Putting together the pieces of success

A lot of people have the holidays on their mind at this time of year but it’s actually a great time to start thinking about planning for next year.  Why wait until the beginning of the year to get going? Wouldn’t it be great to be all set to blast off and start off strong?  The success you achieve in the future begins with actions taken now.   Just like the success you enjoy now is the result of actions put into motion in the past.  It’s all about momentum and momentum begins with a single step.  Think of the powerful locomotive that starts out slowing chugging along and ends up as an unstoppable mass of energy.

Your greatest chance for success starts with a plan.  Here are 3 ideas to get started.

Think about what you really want to achieve.  Set aside a few hours, a full day, or whatever amount of time you want to lay out your vision.  Get creative however creativity looks to you.  You might have a wall full of post-it notes, or flip charts with colorful markers, or just a plain old pen and notepad.  It doesn’t matter what medium you use to get your vision down, the key is to get it out of your head and onto paper.   When you’re ready to this, be relaxed, in a good mood, and don’t second guess yourself.  Start by writing out everything you can think of.  It doesn’t matter if it’s big or little, realistic or unimaginable, this exercise is like dumping out a box full of puzzle pieces.  You get to figure out how to put them together later.  

All action is born in thought.  Procrastination and inactivity is the result of too much time thinking and not enough time doing.  Getting your thoughts down on paper, as just described, is the first step in achieving what you want.  It is amazing what can happen just by getting things out of your head and down on paper.  You can begin to see the big picture.  Just like when all the puzzle pieces that are out of the box, you can begin to see how they can come together.  As long as they are in the box nothing will happen.  Once they are out of the box you will likely start to pick them up and start piecing them together.

Success takes time.  Just like the puzzle, success takes time.  Of course, the length of time depends on the difficulty involved.  A 500 piece puzzle won’t take as long as a 5000 piece puzzle.   When you’re dealing with your life or your business you’re probably dealing with a 5000 piece puzzle at least. Just like the puzzle, success is a process that includes prepping, testing, analyzing, and tweaking.  Be realistic about what you are trying to achieve so you don’t get discouraged.  If it’s a long term goal, don’t expect overnight success.  A few pieces of the puzzle put together might not look like much but you have to start somewhere.  If you keep at it eventually the picture will become more defined, more clear, and eventually you will have succeeded.

My encouragement for you this week is that you will plan to plan.  Schedule some time before the end of the year where you can have relaxed, uninterrupted planning time.  Have fun with it and just take it step by step.  If you want some help getting started, call or email me to schedule a Get Focused session.  Remember, you can achieve whatever you believe as long as you are willing to work for it.

Liz Uram is a certified professional coach, has a B.A. in Organizational Leadership, is the author of ‘How to Organize & Manage Your Time – A One Year Planning and Action Guide’, and is an award-winning speaker.  She specializes in helping entrepreneurs and solo professionals attract
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