Fly with time

write your plans

ALL SUCCESSFUL TIME managers are good planners.

They make lists and sub lists to accomplish each major and

minor objective. Whenever a new project crosses their

desk, they take the time to think through exactly what they

want to accomplish, and then write out an orderly list, in

sequence, of every step necessary for the completion of the

project.

There is a rule that every minute spent in planning

saves ten minutes in execution. The time you take to think

on paper about something you need to accomplish, before

you begin work, will give you a return on personal energy

of 1,000 percent—ten minutes saved for every minute that

you invest in planning your work in the first place. Once you are clear about your goal, you then make a list

of everything that you can think of that you will have to do

to achieve that goal. Keep adding new items to the list as you

think of them, until your list is complete. Organize your list

two ways: by sequence and by priority.

First, in organizing by sequence, you create a list of activities in chronological order, from the first step to the final

step before completion of the goal or project. As Henry Ford

said, The biggest goal can be achieved if you simply break it

down into enough small parts.

Second, you set priorities on these items, accepting that

20 percent of the items on your list will account for 80 percent of the value and importance of all the things you do.

Setting priorities allows you to stay focused on your key

tasks and activities without getting distracted. As Goethe

said, The things that matter most must never be at the

mercy of the things that matter least.

Review your plans regularly, especially when you experience frustration or resistance of any kind. Be prepared to

revise your plans when you receive new information or feedback. Remember that almost every plan has flaws in it, both

large and small. Continually seek them out. When you

review your plans daily, you will get new ideas, perspectives,

and insights about how to complete the task faster and

better than you may have thought initially.

Action without planning is the cause of every failure.

Resist the temptation to take action before you have planned

it out thoroughly in advance

Planning for Goal Achievement

Perhaps the most important word related to success of any

kind is clarity. Successful people are very clear about who

they are and what they want, in every area of their lives. In

addition to written goals, successful people have written

plans of action that they follow every day.

Once you have set a larger goal for yourself and your

business, there are four questions that you should ask:

1. What are the difficulties and obstacles that stand

between you and the achievement of your goal? Why arent

you at your goal already? What is holding you back? What

stands in your way? What problems do you have to solve,

what difficulties do you have to overcome, to achieve your

goal in the end?

Of all the problems you need to solve, what are the 20

percent of the problems that account for 80 percent of the

obstacles between you and your goal?

2. What additional knowledge, skills, or information are

required to achieve your goal or complete your project?

Remember the saying, Whatever got you to where you are

today is not enough to get you any further.

Where can you acquire the additional knowledge and

skills that you need to achieve your goal? Can you buy or hire

the knowledge or information? Do you need to develop new

skills in yourself in order to achieve your full potential in

your work? What information is essential to you in making

the right decisions in the process of achieving your goal?

As Josh Billings wrote, Its not what a man knows that

hurts him; its what he knows that isnt true.

3. Who are the people, groups, or organizations whose

help and cooperation you need in order to achieve your goal?

Sometimes, a single person can give you ideas and insights

or open doors for you, helping you to achieve vastly more

than you ever thought possible. Its the same reason many

businesspeople enter into joint ventures and strategic

alliances with their competitors in order to offer products

and services to each others customers that each of them

does not currently offer.

4. Of all the people who can help you to achieve your goal,

who is the most important person of all? What could you

offer in exchange to gain this persons help and cooperation

so that you achieve your important goals even faster?

The most important projects in business, and in the

world around us, are completed by people who make

detailed plans of action before they begin. Make written

plans for yourself and your business, and then follow those

plans carefully until they are successful.