11 Habits For Success: #6 Plan. Work. Plan.

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Previous entries: #1 Values #2 Focus #3 Deadlines #4 Change Your Mind #5 Rewards

Imagine you’ve set out to tackle a new project. You sit down to start working on it. Maybe you even begin to make some headway. You send an email or two. You do some reading on the subject. Then it happens. You find yourself stuck…and then distracted…then gone, to Facebook.

What causes this? Why do we drift to unproductive behaviors that sabotage success? Especially when we want to do well! Why does this happen?

Most often it is because we never created a clear plan.

When I coach people, I almost always ask two questions at some point during the conversation.

1.) What do you hope to accomplish before out next appointment?

2.) How do you hope to make that happen?

The answer to these two questions, by and large, determines the kind of success that my client will experience over the next week. As powerful as coaching is, we have a saying as coaches. “The bulk of the work takes place between coaching.”

How do you go about making a clear, do-able, success insuring plan? Here are some tips.

• Have a clear definition of success. For instance part of my work plan includes 5 blog posts each week. If I fall short of this I haven’t been successful in promoting my business, and the power of coaching.
• Identify what you need. What resources, time, and energy will be required to be a success?
• Create micro-goals to push you along. See this post on the subject from earlier in this series.
• Make an appointment to work on the plan you’ve created.  A client of mine had class prep to do for a teaching job. She found herself worrying about whether or not it would get done. I had her put time on the calendar to create her lesson plan. This kept the task from causing anxiety because whenever worry lurked, she knew exactly when the project would be done.
• KEEP THAT APPOINTMENT NO MATTER WHAT! The greatest plan will not produce results unless it is put into action!
• Stay with it until the plan is completed. I write until my 5 posts are done…no matter what!
• After the plan is finished, examine it, and make another plan.

One tool that I offer on my website is located at the bottom of the home page. It is a stress assessment and time management tool. I love to give it to people simply for subscribing to the blog. It talks in greater detail about how to put a plan into action! Check it out here.

The mission of Matthew Reed Coaching is “To make the world a more effective and God honoring place, through coaching.” I love to help people genuinely experience the life they have always wanted. I’d be thrilled to be able to share with you the power of coaching.”

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