It is magnificent to know that taking action now helps you to be independent, so sit down and make an action plan. Planning is an important part of the action process. Almost everyone has heard the expressions, “measure twice, cut once” and “look before you leap.” Both these expressions have the same idea at heart, take action, but before you do, come up with a plan. After all, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”
Sit back and look at your life, at all the things you want to do, need to do have to do. Some of them get done and some do not. Among those things that get done, some things are done satisfactorily and some are not. Among the things that are done satisfactorily, some you felt better about accomplishing than others. It is not accident, chance pr luck that gets things placed in the satisfactorily completed list. In order to get as many things as possible into the completed satisfactorily completed pile, you must develop a plan.
The initial planning phase is not hard, just do the following:
- Decide what you need to be done
- Figure out what tools you have at your disposal
- Determine what tools and materials you need to gather
- Make a list of other people who need to be part of the plan
- Set a time line for starting and completing the plan
Once you have this initial information, you are in position to develop an initial plan for your action. Once you have done this initial work and have made a plan, set about making your plan SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time bound). Check out this article Commit to Taking Action Now By Having SMART Plans will give you guidance on how to make that happen. Keep in mind that you cannot plan forever, even if your plan is SMART. You must move from planning to taking action, to doing what you plan. Taking action and planning for the action are tools for grown ups. in other words, even though planning and taking action are hard work, it has to be done. One of the things about being a grownup that cannot be changed is that sometimes you have to do things that are not fun or easy.
In conclusion, it is magnificent to know that taking action now helps to be independent and to make an action plan. So, the question for you this magnificent day is what is your plan for being independent?
I think yo have the key to planning, flexibility and knowing that a plan is a living creature, keep things moving, adapting and growing.
I love to plan. I’m the girl that had her life all planned out. Now I’m struggling with adjusting to life that is not at all like I planned. I have learned the importance of having flexible plans and when to abandon a plan and draft a new one.
I’m ALL ABOUT having a plan.