P.L.A.N. for Your Success

A goal without any plan is wishful thinking. There is no such thing as an accidental success. One could, for instance, win the lottery without a plan on how to handle it and lose all the winnings in no time. A talent or an opportunity is not a guarantee for success. Deliberate and determined actions are still required in order for us to head towards our goals.

With time as a constraint, it is a necessity for us to PRIORITIZE what we value the most as our goals or desired outcomes (e.g., health, wealth, relationship and self-actualization). And, within each category of goals, we can further list our priorities (e.g., healthy mind, strong bones, etc.) 

How do we know what are our priorities? There is a simple test for this: Ask ourselves what are the first things and the last things that we think about every day -- the things that make us happy (pinky health and Trojan-sized piggy bank filled with gold bars), the things that trouble us (prime candidates for a solution) or clueless (this problem is in a different class of its own)?

Once we know our priorities and the sub-priorities, we can write them out on paper and pen (if still using conventional stationeries) or e-note then on whatever gizmos that can do the trick. We can then review and visualize them every day and then we will really zoom-in and synchronize our life with our distilled priorities at this time and season of our life, subject to future fluctuations and variations. But, at least for the now-moment, we can really, really focus on our known priorities and lead a productive, passionate and purposeful life and out-manoeuvre the ho-hum and humdrum trap of mere-existence without planning.

While it is not always advisable to follow what others are doing, there is much we can LEARN from the insights and successes of other people. As we learn more, we can then discover and assimilate what would work best for us, as well. But, we have to be realistic here so as not to set a goal that is way off. We can, however, set incremental goals that are achievable so that we can come up surely and steadily. For example, we can learn a new language by studying just one word a day via an App, incrementally.

To really get things moving after we have set our priorities and done some research on how to go about achieving our dream goals, we need to take ACTIONS. This is a crucial stage that will really bring us a step closer to our goal -- no matter how distant it may be. If we could keep at it and keep pace consistently, we will advance with growing confidence.

As we journey towards our dreams, we might face some distractions, obstacles, set-backs and challenges. But, as our goals have stayed true with us and would not stray from our minds after having reviewed, visualized and affirmed them daily, we will have to dig-in and stay in the trench and NEVER GIVE UP. Just picture a bulldog with a made-up mind and never, ever give up!