be specific
Congratulations! You have created your blueprint for your ideal future. You have a great overall goal. You already know what this structure will look like, at least from the outside, in a very specific way. But a plane is more than a shell. Provide exact specifications for each room. In the same way, your overall goal is made up of a series of smaller goals.
Let’s get some rooms on that plan! Just as you don’t jump from an empty shell to a completely finished house, you don’t jump from wherever you are today to a fully realized global goal. Just as your house will have clearly defined rooms, your goal plan will have clearly defined sub-goals.
Here’s the business goal of Part 1: Within the next 24 months, I want to build a consulting and coaching business working with high-potential, high-achieving, wealthy women who want to spend the time and energy to create their ideal lives and/or or business and I want to have a consistent income of $1 million from direct services and $1 million from passive income while working no more than 20 hours per week, no more than 30 weeks per year.
Creation of subgoals
Secondary goals may include: 1. Identify ways to get in front of my ideal customers. 2. Develop persuasive reasons for these women to select my services. 3. Create materials for live coaching programs at your own pace. 4. Create an effective enrollment and distribution system.
Creating a logical flow
Each of these represents a room on the plan. The next step is to see how these rooms will best fit together. What is the optimal flow through space? How big will each room be? How does each relate to the others? This is achieved by organizing and developing the secondary objectives. When you enter a house, does it make sense to enter a bedroom? Probably not. But could the kitchen or an office make as much space as the living room? Could be. The rooms on your plan should be arranged in a way that makes sense to you. So too, your secondary goals should flow in a way that is logical to you.
The above objectives might work fine in the order they were initially presented. But there are other settings that work fine.
1. Develop persuasive reasons for these women to select my services.
2. Identify ways to be in front of my ideal clients.
3. Create an effective registration and distribution system
4. Create materials for live coaching programs at your own pace.
It might make more sense to have systems in place before taking action.
Rearrange your subgoals until you have a flow that works for you. Next, define the purpose of each room. Be very explicit. Develop and clarify each objective using the SMART model.
Find Obstacles
A good architect understands that every project may have what appear to be limitations. A good plan helps uncover those potential limitations or obstacles so that the architect and client can figure out how to address these real or perceived obstacles. So doesn’t it make sense that you want to analyze the possible obstacles to reaching your goals? If he can identify potential obstacles, then he can develop a plan to overcome them.
This is sub-goal #4: Create materials for live, self-paced training programs.
Rewritten as a SMART goal, it would look like this:
Over the next six months, reuse, recombine, and expand upon current articles, exercises, and workshop materials to create a cohesive two-day workshop, a two-hour promotional workshop, a six-part teleclass, and two four-part eCourses. What are some obstacles to achieving this goal? What action plan is necessary to overcome the obstacle?
Removing obstacles through planning
Barrier 1: There may be time constraints. Action plan?
Review the schedule and create a series of short periods of time to dedicate to writing.
-GOLD-
Outsource rewrites.
Obstacle 2: There may not be enough material. Action plan?
Have guest authors contribute. -OR- Research additional material.
-GOLD-
Hire an investigator.
-GOLD-
Pilot the material and add contributions from subsequent discussions.
-GOLD-
Use quizzes or focus groups to generate content.
Using your model
Get the idea? When you look at your floor plan from the widest perspective, hone in to understand the overall interior, then focus closely on the exact contents of each room, you will have the building of your dreams. Your goal plan gives you an overview and the specifics you’ll want to create the life of your dreams.
Keep your blueprint handy. Remember that sometimes when a room is completed (secondary objective), you may want to change other rooms. Okay, this is a work in progress, after all, this is your glorious ideal life. Make all the improvements you want! You can be the do-it-yourselfer from the first vision to the finished project; if so, that’s great. You may want some advice from friends or a great Life Architect to give you advice along the way. Get underway! It’s never too early to start working on the life of your dreams.