Make a Plan for SUCCESS – Effective Plan Step-by-Step

What it is

In the most basic words I can think of: it is a process of laying down the roadmap or guide of what you want to achieve.

Here is what it would look like in a nutshell:

If you want to be a blogger for example, planning effectively could mean, coming up with objectives for starting the blog, figuring out the blog niche and having a rough idea of the blog topics, setting timelines for various activities, and having time to reflect.

We’ll look at a simple process in a minute

Areas of planning:

Every day of our lives involves planning.

Thinking of a meal to cook for dinner is planning, no wonder people ask: “What are we planning to eat for dinner?”

(Did you ever think of that as planning?…lol)

We plan for how the day will look like, we plan for events, for complex planning think of writing a business plan…and so on.

SO different areas of our lives require planning, right?

Some things are so common that we don’t consider them to be planning. Back to the dinner example.

We ask questions like, what do I have in the house? How much time do I have to cook? Is it a large meal or a small meal?

Some activities that we will undertake will require us to show a level of seriousness, and that can be reflected in how we plan.

How then do we do it effectively?

With these things in mind, let’s consider this simple process of planning

We’ll break it down into 4 steps that are general for any kind of planning.

1: Having clear goals or objectives

Think of it this way. When you are on a road trip and have a particular destination in mind you get there pretty fast.

In case you are stranded and you need to use Google Maps it will be easier because you have the end goal in mind.

Can you imagine how chaotic it would be if you were not sure of where you are headed?

True story: when traveling to a new place here in Kenya, you are always advised to sit next to the conductor so that you keep reminding him of the place at every stage.

I am not a big fan of that experience. Everyone literally knows you are a stranger. But who cares? Provided you get to your destination (Read ‘goal’).

A clear goal will help you imagine different ways of meeting the objective.

Having a clear goal makes it easy to ask for assistance.

2: Check your resources

Think of what you would need for that goal. If it’s a blog, list down everything you would need: things like, web-hosting, email marketing, themes, and so on.

Don’t leave out anything at this stage. Be as exhaustive as you can be.

I say this because it will inform the next stage of the planning process.

Also, it will help you know what to prioritize. I mean you can start organizing your actions based on what’s available as you strategize to get what’s missing.

Oh and resources don’t necessarily need to be money- it could be a skill or someone. So if it’s a person, you check their availability.

3: The to-do-list

Here, you analyze what comes first or last. You think about things like meeting a service provider; think of specific tasks and deadlines.

It will keep you on track and save you a lot of brain space. I prefer to think of it like that.

When you write things to be done in the future, it means you don’t have to keep remembering them at all times. You save your brain some space that can be occupied with other things.

To-do lists are very important. Because you can do time-blocks with them too.

Now now now!!

Say this with me: WORK EXPANDS TO FIT THE AMOUNT OF WORK YOU ALLOCATE. This is the famous Parkinson’s law.

If you don’t time block or have defined timelines for specific tasks, you might be doing the task for a long long time.

My greatest benefit from this: getting things done rather than seeking perfection. Most times, this is better because no one is perfect and you can improve on the go.

I hope you see how these steps feed into each other.

4: Open mind and flexibility

This might be the last point but carries so much weight.

We plan for things but sometimes they don’t go as planned and we might need to make adjustments

The plan is not written in stone. It can be customized to accommodate the curve balls that the journey may bring your way.

When you approach it this way, there is no room for stressing my friend. It becomes so easy to process things and move forward.

It is my favorite part of coming up with an effective plan.

Benefits of Planning

• It saves time
• You gather all the resources you need before starting
• It helps you anticipate the needs of the process
• It keeps you focused since you have a clear goal

So, what is your effective plan looking like for that big idea in that brilliant mind?