MentorFactor

Planning for 2009: Monitoring your plan

Consistent, regular monitoring of your plan is critical for success. Here, I present my personal process as the model, but you can determine what works for you. My process goes like this:

1. Every January 1 and July 1, go through the entire process--all the exercises--from beginning to end. This takes most of  day. Find a quiet reflective place to work.

2. Every month, on the first, determine what you have to do for every lifetime goal this month to stay on track for the next six months.

3. Every week, on Monday morning, determine what you have to do for every lifetime goal this week to stay on track for this month. This takes about 20 minutes.

4. Every day, first thing in the morning for five to ten minutes, determine what you have to do for every lifetime goald today to stay on track for this week.

5. Act: Do the tasks you have identified.

Here is another way to look at the monitoring process:

Frequency	Every 6 Months	Every Month	Every Week	Every Day
Review and adjust the entire plan (including lifetime goals, 10-year goals, 5-year goals, 3-year goals, 1-year goals).	X
Review and adjust the next 6-months based on 1-year goals.	X
Review and adjust the next month based on 6-month goals.	X	X
Review and adjust this week based on this month's goals.	X	X	X
Create today's to-do list based on this week's goals.	X	X	X	X

In Conclusion...

Planning your life is not static. It requires constant vigilance and attention so that when opportunities present themselves, you are ready. It is also important to show gratitude for everything that comes your way, good and bad, because you learn from both. When you know your life's path and you follow it, you live an authentic life. Living an authentic life facilitates your ability to positively influence others through your example. This adds to the richness of living in the world.

May you all have a wonderful and prosperous 2009.

Planning for 2009: Exercise 5--Write your plan

Happy New Year, everyone! It is time to do the really hard work of putting your plan together.

Once you have your lifetime goals identified, the next bit of work is project planning. Here you determine what you need to do, by when, to achieve your lifetime goals. For each lifetime goal, respond to the following questions, in this order, with a list of goals and corresponding due dates:

• What must I do in 10 years to meet my lifetime goals?

• What must I do in 5 years to meet my 10-year goals?

• What must I do in 3 years to meet my 5-year goals?

• What must I do in 1 year to meet my 3-year goals?

• What must I do in 6 months to meet my 1-year goals?

• What must I do this month to meet my 6-month goals?

• What must I do this week to meet my 1-month goals?

• What must I do today to meet my 1-week goals?

Example

Here is an example from my own life. When I developed this process over 20 years ago, I had a lifetime goal to get my Ph.D. However, I didn't put a timeframe on it until July 2004. Here is what my plan looked like on July 1, 2004.

Lifetime goal identified in 2004 planning: Have my Ph.D. before my 60th birthday
[Note: I was 53 in 2004 and didn't yet have a Masters degree.]

• What must I do in 10 years (by 2014) to meet my lifetime goals?
  Complete dissertation and defense by May 2011.
  Get my Ph.D. by July 1, 2011 (my 60th birthday).

• What must I do in 5 years (by 2009) to meet my 10-year goals?
  Complete Ph.D. coursework by May 2009.
  Begin dissertation research.

• What must I do in 3 years (by 2007) to meet my 5-year goals?
  Get my Masters degree by December 2006.
  Get enrolled in a Ph.D. program to start in September of 2007.

• What must I do in 1 year (by July 2005) to meet my 3-year goals?
  Apply to Masters degree program by Jauary 2005 to start in September 2005.
  Apply for financial aid by April 2005.

• What must I do in 6 months (by January 1, 2005) to meet my 1-year goals?
  Choose Masters degree program by July 2004.
  Investigate financial aid options.

• What must I do this month (July 2004) to meet my 6-month goals?
  Investigate Masters degree programs by February 2004.

• What must I do this week (July 1-7, 2004) to meet my 1-month goals?
  Investigate Masters degree programs.

• What must I do today (July 1, 2004) to meet my 1-week goals?
  By the time I got to this point, I was so excited about the possibilities, I wanted to do the investigation that day.

So far, I am right on track to meet this goal.

Tomorrow: Sustaining the Plan