In the last chapter Getting Your Priorities Straight, you
learned how to develop a vision and goal for your life.
In this chapter we will talk more in depth about creating your
goals. Once again, a lot of this information will be repeated
several times.
Are you shooting in the dark or do you have a well-organized and
effective game plan in place for achieving your life's goals?
Let us say that you have been planning the vacation of your
dreams. You find yourself so excited that you pass most of your
time daydreaming about the fun you will have the things you will
do on your trip rather than making a detailed plan. The
departure date rolls around and you are all packed and ready to
go. You arrive safely at the airport only to realize that you
cannot find your departure gate because you do not know what
your flight number is and to make matters worse - you cannot
remember what airline you booked with. At this point you are not
even sure if you were to fly to Vienna first or to Geneva. This
is the beginning of your dream vacation of a lifetime.
Of course, you would never actually allow such a scenario for
your dream vacation. Yet, so many people treat their business in
just that manner. Lack of planning and disorganization combined
will not produce the results we desire.
Putting you game plan together is a critical element to your
success. Your game plan is simply your business plan. Consider
your game plan the foundation of your business. Without a
foundation the business cannot stand.
To formulate your game plan you need to create a workable plan
and then you need to CONSISTENTLY work that plan. Creating this
plan will be one of the most rewarding things you ever do. You
will feel a sense of accomplishment when you can see the fruits
of your labor after working your plan. There is something very
satisfying about making a commitment, sticking with it and
seeing the results.
Most people who start a business online do so by leaping in,
without any real commitment, a sense of direction or any real
understanding of the implications associated with success or
failure. Many gain that understanding later, usually at a great
cost.
Most of the Web’s “Newbies” are excited about the obvious
potential of “Working From Home…Income Potential”, but don’t
have a clue as to how they can turn that potential into real
income. On the other hand, there are the “Professionals” who
have mastered the critical skills that bridge the huge gap
between potential and reality.
While the Professional are busy mastering their skills and
reaping great wealth, the Newbies most of whom are barely
earning enough to maintain their online expenses) are becoming
discouraged by the lack of accomplishment and consequently jump
from one business opportunity to the next in utter frustration.
Currently, I spend a good deal of time in New York where there
are tons of skyscrapers. Can you imagine what would happen if
the visionaries who developed those skyscrapers did not take the
time to develop a plan or a blueprint to lay the foundation for
each of those skyscrapers? The end result would be unspeakable.
The same is true for your business. If it is to last the test of
time and achieve your goal, you will be required to lay your
foundation.
So, get yourself a cup of tea, hit the recliner and get your
notebook ready. You’re going to write a few things down. Do not
forget it is important to write things down as writing some how
locks things in more than just thinking about them. It is after
all, scientifically proven that the exercise of writing has a
significant effect on the neurological system.
You game plan should be clear, simple and direct. Its focus
should be on where you are going, when you will arrive there and
by what means you will get there. Remember, you are going to
need to journal for this.
Are you ready? Great! Let’s get started!
Formulating Your Plan
Know that the game plan that you commit to will set you free if
you take action and give it your best effort.
At first you will formulate a long-term plan. Then working
backward from that long-term plan you will create a daily plan.
You will know exactly what you want and see clearly how you are
going get it.
Construction of the plan:
Write in your journal exactly where you would like to be in 5
years. Immediately under that write in big bold letters, “I
COMMIT TO DOING WHAT IS REQUIRED OF ME TO ACCOMPLISH MY GOALS”.
Keep things simple.
In constructing you plan you are going to begin working backward
from a long-term plan to a daily plan. You need to create a list
daily – your “Things To Do Today” list. With this you will know
exactly what is required of you on a daily basis to get where
you want to be and how you are going to go about getting on
there in small steps.
We will call five years the span of your long-term plan. So
working backward from there you should have the following
increments:
Your Five-Year Plan
Your Three-Year Plan
Your One-Year Commitment
Your Next 90 Days
Your Weekly Plan
Your Daily Plan
Your Five-Year Plan:
Most of us cannot wait. Five years may seem like a very long
time, but if you think about it, what were you doing the last
five years? Does it seem that they have just whizzed by? Doesn't
seem that long, does it?
Your Five-Year plan should be a clearly defined vision of where
you want your life to be in five years. What is it that you want
to accomplish in this period of time? By diligently working your
plan you can expect to arrive at that destination on schedule or
early.
Five years is a good time frame for achieving one's long term
goals. Some of you will do it much faster and some will do it
slower, while some will not do it at all. You are going to
accomplish this goal one step at a time. Your accomplishment of
your goals – short-term or long-term – will depend on your
personal level of commitment.
Your One-Year Plan:
Since achieving your 5-year goal is dependent upon achieving
your 1-year goal, realistically you are going to have to commit
to you success for one year first.
Think of this for a moment: Can you imagine Jerry Yang,
co-founder of Yahoo, starting Yahoo and saying, “I am going to
give this 30 days”? Absolutely not! Yet, many take that
non-committal attitude toward their goals and financial future.
If you are going to achieve your life's goals and financial
freedom marketing on the Internet, you are going to need to
commit to working your plan for at least one year.
Whatever you long-term goal is (i.e. Real Estate Developer) you
will need to invest the first year to get your education and
expertise in that area and to get your business off the ground.
Here is an example of what you can expect in one year:
You will make money
You will make mistakes
You will grow and gain wisdom
You will develop knowledge and skill
You will develop new relationships
You will become experienced
You will be doing all that it takes to fulfill your plan
Your Daily Plan:
Here you need to list everything that should be done daily to
further your progress. Once you have your list you can
prioritize the items on your list based on the following:
Priority #1: The “I Must Do Activity”
Ask yourself: How critical is accomplishing this task to meeting
my One-Year goal? If the task is critical then put a number 1 in
the margin beside it.
Priority #2: The “I Should Do Activity”
Ask yourself: Is this something I should do that is beneficial
to me in achieving my One-year goal? If the task falls under
this category go ahead and place a number 2 in the margin beside
it.
Priority #3: The “I Like Doing Activity”
Ask yourself (be honest here): How relevant is accomplishing
this to my achieving my goal? Have I accomplished the things
that I MUST and SHOULD so that I am now able to do the things
that I like? Place a number 3 in the margin next to these items.
You will need to cut time from doing the things that you like to
do in order to do the things that you MUST do. You will need to
do whatever it takes to get Priorities #1 and #2 accomplished
first.
You will have a list of all the things that need to be done on a
given day – fully prioritized. The accomplishment of this daily
list will be the foundation of your success.
The kids are screaming, you've already worked 8 hours plus 2
hours of overtime with an hour commute. How do you find the
time, you ask? Make It! It's called sacrifice. Commitment. It is
prioritizing!
Somehow, we always find the time to do the things that are
REALLY, REALLY important to us. If we want something enough, we
will create the time if we have to.
Now tell me, would such a sacrifice be worth it, in order to
enjoy Freedom of time, lifestyle and finances in as little 1-3
years? You bet!
Try it! You just may be surprised.
About the Author
Lois has been blessed with earning a full time income working from home part-time, through combining MLM and Affiliate Marketing. You CAN TOO! Subscribe to Building Wealth News Ezine and Discover HOW to "Bridge The Gap Between MLM And Affiliate Marketing"
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