Prepare a Detailed Action Plan

I’m sure many of you have heard the question, “How to do you eat an elephant?” The answer is actually very simple: “One bite at a time.” It’s the same with achieving your goals, you need to prepare an action plan and then take them one bite at a time.

This is the fourth part of my Goal Achievers Series. If you missed any of the earlier posts, click these links, Step 1 – Write It Down, Step 2 – Visualize the End Result, Step 3 – Give It Meaning.

Step 4: Prepare a Detailed Plan

In order to accomplish any goal, you need to create a task list for that specific goal. Get incredibly detailed in the task list for each of your goals. Your list can even contain sub-tasks if that is what’s needed to break this goal down. Get as detailed as you can with this list because it is truly the foundation for reaching a goal. This action plan is what takes goals from dreams to reality.

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While breaking down your big dream goals may seem like an overly daunting task, it doesn’t have to be. Remember, you’re not trying to accomplish everything right now. You’re trying to create an action plan of tasks that will get you to your goal. You want an action plan that will eventually get you to your goal so that you aren’t wasting time today. This will keep you moving in the right direction.

Get very specific about what it is you’re trying to create so that you can see it more clearly. In order to stay completely focused on our biggest, most important goals, we need to break them down into manageable bites.

Break your goals down into a very specific detailed list of things that need to be done to reach each one. Don’t just think about what needs to be done. Write it down. Then decide which goal you are going to work on first. Don’t try to work on more than 3 goals at a time or you’ll get overwhelmed.

Keep Your Goals Front & Center

I put my action plan for each of my ongoing goals in a section of my planner. This way I can refer to it regularly. This is the best way for me to keep my goals front and center.

In the past, I’ve also posted details on the refrigerator or on the mirror in my bathroom because that was a place where I thought about those goals the most.

Schedule the Individual Tasks from Your Action Plan

Now that you’ve broken your goals into an action plan, schedule the first step of your 3 most important goals in your daily planner. Because these tasks are based on your goals and rooted in your values, they will always take high priority on your schedule. This will ensure that they actually happen.

If you find that you need to reschedule one of these tasks, make sure it is being replaced by an even higher priority. As you do this, you will find that you have rooted out the activities that kill time and replaced them with activities that strengthen your core.

Once you complete one of your goal tasks, schedule the next step for that goal in your daily planner. This keeps you constantly working toward your big goals. And once you complete one of your three goals, celebrate. Then pick the next most important goal from your list and start the process over.

Pretty soon you’ll be accomplishing your goals on a regular basis. You’ll also come to realize that no goal is too big if you break it down and work on each individual task in order.

This concludes our Goal Achievers series for this year. Go out and set some really audacious, big, huge goals and shoot for the moon. Even if you don’t make it all the way to your big goal this year, you’ll be up in the stars making steady progress.

Start using your planner to help you reach your goals. I explain my process in this post Setting Up Your Planner & a Peek Into My Planning Process.

I truly hope you have enjoyed this series and that it has been helpful to you. Let me know how your goals are going from time to time this year. Comment below or email me at janet@alifeofbalance.com