All About You — Day 24: Any Plan Is Better than No Plan
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[For “Day 23: Mistakes Are Great Teachers,” click here.]
We’re in Part Three of this “All About You!” series that focuses on how to make your dreams come true. We started last week with: “Fire Your Devil’s Advocate” (about getting rid of external and internal naysayers); “Be Your Own Guardian Angel” (replacing your devil’s advocate script with your guardian angel script); and “Mistakes Are Great Teachers” (the critical role of mistakes to eventual success).
Now, it’s time to get to the big plan. Since you learned who you are from Part One of this series (Days 1 - 10) and what you want from Part Two (Days 11 - 20), how do you intend to get it?
Well, you know you should stop giving so much space in your head to all your naysayers with all their many, constant, and varied reasons why you can’t have everything you want (Day 21). You know how to combat those negative statements with at least as many, constant, and varied positive statements to help you stay focused on going after all of your dreams (Day 22). You even know to look forward to all the mistakes you know must make to learn everything you can from them to eventually succeed in your goal to achieve all of your dreams (Day 23).
ANY PLAN IS BETTER THAN NO PLAN
The next step is make a plan. Any plan. Because any plan is better than no plan. Then, revise your plan to fix all the obvious problems you can foresee on paper. There will still be plenty of problems with it that you can’t see because: (1) you’re inexperienced—meaning you’ve never done this type of thing before; (2) it’s impossible to anticipate everything that can go wrong; and (3) if yours is truly a great idea, nobody’s done what you’re trying to do before—at least not quite the same way you’re planning to do it. Guess what? That’s three great reasons get started on your plan immediately! First, after you try it, you will finally have that invaluable, incomparable experience that everyone is alway talking about. Second, you will finally know all the things that can go wrong with your plan—so you can fix all of them, of course! And, third, when you are finally done with all the testing and fixing, you will be the first person in history to successfully do it exactly the way you always dreamed of doing it! You can’t get to that place by just drafting and redrafting plans in your head. You must take that first step, then the second—then usually a step backwards—then forward again, and so on, to eventually succeed.
Here’s the foolproof formula:
1. Create a plan of action—any plan.
2. Test the plan by taking action! Study what didn’t work and why.
3. Make revisions to the plan based on what you learned.
4. Repeat till the plan succeeds.
Think back to anything you accomplished in your life. Did you succeed in your first attempt? Hardly anyone does. If that does happen once in a while, it’s just a fluke that can rarely be repeated. And, that’s nothing you should rely on for future your successes. Did you know how to ride a bike the first time you tried? I didn’t. I fell many times before that magical moment of exact balance and control finally gelled together into one perfect moment—after days of practice. The same with skiing. And, whenever I try to advance my skiing level, I fall plenty more times and will keep falling whenever I go for the next level. In fact, even the best athletes in the world continue to push themselves to the point where they repeatedly “fall” or make mistakes, all to improve their already world-record-breaking skills and abilities. Why would going after our big dreams be any different? The answer is, it isn’t!
MAKE A PLAN—ANY PLAN—AND GO FOR IT!
So, get busy writing down your plan, getting all the initial kinks out of it, then start going for it! You can figure out the rest as you go. That’s the way every successful person in the world got started. It’s time for you to join their ranks. Now, get busy!
TO BE CONTINUED …
This is going to be an adventurous journey into our past, present, and future lives. None of us can be prepared for what we might find along the way. So, just sit back and enjoy the ride! Also, I hope at least some of you brave souls will share your answers, insights, and revelations in the comments below for everyone’s benefit!
When you’re done, collect your answers and keep them in a safe place. I recommend a diary. It makes a precious gift to someone you love, especially you!
[For “Day 25: To Succeed Faster, Fail Faster,” click here.]
[For entire “All About You!” series, click here.]
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[For “How to Set and Achieve Goals in 5 Simple Steps,” click here.]
[For “What Would You Do If You Couldn’t Fail?,” click here.]
[For “50 Negative v. Positive Thoughts,” click here.]
[For “10 Harmful Thoughts,” click here.]
[For “10 Reasons to Keep a Diary,” click here.]
[For “20 Questions for Your Diary,” click here.]
[For “Requests for Cuckoo in Your Nest!,” click here.]
[For “How to Be an Extrovert,” click here.]
[For “My 10 Commandments,” click here.]
[For “Fan Your Inner Flame Till It Burns Bright,” click here.]
[For “Think and Grow Rich,” click here.]
[For “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” click here.]
