Putting your plan into action

After you are clear about your vision and you take steps to achieve that vision, create your action plan. Your action plan includes the specific tasks you need to do, whom you need to help you do them, and when you need to get each step done. Action plans make you more efficient and effective. They enable you to anticipate needs, potential problems, and the time necessary for each step. The process of creating an action plan brings to light any potential obstacles that you may encounter in completing the steps. Then you can be clear about what you need to do to overcome these obstacles.
Here’s a recommendation for creating your action plan:

1. Prioritize each of your goals. Think of your action plan like a meeting agenda. Some goals will carry more weight than others. For instance, maybe buying a house and adopting a pet are part of your three-year plan. Buying a house will probably require more planning and longer discussion than adopting a pet, so finding your new home would take a higher priority.
2. List the action steps required for you to accomplish each goal. After you’ve prioritized your goals, determine what you need to do to carefully execute each goal. Include as many details as you can think of. Identify people you need to support you to achieve each action step. If it’s a family-oriented goal, such as moving homes, you probably want to involve the whole family. In a business-related goal, involve those who will be an asset to the process. When taking steps to achieve a goal, time is of the essence. Don’t let someone with a hidden agenda stifle your plan.
3. Identify potential obstacles to each of the action steps. Pause when you identify an obstacle and figure out the best way to overcome it. Solving a problem early in the process saves you the time and hassle of dealing with a potential disaster down the road.
4. Estimate the completion date for each of the action steps. Creating a timeline helps you methodically complete tasks by certain dates. Trying to achieve too much at once can often muddle the goalsetting process.