Last time we discussed the celebration that you are planning for the completion of your goal. Today, as promised, we will discuss how to go about creating the strategy to accomplish your goal. Remember, we talked about starting at the end and then working backwards? The reason for this is simply because for most of us it's easier than starting at the beginning. After all, we pretty well know the end result and working backwards is just one step at a time examining what has to happen immediately before the accomplishment of the next step.
Let's take my house, for example. What has to happen immediately before we are ready for our celebration? We need to decorate the house. This includes hanging or placing any art work or any other decorations that we want in the house. Just before that comes the furnishing of the house, including beds, sofa's, and the pillows or bedding that go along with it. Are you starting to get the picture?
The great thing about this approach is that you can be as detailed or as general as you like. Some of you will want to go into great detail about each step right from the beginning, such as what the decorations are going to be and who will hang the pictures. Others will want to get a broad picture first and then get into more detail as the project progresses. Just remember for those of you in the latter category, that you will eventually need to get into the detail, including the budget for your decorations, furnishings, etc., so you may want to think about it earlier than just before you do it.
Another benefit of this approach is that it allows you to visualize the process based on the successful completion of each step. Any time we can visualize the results of a portion of the process, we are more motivated to complete that portion of the process.
You can do this with any goal and you can start general and then go back and do the details for each part of the process. Once you have this done, you have a great map for completing your goals. You can then add a timeline for each step and add the people and the budget for each step. You Quick Starts (see www.Kolbe.com) may initially resist this process. Just remember that you can do the general part of it, which you will enjoy doing, and then have your assistant or someone else who is more of a follow through create and carry out the details. This gives you a map, allows you to still visualize the success, and provides guidance for those who will carry out the details.
Have fun creating the strategies to reach your 2009 goals. We will talk more about specific wealth strategies another time.
Warmest regards,
Tom
