If you want to achieve more, have a written plan. A plan of activities for each day at set times and a plan for each day of the week.
Review this plan every hour and every day to make sure you are sticking to it. Get a few things off your list every day. Build momentum.
Look a day, week, year and even a decade ahead. Make a plan and follow it.
Like Ollie Watkins said, he and Palmer had a plan for Palmer to feed it to him and he’d put it in.
Plan it. See it. Do it.
Become a legend.
Begin with the end in mind. In your final days, when you look back over your life, what will you be proud of? What will you savour and hold close?
Who will tidy your mess? There are many questions to answer including whether you left an inheritance, fond memories, or children.
Hopefully you will have been a net giver on this Earth. You will have a tidy and easy to understand book of your affairs for your Executor.
What fun plans will you have had, trips will you have taken, and opportunities will you have pursued.
Sit down at a computer, or with pen and paper, for one hour this weekend and write out your life from its finish, back to now. Write out the highlight real you want to watch in your later life.
Then on Monday, set to work to ensure you do all that you wrote. That’s how you create a dream life.
Aim to get three big things done each day. Build these three things into your calendar. Actually assess the amount of time it will take to do the thing. Then book that amount of time in your calendar, including timed breaks.
Then when that time comes up, do the thing you’re supposed to do, exclusively. Do not multi-task. Do not answer calls or look at notifications. Just get the work done so you never have to do it again.
Write out your timed plan for the day ahead. Allow 30 min in the morning and 30 min in the afternoon to accommodate overruns and unexpected calls and diversions.
Otherwise, stick to your daily plan. You may have to say no a lot and work quicker, but don’t let things slide.
Make great plans and stick to them. They may be delayed by events or go a little sideways at times. Allow for that but stay the course and carry on.
Prepare in writing what your following day will be. Plan the hours, and allow the correct amount of time. Don’t allow too much but allow sufficient time to actually complete the tasks.
Go for a walk or jog and run through the plan you want in your head. Think through the timing and the priorities, including the timeline. Plan out each step in your mind. By doing this preview, you will uncover obstacles you hadn’t thought of and allow enough time for each step.
Then you can execute with pace and precision. See the goal and the path first, then follow it.
It’s difficult to achieve worthwhile goals in just 5 minutes. And there are a lot of hurdles and obstacles to get in your way. In addition, almost everything takes longer than you think it will.
So make some bigger, exciting plans 5 years out. You don’t have to know how you’ll get it done. Just commit to doing one thing a day towards achieving each goal. Slowly the end will come into focus and you’ll more rapidly progress to, or beyond, your goal. That is pure magic and joy.
Even if you’re only 15, start planning now. You might simply note the years that you’ll be 60, 70, 80 and 90. Perhaps you’ll write down how much money you’d like to have flow into your pocket each month from your passions, savings and investments. Then you know what you need to accumulate to reach that income goal in 50 years.
Sort your will, funeral arrangements and inheritance planning. Get an outline of these things together and speak to people in these areas or read books and magazines about it.
Spend some time and money to create a very simple and effective plan. You’ll sleep better knowing it’s done and everything has been taken care of. And your family will greatly appreciate it when you’re gone as they can focus on mourning you rather than racing around to sort out the estate, plans and time-constrained challenges.
