Last week I started sharing my success habits.  I began by talking about goals.  

I shared that goals help you know where you are going, why writing them down is important, and the power of a 90-day planning cycle.  

This week, I want to discuss how to turn those goals into reality. 

To do that, it is all about planning and prioritizing.  

 

Start with the Map

If you have written goals, you are already ahead of most entrepreneurs. 

However, most entrepreneurs don’t take the next step with their goals, and that is to create a map.  

The map is how you will get from where you are today to where you want to go.  It is the individual steps/tasks that you need to do to accomplish your goals.  

In a 90-day planning cycle, this means 13 weeks.   This means figuring out what you need to do ahead of time and mapping it out over the 13 weeks.  I like working backward.  What is the last thing I need to do to accomplish my goals? When will I need to do that to achieve my goal by my desired date? Then I reverse engineer.  I ask, “what do I need to do before that?”

It works. 

Once you have the map, you know how to get from A to B and when to do it.  

A word of encouragement here:  If you are like me, even the best map doesn’t mean I arrive at my destination exactly on time or without challenges.  Detours, car accidents, and distractions are just a few reasons I might arrive late or miss a turn. 

This is true when driving, and it is true with your goals.  However, a good map will give you a great head start, let you know when you’ve veered off course, and help you find your way back.  

Start with the map.  

Success Activities and Misc. Items.

The map is all about your goals. 

But there are things we do to create success in our business that might not be goal driven.  For example, onboarding a client, service delivery, invoicing, accounts receivables, paying bills, social media, and more.  

These are what I call success activities.  The activities we have to do regularly to create success.    I have a list of these activities.  Included with this list is the quantity and frequency of these activities.  

I also have a miscellaneous list of one-time activities—for example, making a cheesecake for a dinner event, picking up a hostess gift, or reviewing a contract.  

Putting it all together.

I start each week by brainstorming all the things I could do.  This list is a combination of items from my map, items from my success activities, and anything from the misc list.  

I then prioritize them. You can use a prioritization method that works for you.  I like the Eisenhower method.  

Then I start roughly mapping it into my week. 

Starting with commitments/appointments, I’ve already made.  I then map out what I can do, starting with my highest priorities.  Because I have an ideal week, I have a general outline to begin with.  Even if you don’t have an ideal week, you can map your priorities based on how you know you like to work. 

For example, I like to start my day with quick wins.  I then schedule more extensive tasks/project work to start mid-morning. 

By starting with your high priorities, you will find that you often don’t have time for low-priority items.  These are likely filler or make busy work, and you might re-evaluate them.  

I re-evaluate my rough plan daily and set my top three must-do’s. 

By planning and prioritizing each week, I always know what to work on and when.  It helps keep me moving during the week, even when I’m not feeling motivated or distracted by other life challenges.  

I use a bullet journal to do my weekly/daily planning, but you can use whatever system/plan that works for you.  

What system do you use for your weekly/daily planning?   Do you use a bullet journal? 

Success is the product of daily habits – not once-in-a-lifetime transformations.

James Clear

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