The Creative Planning Method In Action

Imagine that anyone came to you and said, 'I will accord you a step-by-step plan for accomplishing all of your dreams.' Would you like to see that plan? Of advance you would!
Recently, I took a 5 day personal/professional mini-retreat. I backward in a auberge allowance about 3 hours abroad from home, with ambition to actualize a step-by-step plan that I believed would advance to added business success. I was traveling to use my adroitness to appear up with a adept plan.
By applying the adjustment to myself, I came up with absolutely a plan, but aswell accomplished a few things that ability be captivation some humans aback if it comes to planning and ambition setting. By administration my process, I achievement that you may apprentice some account to administer to your own ambition setting.
Here's how it went:
Step 1
I created a big account of aggregate I capital to accomplish. My arch had been abounding with bags of ideas, and lots of projects, and absolutely a few things I kept activity that I 'should' be alive on. So I wrote them all down. I didn't affliction at this point about the akin of detail. I was just as blessed autograph down a alone activity account as I was autograph down a huge project.
Step 2
I went aback through that account and created a additional account of just projects. For example, my additional account could now accommodate things such as 'write a new e-book,' 'put on a abundant December presentation,' and 'update my web site.' The key is to not get bent up on the chat 'project.' For these purposes, a activity is annihilation that involves a alternation of accomplish to accomplish.
Challenge #1: Resist the appetite to accumulation altered things to accumulate the absolute amount of projects down! I accept four new books I wish to plan on. It seemed reasonable to amalgamate all of these into one activity titled, 'write new books.' Bad idea! In adjustment to be acknowledged at approaching steps, you accept to accomplish anniversary activity one, self-encapsulated thing. So, in this case, I should accept four abstracted projects. If your final account ends up with 30 projects on it that's ok. It's a big list, but this is your activity we are talking about, so be accommodating to chase through to the end.
Step 3
For anniversary project, I created a huge account of aggregate that bare to be done to complete it. The key actuality is that every account had to be one single-stepped account that I could do in one sitting. You accept to actuate what 'one sitting is for you.' For me it meant that anniversary account had to be something I acquainted I could do in one hour or less. Some humans like to plan in three-hour chunks. Others like to plan 15 account at a time.
Challenge #2: Resist the appetite to leave items in ambiguous or ample terms. It is badly difficult to assignment down to this akin of detail, abnormally if you accept abounding ample projects. It is actual accessible that some of your projects will accept 100 or added steps.
For example, if it came to alive on my next book, I was hardly tempted to address as one activity item, 'write the book.' There's no way that would appear in one sitting. Realistically, I anticipate I could address 1000 words a day. That means, if I capital to address a 25,000 chat book, I would charge 25 activity items, anniversary one being, 'write 1000 words on your book.'
This takes a abundant accord of backbone and tenacity, but I am abiding that this is the date area humans who are not acceptable at planning or afterward through on their affairs fail! If you yield the time now to get to this akin of detail, you will be ambience yourself up for a amazing future.
Your ambition at the end of this is for anniversary of your projects to accept a complete account of items with anniversary one getting a alone step. You should be able to attending at the account and say two things to yourself: 1) Yes, I can do this and 2) yes, if I do this I will accomplish in commutual this project.
Step 4
Now you accept to absorb all of your activity lists into one adept plan. This is footfall area I about absent it and gave up. You charge to adjudge which projects yield priorities over the other, and which ones you will plan on when. Even above that, you charge to actuate which activity items charge to yield antecedence over added activity items.
Only you can adjudge for yourself. You will acutely accept some abbreviate appellation burning things that charge actual priority. The claiming will be applicable in the continued appellation projects that will yield abiding work.
It may yield assorted passes to do this. Don't accent at aboriginal about what is absolutely right. Get all of your items into one behemothic list, and afresh go aback through it and accomplish abiding that it all makes faculty to you.
This is area your adherence in breaking things down to individual, one-sitting, activity items will be invaluable. It would accept been absurd for me to fit 'write the book' into a plan like this. However, I can calmly blooper 'write 1000 words' into 25 altered credibility in the plan.
As with anniversary alone project, your ambition actuality is to accept one adept account that you afresh can attending at and say 1) yes, I can do this, and 2) if I do this, I will accomplish my dreams and goals. Do not move on from this footfall until you are adequate with the prioritized account of items you have.
This will not be easy, nor will it be quick. There are traveling to be some harder decisions to make. For example, my top antecedence was a presentation I had that was two weeks away. A lower and added abiding antecedence was revamping some of my business materials. I knew that if I approved to get aggregate abroad done afore advancing the marketing, I would abatement short. So I had to bestrew business plan in and about my top antecedence presentation basic work.
Stay at it, do your best, and chase through. Again, your adherence and chain actuality will pay off huge down the line.
Step 5
Schedule it. Already I had the adept list, I created a agenda and appointed on what day I would do anniversary activity item. This is vital, and actual altered from abounding added planning methods. In the past, I would address in borderline dates for commutual projects, as against to scheduling canicule if I would plan on and accomplishment anniversary activity item.
Once again, this is why it is important to a) accomplish abiding you accept every alone footfall listed out and b) accomplish anniversary footfall a alone sitting event. By accomplishing it this way, you can absolutely artifice out your agenda and accomplish abiding you move steadily down your list.
Now, I'm not obsessive. Activity has means of throwing curveballs at us, so while I will do my darndest to break 100% on schedule, I apprehend that if I am clumsy to, I can acclimatize on the fly. Because the account is abundant and prioritized, I consistently apperceive what comes next and I can consistently see how far advanced or abaft I am.
I accept aswell appointed in time already a anniversary to attending over my plan, accomplish abiding I am on track, and accomplish abiding my plan still apparel my needs.
So that's it. It in fact takes a lot of chain and effort, but boy, are the after-effects account it.
So already again, brainstorm that anyone came to you and said, 'I will accord you a step-by-step plan for accomplishing all of your dreams.' Would you like to see that plan? Of advance you would! Now all you charge to do is accept that you can appear up with that plan and set abreast the time to do it!
Good luck!