‘Today was once regarded as tomorrow, the same way this year was once regarded as next year. To have a better tomorrow and a great year, plan ahead.’
AUTHOR.
The year 2012 that started just like yesterday remain only a few weeks to go. Many people started the year with high hope. Some started it with wishful thoughts. But a few people began the year with a clearly written out goal plan. These few people constituted about 99% of those with worthwhile achievements to show for all their efforts in the year.
To succeed in the year ahead, you have to join this group now and do what they did. They did what? They plan ahead for the year.
Planning ahead for next year is not a rocket science. It only requires a detailed conviction that you really have a burning desire to achieve certain goals during the year. These goals are therefore streamlined into basic tasks that are expected to be performed so as to make the goals achievable.
The process of deciding in advance what to be done, how to do it, when to do it and the result expected is called planning.
One beautiful thing about planning is that it builds your confidence, makes you become more focused, increases your success awareness and gives you the impetus needed to go ahead when the going gets tough.
Your plan towards having a successful year 2013 could be based on your desire to achieve a worthwhile goal in the year which may include one or more of the following goal plans:
• Plan to get marry.
• Plan to own a car.
• Plan to be a better and more caring husband or wife.
• Plan to further your education.
• Plan to own a home.
• Plan to be more committed to God.
• Plan to get your dream job.
• Plan to start your own business.
Your plans must center on what you intend to achieve in the year. New Year resolutions are good but they’re different from real plans, real plans are result oriented. Most New Year resolutions are just wishful thinking. While New Year resolutions die off after few weeks in the New Year, your detailed plan for the year, done well in advance, will keep you going.
To have a result oriented goal plan, do the following.
• Get a goal notebook with ‘my 2013 goal plan boldly written at the back’.
• List out what you intend to achieve in the year in the order of importance.
• Assign a due date or time to each goal.
• List out all tasks, resources and people needed to achieve each goal under it.
• Brainstorm on various alternatives available to you in achieving all your goals.
• Identify and select the best among the competing alternatives.
• Break down your goal plan into tasks to be performed on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.
• Monitor your progress on a weekly and monthly basis.
Have you drawn up a goal plan for the year 2013? If you are yet to do so, you still have some days to go. Get down to business now. Don’t procrastinate. Take a notebook where you are now and begin to brainstorm on what you desire in the year 2013. Your goal plan must be clearly written out before the 31st of December, 2013. Turn your desires to your goal plan. Delay is dangerous, do it today.
Ajiboro Ayodeji is a Chartered HR Practitioner based in Lagos, Nigeria. Tel: 2348027807452. Email: jibdej@gmail.com.
