“Planning is bringing the future in to the present so that you can do something about it now.”
– Alan Lakein, author, How To Get Control of Your Time and Your Life
In business, a solid plan is how we tie what we do to what the client needs to accomplish. In life, it’s about deciding what to do and what not to do, based on priorities.
Liken suggests categorically focusing on short, middle and long-term goals, and then prioritizing them into A, B and C priorities.
Whatever the term or priority, it will serve us well to honor the direction of another famous author, Stephen Covey, who admonishes us to “begin with the end in mind.”
It’s an obvious, but critical call out. Too often, we look at our to-do list and simply start listing things in the order of urgency. By focusing on what we’re seeking to accomplish, we can better honor those activities that will get us closer to that goal at the expense of the activities that won’t.
A subtle and sometimes perplexing pursuit (there are things we have to do just to get to the next step, even if they don’t, this instant, seem accretive to the outcome), but a clear picture of the future helps us bring it in to the present (context), so that we can take decisive action.
This is how planning begins for the difference maker.
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