Most folks will spend more time planning their vacations this year, than they will spend planning their success. Isn’t that funny? It’s true! Planning is extremely important for both businesses and professionals. The thought of sitting down and working on a “strategic” plan seems rather daunting to most. But it doesn’t need to be.
Start small. Add just a pinch of planning to your business. Create a strategic plan for next week. It can be all on one piece of paper that you can carry around with you. Here are a few things I would include.
Big Goal: Write down your biggest goal for the week at the top of the page, in BOLD. Hopefully, this is a difficult or extremely important task that will help your success.
Habit: Write down one habit you are going to work on every day. It could be anything from drinking more water to practicing empathy.
Top 10: List the top 10 projects/tasks that you want to complete for the week. You may have more than ten, but only work on 10 at a time so your brain doesn’t get overwhelmed.
Follow-ups: Make a quick list of the folks you are going to follow-up with this week. Instead of calling them “if you get around to it” you are making it a priority to contact them.
Queue: Have a spot on your weekly tracker that you can put down items to be done in the future. You don’t want your brain spending the time to remember these tasks. Write them in your queue and move on.
You are ready! That wasn’t too bad was it? Now, here is the KEY to this activity. Send your plan to three other people. You have now COMMITTED to do the plan, instead of just wishing you will do it yourself. Accountability will increase your success substantially.
Try this weekly tracker on for size. Let me know what you think. A “pinch” of planning will pay great dividends. Don’t just hope to succeed. Plan to succeed.
