These are my notes from Brian Tracy’s powerful video, “How to Create an Effective Action Plan“. The video is so good and I wanted to put it down on paper (or onto a web doc) so I could print it out and look at it, daily.
1. Be clear about what you want
Most people have no idea what they want and they get stuck in fear of failure. You will be successful by creating goals that are CLEAR, SPECIFIC, and MULTIDIMENSIONAL. This will put you in the top 3%.
I recommend starting with 1 goal so you don’t get overwhelmed and that will give you the motivation and feeling of achievement to go after the next one.
Multidimensional Goals:
- Finance
- Health
- Relationships
- Career
- Personal Development
- Professional Development
- Community
- Spiritual Growth
2. Write your goals down
Knowing what you want is great, saying them out loud is also great, and writing them down takes it to another level. This is the system of manifestation. It begins as a thought, that turns into words, that turns into ACTION! When you write it down, it’s programming your brain and sending a signal that what you want is actually possible.
You may have many goals and that can make it difficult to pick 1. Brian Tracy recommends using the 3 GOAL METHOD. Here’s how you do it.
3 GOAL METHOD:
- Take out a piece of paper and pen
- Quickly write down the first 3 goals that come to mind.
3. Set deadlines (& sub-deadlines)
Deadlines are important because they push the subconscious into achievement mode. They give you a “target time” so you’re not wandering about aimlessly but have a date that you are working towards. Deadlines help you organize and prioritize, to try and make it happen by the date and time you set.
Use sub-deadlines for smaller milestones along the way that are necessary to help you reach that goal.
If, however, you do not achieve it by the deadline, just set another one!
4. Make a list – lay out the path.
Make a list of all the things that you will need to do in order to achieve this goal and start laying out the path. These are your goal-oriented “to-do’s”.
Identify:
- Todo’s
- Obstacles
- Information needed
- Skills needed
- Helpful People / Mentors
Organize this list by “priority and sequence”.
Priority = most important
Sequence = what has to happen before, after, in what order
Some cool stats
If you’re feeling overwhelmed at this point, here are some cool stats to ease that anxiety.
The 80/20 rule states that 80% of your results will come from 20% of the work that you do.
The 20/80 rule states that 20% of the time you spend planning and organizing is worth 80% of the time and effort that is required to achieve your goal.
And this little fact is my favorite!
EACH MINUTE SPENT PLANNING SAVES 10 MINUTES ON EXECUTION!
That means, if you set a timer and focus on planning for 6 minutes, you save yourself 1 hour of execution time. If you set a timer and focus for just 12 minutes, you will save yourself 2 hours of execution time.
THAT IS INSANE! 🤯
Here’s how to plan
Daily
Plan your days the evening before.
Weekly
Plan your weeks, the weekend before.
Monthly
Plan your months, at the beginning of the month.
TAKE ACTION | TRACK PROGRESS | MAKE ADJUSTMENTS
Pro Tip: PRIORITIZE
- Select the #1 most important goal for the day
- Ask yourself, “If I could only do one thing on this list, which is the most important?”
- Then ask, “If I could do one more thing on this list, which is the most valuable use of my time?”
“The more careful and detailed you are, the more you will accomplish in less time.”
– Brian Tracy