What does it take to plan and succeed?
Well, let's take an in-depth look to answer this question.
For the following questions, I need you to be extremely honest with yourself. No need to lie, no one else but you will know the answers.
1) Are you afraid to fail?
2) Do you regularly plan?
3) Do your plans involve things you ever wanted?
4) Do you plan with your business and family in mind?
5) Have you ever visualized your goals?
6) How far ahead do you plan?
That wasn't so bad, was it?
It's imperative to always ask yourself these questions. By doing so you will ultimately lay out what it is that you want in life. Business & family should always be your most outstanding achievements in your life, and you should plan to reach that.
So, let's take a look at why all these questions help you determine what it is in life and how it will affect you forever.
1) Are you afraid to fail your plan?
Beating The Failure Blues:
Failure… oooooh, no one wants to fail. Unfortunately for most of us, we will feel so tricky when writing out our business plans. The reason we do this is that we've all failed at something before. Everything we do starts with a plan. Most daily schedules are subconsciously planned out before they are executed. This process only takes a fraction of a second. The ones we tend to remember are plans that we've "consciously" created. Most of these are ideas we've never finished and projects that never even got a chance to start.
The key to beating the "failure blues" is to train your mind to visualize everything you want from your plans. Viewing something you want should always resemble a movie clip full of sensory-rich images, along with sounds, smells, and a sense of touch. This combination is what makes visualization a success. It's true because our minds think in images. Visualizing your plans will better help your subconscious mind remember what you want to accomplish. Visualizing also tells your subconscious mind to get on track.
1) Do you plan regularly?
Come on. Be honest. Do you sit there and make an excellent attempt to plan out your future every single day? NO? Why not? Is it not that important to you?
Failing to plan is the same as planning to fail!
Planning every day may seem like much more work to do, but in actual reality, it becomes second nature once it becomes a habit.
Study shows that it takes an average of 21 times for something to become a habit. For example, once you've driven your car 21 times +/- it becomes 2nd nature to you. Your subconscious mind takes over and goes for you.
Your "conscious mind" is the captain of your ship (the brain). If you don't consciously make a direct command to your "sub-conscious" (the crew), nothing will ever get done. It would be best if you were strict with the team for 21 days to ensure they would do their duties daily. After a time, the crew will automatically know their task by heart and carry them out for you.
Planning out every day will better define to your "Crew" what they are required to accomplish. It builds unity within your mind. This unity will ultimately be the staging point to reaching your goals.
2) Do your plans involve everything you want?
When I say everything, I mean everything. I have this little special notepad that stays on my desk at all times. Within it are countless ideas of everything I ever wanted at that very moment.
At that very moment, meaning, whatever it was that I wanted to have in my life "at that moment" that would make me happier. It doesn't matter what it is. For you, exactly what right now would make you happy? A nicer car? $5,000 in your bank account? More clients? Better search engine ranks?
Noting down your goals will give your mind a "TO DO LIST". Once your mind has it "TO DO LIST", your subconscious will search through your memory banks for an example of how to accomplish your "to-do list". If your mind doesn't find anything within your memory banks, it will eventually start shooting out ideas and tips for your conscious mind to complete.
I should also note that writing down is like etching it right into stone when it comes to your mind. It's like your mind is a piece of paper. It would be best if you wrote something down for it to come back later and revise what you wrote down.
3) Do you plan for your business and family?
Well, why wouldn't you? When I think about my business, I think of what it will do for me, my friends, and my family in the future. Currently, I am not married, nor do I have any children, but that doesn't mean that I am not thinking about the future with a family in it.
Always consider business & family the same. They are both parts of yours and their future.
4) Do you visualize your plan being achieved?
Visualization is the fruit of success.
Do you ever find yourself visualizing yourself in that car you always wanted? Who visualizes you and your family on some beach in Mexico somewhere? Who visualizes you winning the "entrepreneur of the year award"? ….YOU DO!
To be happier and more successful, you need to get better, and you need to get better. I repeat you need to get better. Visualization should be a daily event. Take a moment every day, even for 30 seconds and visualize all the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings of everything involved with your daily plans.
For example, let's pretend that you have a presentation to do, and like most people who have done a presentation, you are extremely nervous.
Take about an hour before the presentation. Visualize yourself walking into the meeting feeling great, confident, and relaxed. Hear the people having a good time, see them smiling and paying attention to you. Try to smell a nice cologne within the room that makes you smile when taken in. Last but not least, see all the people around you congratulating you on a job well done after the presentation. See yourself having a nice, warm, rich-tasting coffee while discussing your successful presentation with your boss, employees, or potential clients.
I guarantee you that if you make it a habit to prepare yourself with visualization in that fashion before any presentation, you will have better, more emotional feelings afterwards.
This very same technique applies to your goals. You must see yourself driving that car, the way the air feels in your hair, maybe the way the engine sounds. Whatever you can think of that will let your mind wander into your goals and dreams, use it!
5) ** How far ahead do you plan?
This is by far the because it takes a little from all the above questions I've talked about. What is the furthest you've ever planned? I'll put money on the fact that it's not far enough. Dare to be bold, be strong in your convictions. Don't be afraid to think outside the box.
So how far do I allow myself to plan? 200 Years!
No joke, my goals have included a timeline of around 231 years ahead in the future. See, I don't only think about how I want to improve my life. I concentrate on something higher than life. I focus on my family history that is yet to be written. We all would like to leave a family dynasty to our future family members. Well, why aren't you planning for it?
Don't be shy, afraid, uncertain or embarrassed. Just do it. Keep doing it within your notepad that you write in. Keep thinking about your children, your children, and your great, great, great-grandchildren.
Think about them. Wouldn't it be nice if they could look back and say, wow, my great, great, great grandfather had the vision, the dedication and the will to think of me. Think of the impact you could have on those. Even we go as far as writing a letter to the individuals who will be in your families future. Tell them what you have planned and why.
What if what you do now affects someone for generations down the line in such a positive way that they feel the need to pick up where you left off? If it weren't for your vision, it would have never happened.
Better yet, it hasn't happened yet, so how about you pick up that pen and start your future right now, at this very moment?
On that note, I won't keep you from writing about your future.
Good luck & remember to see everything happen the way you want it to happen!
