Plans are all well and good but unless you take action; unless you DO something, then it's all just a bunch of words on a page or images on a vision board. Don't get me wrong, words are powerful. We've all been on the receiving end of words that result in you DOING something, FEELING something, etc.; words that have motivated you to act. When we're talking about our goals though, writing them down is all well and good but without ACTION, what was the use?
To that end, at this stage of the process, it's time to break that goal down into the ACTIONABLE steps you'll take to achieve that goal.
Here's an example from my planning sessions so far:
GOAL (aka - the tangible result I want to have by December 31st, 2024....<---- this sentence is customized to fit each goal's desired completion date) = Publish and release two books.
ACTIONS - follow my Simply Self-Published 6-Month Program :
Build a Book - take a month to design the "vision" of the book: format, characters, settings, cover art ideas, etc.
WRITE - take a month to complete the first draft (35 - 50K words)
Rest & Organize - take a week away from the writing then spend the next three weeks putting the draft in order
EDIT - take a couple of weeks to read through and make minor edits; make it readable then pass it on to Beta Reader
Edit #2 - get notes from Beta Reader and revise, then pass draft to second Beta Reader/Editor
Format - take a week to put the draft into print format; finalize the book cover design
Edit #3 - get notes from Beta Reader 2 and revise
Request Print Quote - submit the draft to the printer for quote
FINALIZE draft for print
UPLOAD files to printer
Receive proof and READ - highlight things to correct; make corrections on draft
AUTHORIZE print and begin Launch/Release sequence
I've done this with each of my goals and now have actionable steps I can put into my 2024 planner.
Your turn! By now, you know the drill - set aside some time to break down each one of your goals. For this step, I took maybe an hour and a half on each goal over a week. I'm using the MakseLife Goal Planner system again this year; I first used the MaskeLife Companion Notebooks, then moved into the Quarterly Undated format, and am now using the Flagship planner which is dated with a verticle layout. All of that to say, I have a total of 8 Annual Goals - one for each area of life as identified in the MakseLife system. Having just eight goals meant I didn't need to take more than an hour or so on the breakdowns.
Note - there are steps listed above that can be broken down into even smaller steps. The MakseLife system takes goals from Annual, to Monthly, to Weekly and so whenever necessary, I'll be breaking down my steps into even smaller actions as I go through the month. Highly recommend as you examine the steps, highlight those that can be broken down even further. You want to reduce the friction that comes between your desire and your energy or motivation toward getting the action done. If the step only takes a minute to complete, you are more than likely to get 'er done.
That's it - we're all planned out for 2024.
I don't have any flowery parting advice or a sales pitch so I'll wrap up 2023 with a hearty Thank You for stopping by the blog. Whether this is your first read or you've been around since my Wordpress days, I appreciate you so much. This has been a wild year and I'm grateful to have gone through it with you.
As always, sending light and inspiration for a most fulfilling new year.
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