work the next day and you hit the ground running.
However, there are days when I get distracted, when I find it hard to stick to the plan. There are two ways that I combat this and try to make sure I drive home feeling like I've accomplished something during the day. First, I try to make sure someone is holding me accountable for everything on my plan. Sometimes I've promised something to a client so I don't have a choice but to get it done. Sometimes I'll ask my staff to hold me accountable. When I know someone else is looking over my shoulder I'm much less likely to get distracted.
Second, I try to envision that feeling I want to have when I'm driving home at the end of the day. I take just a brief moment and picture myself having accomplished everything on my list. I picture myself tired from a hard days work but invigorated by all that I've achieved. I picture the outcome that I want and that helps me stay focused on the tasks needed to get there.
So take a few minutes and decide what you INTEND to accomplish today. Start working your plan in bite sized pieces and keep moving forward. If you have one of those days when you don't feel like you've achieved much take a time-out and plan tomorrow. Then get some rest and forget about it. I've found this helps get back on track.
in Consulting