The three-year plan

To negotiate effectively, you need to know why you are engaged in the negotiation in the first place. Three-year plans are an excellent tool for planning your personal and professional life. They are brief enough to follow through on, and they are specific enough to move you toward meeting your vision. Maybe three years from now you won’t achieve everything you planned for, but if you don’t give any thought to what you want to accomplish over the next three years, you don’t stand a chance of attaining much of anything. Most people who aren’t happy with their lives and what they accomplished during the last five or ten years never bothered to look forward and develop a plan for that time period. Don’t let that happen to you. Make a three-year plan and then make sure that your negotiations contribute to achieving that plan.

Think big
Step one in achieving great results is to think big. In every aspect of a specific negotiation and in planning your life, think big. You can always scale back later. This is your life. When the next year goes by, it will be gone. You don’t get to do it over again. So take off the ball and chain; don’t let your life be shackled by small thoughts. You can never get more out of life than you choose to.

Think bold
In addition to thinking big, you need to think bold. When your vision seems very distant — when the road seems all uphill — you have to be very creative.
Try tackling the problem in a different way to reach a solution. The problem of figuring out how to make your vision become a reality is really an opportunity.
For all the horrible “B” films that director Edward D. Wood Jr. produced, his bravado is worth noting. Watch Tim Burton’s Ed Wood, starring Johnny Depp as the infamous director. Wood is consistently voted the worst director of all time. Burton’s film traces Wood’s undying optimism to get the films made. Studios refused to finance or distribute his films, but Wood persevered. He thought bold. He rounded up every resource possible and got his films made, despite their minuscule budgets. Ed Wood carried out his vision and transformed his goal into a reality.

Think in sound bites
Refrain from using catch words and phrases during life planning. A life plan ought to be more tailored and personal, and some phrases act as strong guideposts. I use these phrases to help explain some complicated concepts in my seminars and lectures. Here are a few of my favorite tips for life planning. These phrases are offered after people have established their vision statements and before action plans are designed.

• The tyranny of “or”: As people make life plans, they often ask themselves whether they want this or that. Try to use the word and. The word or is limiting. The word and is expansive. Frequently, finances require that people choose between desired purchases. When you make a life plan, however, include everything you want in life. You only get one chance to live this life. Live it free of the tyranny of or.
• The banishment of “just”: Whatever you do in life, do it well and with pride. Never again say, “I am just a housewife” or “I am just a baker” or “I am just . . .” Banish the word just as an adjective to describe you or your life’s work. After you have established your vision, never diminish it with a just.
• The law of parsimony: Although you have times when you want to lend a helping hand to the whole world, you have limited time in your life. You can’t help everybody. Only help the people who can use your help. Those are not necessarily people who need your help. Needy people sometimes distract you from your life purpose. Your job is to keep a steely eye on those goals you want to achieve for yourself and your family.