Some goals require no special resources other than your focused time and effort. Other goals require an action plan if you have any hope of accomplishing them.
Goals that require complex actions, multiple steps, or interactions with others, such as “I am going to be a doctor” or “I am going to start my own brewery,” must be supported by realistic action plans.
For an easily remembered guide to how to create an Action Plan, you can use the 5W2H formula which journalists use when writing a news story:
Who – is going to do it?
What – are they going to do?
When – are they going to do it?
Where – are they going to do it?
Why – are they going to do it? What is the purpose?
How – are they going to do it?
How much – is it going to cost in money and time, and where is that coming from?
If you don’t have a realistic action plan, your goal is likely going to be pie in the sky by and by. If you have no idea how to achieve any goal, just do an online search for it or use AI. Almost anything you can conceive of has been explained in words or video online by somebody.
Any part of your action plan may involve multiple steps over time. For example, let’s say you want to become an IT professional making lots of money, but you only have a high school diploma. So your plan is going to involve getting higher education through community college, four-year college or special instruction, before you can even hope to have a job. But don’t be discouraged. There’s a wise old saying, “The longest journey begins with one step.” Figure out what that next step is going to be. Take it one day at a time.
When I wanted to start my own PR-marketing agency, I knew nothing about the agency business. I did know how to do the PR part because I had done that for Davidson College for 12 years, and I had a side gig as a freelance photographer. But I surely had never launched a PR firm!
To understand what was needed, I talked with an older friend who had started his PR firm a few years earlier and sometimes outsourced writing and photography tasks to me. He encouraged me, “Come on in, the water’s fine.” But how was I going to get clients?
I tried mailing letters to a few prospects and got nowhere. So I decided I had to cold call them until I found someone interested. Fortunately, at the time PR was a new service in most of the U.S. and there was very little competition. It had a bit of a buzz about it because some companies had never used it but were interested. I just had to connect with them!
So I got a business directory from the local Chamber of Commerce and began calling companies that looked interesting. At first it was very discouraging – hard to get anyone to even talk to me. But I kept detailed notes and followed up and made a few calls a day. Long story short, I made 100 cold calls before I found anyone interested in meeting with me. Then things started falling into place. I soon had a total of three potential clients, and the friend who had encouraged me earlier gave me one of his because of a conflict of interest.
I tell this story because it shows the kind of determination and perseverance needed to achieve success. Many people who want to start a new business begin by making many cold calls before connecting with a viable prospect.
It helps greatly to have a realistic action plan to pursue your goals and help you focus. Nothing valuable comes easy in life. You have to work for it. And you have to be your own source of drive and energy – there is no Momma who is going to pat you on the back and encourage you. (If you have a supportive spouse or friend, that is certainly a blessing, but still you have to do the heavy lifting.)
Psychologist Angela Lee Duckworth “started studying kids and adults in all kinds of super-challenging settings, and in every study my question was, who is successful here and why? My research team and I went to West Point Military Academy. We tried to predict which cadets would stay in military training and which would drop out. We went to the National Spelling Bee and tried to predict which children would advance farthest in competition.
“We studied rookie teachers working in really tough neighborhoods, asking which teachers are still going to be here in teaching by the end of the school year, and of those, who will be the most effective at improving learning outcomes for their students? We partnered with private companies, asking, which of these salespeople is going to keep their jobs? And who's going to earn the most money? In all those very different contexts, one characteristic emerged as a significant predictor of success. And it wasn't social intelligence. It wasn't good looks, physical health, and it wasn't IQ. It was grit.”[i]
Grit is her word for perseverance.
So don’t be discouraged in pursuing your goals! Take daily action, even 10 minutes a day, and you’ll be surprised and pleased with the outcome.
To your ultimate life success!
Buck Lawrimore
[i] Transcript from TEDx talk
https://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_grit_the_power_of_passion_and_perseverance/transcript
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