By Randy Ross

Lesson #8 – Develop An Unstoppable Action Plan for  Your Goals

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The difference between a page full of written goals and actually achieving them is action. The concept sounds simple enough but few people actually execute in a consistent manner. If you decided to do weight training, there would be a clear schedule.  An hour a day on a daily basis would be a thousand times better than working out 6 hours at once sporadically.

In this lesson we will look at how to create the action plan. Probably even more important is that we will discuss how to troubleshoot a plan that is not working.

Action comes in three flavors. The first is linear. These are actions that can only be done in sequence. You may need to build the foundation before you can build the walls. The second is parallel action. These are actions that can be done in parallel or in other words at the same time. The third is what I call common denominator action.  If you want to start a business in Germany, then the common denominator action will be that you need to learn German. You can start on this action now even if you don't know what the rest of the plan will be.

If you are going to be serious about achieving a goal I highly suggest that you learn at least the basics of Microsoft Project. There will need to be some hours invested to get through the learning curve but the investment will be paid back a thousand times.

In its simplest form Microsoft Project creates lists of tasks and subtasks with dates and time estimates. You can do the same on a piece of paper but Project is much easier to rearrange or change tasks as needed. If you are using a piece of paper, create a timeline and list out the major high level tasks. Think about how long it will take to do each task and who would be the best person to accomplish it. Be realistic when estimating times to complete a task.  Allocate in time for holidays, delays and learning curves.

Time can be measured in two perspective. The first is duration. Duration is how long on the timeline it will take to accomplish the task. The second is effort. How many hours of effort of work will it take to accomplish the task? If it takes eight hours to paint the living room that is the effort. If I work one hour a day painting then the duration will be eight days.

Chances are that your action plan will need some tuning or rework as you go along. As you progress further toward your goal the amount of information available to you is always increasing. This information will validate some of your assumptions and invalidate others. If your plan is failing I suggest getting some objective input.

Try to find someone with expertise in your area of interest that has already achieved what you want to do or has done something similar. If you are training for the mile and are unable to decrease your time, look for an experienced coach or a serious runner that has conquered the plateau.

As a last resort, consider hiring a consultant. Even though I make my living as a consultant, I would like to offer a few words of caution. Consultants often charge a lot of money and then deliver vague solutions. Be very clear with a consultant about the specific outcomes you are looking for. Is the consultant willingly to take part of his/her payment based on success? Does the cost make sense in relation to your goal? If you are trying to increase your net worth form $1,000 to $2,000, paying me $150 an hour is a lousy idea. If you are trying to increase your net worth from $100,000 to $200,000 then a few hours of my time could be a great investment to help fine tune your plan.

Here are a few questions for a sanity check on your plan?

* Do you have the skills needed for the next step or should you

   hire it out?

* Is your goal realistic in the context of your situation? If you

   only have a junior high school education, you will not become a

   doctor four years from now no matter how great a positive

   thinker you are.

* Are you passionate about your goal? If not, it is unlikely that

   you will have the fortitude to overcome the inevitable

   obstacles. I suppose there are occasionally overnight success

   stories but generally there are trials and tribulations to survive 

   along the path.  Look back at your original motivations. Try and

   rekindle the passion again.

          Lesson One |  Lesson Two    |  Lesson Three | Lesson Four   | Lesson Five

          Lesson Six  |  Lesson Seven | Lesson Eight   |  Lesson Nine  | Lesson Ten

1) Write down the names of three people that can give you objective feedback? Call them. Listen carefully to their advice

2) Write down the next 20 actions steps that you need to take and start on them immediately. At the end of the day, when you are tired and worn out, find one more thing you can accomplish. This is like the weight trainer pushing for the last rep. One extra item accomplished at the of the day makes a massive difference over the course of the year.                  

3) If you are really stuck and can't figure out the problem(s) with your plan send me an email wrross1@aol.com.

          Lesson One |  Lesson Two    |  Lesson Three | Lesson Four   | Lesson Five

          Lesson Six  |  Lesson Seven | Lesson Eight   |  Lesson Nine  | Lesson Ten

      Note: Educators and Webmasters, you are welcome to use and 

      modify this lesson material without charge as long as credit is given 

      to the author (Randy Ross) and the website name

      (unstoppablesuccess.com). Send questions and comments to  

      randyross@unstoppablesuccess.com

Copyright 2006 Randy Ross  http://www.unstoppablesuccess.com

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