Part III ‑ Your personal comprehensive plan.
Exercise
#10: The Framework
For each slice of life, use the "GOAL"
sheet which follows or make your own in a document or spreadsheet. This is an image which can be copied and enlarged to fit a single page and be printed.
In the top space, use the category name and write a sentence explaining what it means to you. Draw or insert an image which represents to you this part of your life, as it is or as you wish it to become. Then go to your index card from exercise #1, or your "to do list" from exercise #4, and put those goals on each goal sheet. Use the day's date for the "IN" column. In the future you'll use the "OUT" column to record its accomplishment. A continuation sheet image is at the end.
In the top space, use the category name and write a sentence explaining what it means to you. Draw or insert an image which represents to you this part of your life, as it is or as you wish it to become. Then go to your index card from exercise #1, or your "to do list" from exercise #4, and put those goals on each goal sheet. Use the day's date for the "IN" column. In the future you'll use the "OUT" column to record its accomplishment. A continuation sheet image is at the end.
The ideal future mind map will also be a source.
You may list both objective and subjective goals. Remember, objective goals are
important to measure movement. Where possible, list a date by which you would
like each goal to be accomplished. You can make additional sheets with regular
three ring notebook paper.
Now you have goals, both subjective and objective,
but in order to "do" effectively, you must set priorities and
determine strategies for accomplishing your goals.
Exercise
#11: Elements of the written Personal
Comprehensive Plan
Planning is a process and although goals may change
over time they should be stated. A plan does not limit you, so
"serendipity" and "intuition" are needed. The environment
can change radically for better or worse and you must be able to respond to new
opportunities. The basic work has established your goals and objectives.
Priorities: For the
life goals and objectives you should establish priorities, indicating the
relative importance among each. There will be some cross competition between objectives
when you are pursuing more than one goal. Rank your goal sheets from first to
seventh. You may wish to get tab sheets and number or color code them. Put them
in a three ring binder. The eighth index section can serve ‑ front or back ‑
for the compiled plan.
Strategies: To
accomplish your goals it is likely that you will have to become more efficient,
since you've listed way many more things than you can accomplish. Strategic
thinking is the action portion of the plan. You can analyze these things in
writing or just work them out in your head. The goals you have now are still
lists and not a plan.
Now write your plan, begin with:
I. Life Goal Categories. This lists the big seven
with an explanation of what is covered and its relation to your life.
Prioritize them, putting the most important first.
II. Goals by category ‑ subdivided into:
Long Term
‑ list those things that will require more than a year to achieve.
Annual ‑
list those things that you want to accomplish in the next 12 months. It is
useful to begin the annual process on the calendar, birthday or fiscal year
basis. You can make a statement about the year indicating your expectations for
it. This should be a positive affirmation. These are your current priorities. A
sample outline follows. If possible, put this on word processing so it is
easier to shift things around and keep current.
A
Personal Plan
A statement of philosophy, principles or other
ideas which reflects your overall approach to life and meeting the goals in
your life.
I. Life goal categories and statements:
1. ABC in
order to xyz.
2. DEF
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
II. Goals ‑ Long term objectives and life goals by
category with decade, year or other measure of when to be accomplished by.
LONG TERM
1. ABC
a. Achieve
X by 20__
b. Go to Y
by 20__
c. Have Z
by 20__
2. DEF
a. U in
2017
b. Visit V
for Christmas 20__
c. W on
12/31/__.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
ANNUAL PLAN ‑ Time dated Goals for 20__
A year of ____________________
1. ABC
a. Do x by
March 31.
b. Go to y
by June 30.
c. Have a
z monthly.
2. DEF
a. Do u
weekly.
b. Visit v
for Christmas.
c. W each
day.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
This can run as few or as many pages as
appropriate. The source for the objectives is the goal pages of the plan. You
need not list every goal in every year. When you have an idea, act on it and
record it as a goal. Then give it time to incubate. Serendipity allows you to
change anything at any time. It is your plan.
This is the "one percent vision" that Thomas Edison spoke about. The "99 percent perspiration" is what it takes to get to accomplish a big goal.
This is the "one percent vision" that Thomas Edison spoke about. The "99 percent perspiration" is what it takes to get to accomplish a big goal.
Exercise
#12: Evaluation.
Is your plan working? The only way to find out is to evaluate it
regularly. At the start you may wish to refer to it often. Carry a copy that
you can review at least monthly. Your goal statements will be positive affirmations,
noting not where you are, but where you want to be. They will help you keep
focused. Seven is still a wide scope of activity, so you may not be able to
make progress on all fronts. Priorities may change as you go along. That's OK.
With a three‑ring notebook, you can move things about without renumbering.
Keeping the work on a computer will help with the maintenance as well.
On an index card, list those things you want to
accomplish within the first six months. You may do this on a one, two or three
month basis as well ‑ whatever works for you. Experiment. When you finish the
six months you are likely to find that some objective goals have been
completed, others have not. In fact you may have to make a special effort in
order to get one done in the period. That's OK. The important thing is that you
work on your highest priorities. Why?
The Pareto principle, formulated by a nineteenth‑century
economist states that: eighty percent of
the value of a group of items is generally concentrated in only twenty percent
of the items. Called the 80/20 rule, it can be observed in many parts of life.
For a business, 80% of its orders may come from 20% of its clients. If you have
a list of ten objective goals, you can accomplish 80% of your results by
completing only two things on the list, as long as they are your highest
priorities. That focus will make you effective and move you to achieving your
goals.
Also, keeping a journal will help. A one page
Insight Journal page is added in 2012.
That is a good place to keep your plan copy. Good luck. Please let me
know how this worked for you and where it can be improved. This is set up for
an individual. It could be done by a couple, a family, or members of a group or
business.
Planning is a lot of work. You will improve your
results, if only by not doing those things that are not contributing to the
goals you really wish to achieve.
Goal Continuation Sheet
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Feedback is welcome via comments, but the intention is not to create a self-help discussion. Stumbling into one's own planning process and learning by doing is slow but effective. Planning and doing results in learning, from both failures and successes, your own and those of others. Recommended corrections and clarifications will be considered.
Cheers.