Achieving Goals Through Planning

Some people would argue that life is better lived spontaneously, living from moment to moment, enjoying each day as it comes.

I would actually agree with them, as long as they never set themselves expectations, ambitions or dreams.

If, however, you have goals that you would like to achieve, which you have created as SMART goals then you have expressed a desire to achieve something within a time scale.

A goal, or target is pointless if it is not aimed for and the best way to aim for it is to create and follow a plan.

There are two ways to start to create your plan. You either decide to work backwards from your set date or you work forwards step by step until your reach your goal.

When you created your goal, if you created a SMART goal, you will have set a time to achieve it by.

This may be driven by a fixed event (i.e. lose some weight before your already booked holiday) or based on your personal belief and expectation as to when you would like to, or can achieve it.

If the former then your plan will be date driven. If the latter then you have a choice to make it date driven or to work through your plan and see if you come up with a more accurate time scale than your original prediction.

Now you need to work out the tasks your action plan breaks down into. To do this you need to work out your dependencies.

Dependencies are the things that must be completed before you can complete a task.

For example to eat a healthier diet you need to ensure you have healthier food in your cupboard.

Creating healthier meals is therefore dependent on buying the healthy ingredients.

Likewise buying the healthy ingredients is dependent on knowing what you need to buy!

It is by understanding these dependencies you will be able to break down your tasks to the simplest level and thereby create the path through your plan to achieving your goal.

Are you struggling to work out these dependencies?

One way to do this, which works very well if you know your goal but aren't sure where to start is to work backwards from your goal.

The way to do this is to break your goal down into steps or mini goals.

So if the goal is 'lose 10 pounds in weight by July 4th' your first goal may be to 'change my diet to healthier options'.

Turn this mini goal into a task by prefixing it with 'to' and suffix with 'I need to' and the step.

This results in:

'To lose 10 pounds in weight by 4th July I need to change my diet to healthier options.'

You then take your second mini goal and do the same thing. So:

'To change my diet to healthier options I need to buy healthier foods.'

You continue doing this until you get to the first step or task that you can start with now.

You may find that you have two or more mini action plans. Using the weight loss example you may want to start an exercise plan as well. Work through this in the same way.

Give each task or step a time scale or deadline. If you have several things to do at once think carefully about time scales you set yourself. Overdoing it is the easiest way to lose heart, motivation and then fail. So take it easy on yourself.

Look at each task to make sure it can be done easily. If a task leaves you wondering how you can achieve it see if it needs further breaking down. For example if you don't know how to do something you may need to do some research, learn a skill or get some help from somewhere else.

Breaking your tasks down to as simple a level as possible helps you keep your focus, makes them easy to complete and keeps you motivated and moving towards your overall goal.

Have you managed to create that action plan?

Great!

Now you need to put it somewhere that you will look at it on a regular basis. Once you have your plan you need to refer to it and complete each task at the right time.

You also need to review it and maybe even tweak it if you are losing track.

If you consider the lose weight example you may want to write a note about eating healthier on a sticky note and putting it inside your wallet so that when you go shopping you remember to buy the right things.

Other little reminders on the fridge door may also help.

If you have created other tasks related to exercising as part of your goal planning what you will do and when and then putting that in your diary will help you achieve it.

Use your preferred calendar or equivalent electronic tools to set reminders for yourself. The important thing is not to create the plan and then carefully file it away where it never sees the light of day again.

If you do find that your time scales are too tough or too long, your task breakdown is wrong or you slip don't give up. Sit down with your plan again and based on what you now know adjust them and start again.

Remember every journey starts with a single step so start walking!

Jacky Tustain
Founder and Owner BeCanDo Life Coaching
BeCanDo Life Coaching