With goal objectives in mind, consider the organizers of a marathon race. They take time to mark out the course. The way is planned. Otherwise reaching the finish line would be a matter of chance depending on whether a runner just happened to be in the area to see it! Likewise reaching goal objectives requires planning. It's important to identify obstacles and also how to acquire help. Make a list of possible obstacles and yet another list of knowledge, people or organizations that could help you. Also there is a need for deadlines and the need to make another list of manageable slices or segments leading toward the main goal. The next step involves using all the information gathered from these two previous steps. Combine all these lists and put them in a logical order Lay out the manageable steps in order of progression interweaving the details from your obstacles list and help list. Get a large sketch pad and play around with the order of things until the plan begins to flow towards your goal objectives. Acquiring knowledge for example would come before contacting people or organizations. Once you have educated yourself a little you can ask intelligent questions and get valuable answers and leads. Without knowledge you don't even know what you need to know to be able to ask! Make sure your plan is not too rigid! Otherwise any deviation from the course could spell disaster if the plan is not flexible! So factor in room for the unexpected when moving towards your goal objectives. If one deadline is missed it should not jeoparize the rest of the plan. Have more than one option open at crucial stages. The flow can then follow a different route and still arrive at the same destination and achieve your goal objectives. Once this session is completed you now have an action plan. The course to the finish line for your goal is set. The way is marked out. This step is a tremendous confidence booster and it is extremely practical. Without planning you can drop out of the race early on. When it comes to your goal objectives, by looking ahead through planning you get ahead and stay ahead! |
