As my mentor Jeffrey Combs says, having goals is great but they don't do much without an action plan.
So, an action plan is just what I created. I realized I have plenty of goals but not enough details with how to do them.
Perhaps the first and easiest step to creating an action plan is knowing what you must accomplish to move closer to your goals. For me, this means each evening writing out a list of tasks that are important to complete the next day. The week starts with week goals, and these tasks flow into those. Most people say we should focus on a 5 or 10 list, but I allow mine to go to 15. I have tasks such as client programs to complete, specific e-mails to address, appointments to make, etc.
In addition to this list of specific goals that I prepare the night before, there is a list of daily action I feel I should take to move closer to my goals as well. This is in a spreadsheet format so I can simply check off the items as I accomplish them throughout the day. Here is what I will do every day to move closer to success:
15 minutes of personal development - this morning I read Think and Grow Rich as we waited for the van to come pick my daughter up for her half day at preschool
Meditation - sitting down and simply not thinking, worrying, or doing anything, just letting the mind go quiet so we can hear God whisper - I will schedule that later in the evening, just 10 - 20 minutes of quiet time with myself and Christ
Exercise - of course, this is a very important habit for health. I did this right when I woke up, while my wife was taking a shower and my daughter was still sleeping (160 Hindu squats, 20 Hindu push-ups, and a 35 second bridge hold).
Healthy Nutrition - I only check this at the END of the day if I'm satisfied with what I had DURING the day. So far? I had a fiber/healthy fat shake (products from the company that I partner with), got a bit hungry and had a snack of whole wheat toast with all natural peanut butter, had a large buffalo burger for lunch with a small (2 oz or less) serving of corn chips and indulged in a little chocolate (which is fine on my list as long as I don't do it compulsively or go overboard) and that's all for now ... when I get hungry again, I might have a shake or maybe a bowl of organic high fiber cereal. I'm cutting back on my coffee consumption, so I had one cup in the morning (when I say cup, please appreciate it is a BIG cup), and then had tea with lunch instead of a second pot, er, cup of coffee.
Read goals - gotta let my mind know every day why I'm doing this... what I'm doing it for ... the blueprint. Read them just recently.
2 Hours with my MLM business - building leveraged income is about consistency. Most people have times where they pick up the phone and call of the people interested in their business, then other times where they don't feel like talking to anyone. This is my daily action to keep it consistent. It is what generates checks for me even through the weeks that I did not work the business, and is what funded me being able to leave my full time job and start my Natural Physiques™ business. Therefore, while I am not going full time, I do focus on 10 hours per week to keep the momentum because my goal is to earn 7-figures through this part-time business in addition to what I create with my other streams of income. This 2 hours includes at least one hour of speaking with people who are interested in the business, and the rest is either talking to similar people or coaching those who started their business to become successful and reach their own first paychecks. I did one hour of calling earlier and met some incredible people and am excited to work with them later this week, and plan to do another hour of calls later in the day.
1 new affiliate approach - I reach more people by partnering with other websites through my affiliate program. I have some incredible affiliates now, but like the MLM business, to keep it growing, I pick one new person to approach about the possibility of partnering with me each day.
Dog walk - this isn't a goal for me, it's about my animals. Sometimes we can get so caught up in business that we don't do the things our family, pets, etc. deserve. I don't have to write down the goal to spend time with my wife and family, because I do hours of this every day. However, I noticed that there were times I didn't spend with the pets and especially taking the dogs on the walk they deserve each day. So this is a goal, perhaps I'll do that after I write this!
Focus on team - this goes hand in hand with the MLM/affiliate goals. Take the time out of each day to work with my business partners and contribute what I can to their success, because in partnerships, my success happens through service by helping others achieve success.
1x visit to forums - I try to spend time giving advice and working with individuals online in chat rooms and forums. Sometimes that can be a productivity-killer, however, so I made it a goal to visit one time per day. It's okay if I spend awhile there sorting through posts and responding, but I will not get caught up in the trap of visiting every 15 minutes to respond to something new, see if someone wrote back, etc.
Update blog - that's what I'm doing. Consistency is important, so something like committing to writing to a blog like this means it is a daily action that I will honor. See, in 2005, I made a very strong commitment to not speak it unless I make it real. I had some big dreams I would share but not follow through on, and I realized, this is not the person I want to be .. someone they say is a dreamer. I want to be the person that people say, "When Jeremy says it, it'll happen - if he commits to doing it, it'll get done."
Emails 3x - email is another productivity-killer. It's easy to drift off and use checking e-mail as an excuse to break out of momentum and action. So, I am limiting myself to checking emails 3 times per day - once in the morning, once in the middle of the day, and once in the evening. I will still hold to my commitment of answering EVERY e-mail I receive, but do so in a more organized fashion.
Next day appts - before I go to bed, I will read my appointments for the following day and create a new task list so that I can wake up and know exactly what I should do that day.
Coaching - my greatest passion is coaching because that is the most direct way I connect with people to empower them to change. I devote time each and every day to work with my clients and make sure they are headed towards, not away from, their goals.
Whew - that's quite a checklist but that is what I am committed to each day to grow my success and the people I can reach and impact.
Today, I met with a bookkeeper in town who is very entrepeneurial and understands my business quite well. I'm excited to turn over the paperwork to him. I learned from my coaches that I should always focus on what I am best at, because that's what adds value - you don't read this and my clients don't coach with me because I keep good accounting records, so instead of taking time to learn those, I prefer to hire someone and at the end of the day turn over the receipts, books, records, etc into their capable hands. I spoke of this the other day - having a business team, such as a lawyer, a bookkeeper, etc and so on.
Okay, enough about me ... time to get going, I still have more items to check off!
Jeremy Likness
So, an action plan is just what I created. I realized I have plenty of goals but not enough details with how to do them.
Perhaps the first and easiest step to creating an action plan is knowing what you must accomplish to move closer to your goals. For me, this means each evening writing out a list of tasks that are important to complete the next day. The week starts with week goals, and these tasks flow into those. Most people say we should focus on a 5 or 10 list, but I allow mine to go to 15. I have tasks such as client programs to complete, specific e-mails to address, appointments to make, etc.
In addition to this list of specific goals that I prepare the night before, there is a list of daily action I feel I should take to move closer to my goals as well. This is in a spreadsheet format so I can simply check off the items as I accomplish them throughout the day. Here is what I will do every day to move closer to success:
15 minutes of personal development - this morning I read Think and Grow Rich as we waited for the van to come pick my daughter up for her half day at preschool
Meditation - sitting down and simply not thinking, worrying, or doing anything, just letting the mind go quiet so we can hear God whisper - I will schedule that later in the evening, just 10 - 20 minutes of quiet time with myself and Christ
Exercise - of course, this is a very important habit for health. I did this right when I woke up, while my wife was taking a shower and my daughter was still sleeping (160 Hindu squats, 20 Hindu push-ups, and a 35 second bridge hold).
Healthy Nutrition - I only check this at the END of the day if I'm satisfied with what I had DURING the day. So far? I had a fiber/healthy fat shake (products from the company that I partner with), got a bit hungry and had a snack of whole wheat toast with all natural peanut butter, had a large buffalo burger for lunch with a small (2 oz or less) serving of corn chips and indulged in a little chocolate (which is fine on my list as long as I don't do it compulsively or go overboard) and that's all for now ... when I get hungry again, I might have a shake or maybe a bowl of organic high fiber cereal. I'm cutting back on my coffee consumption, so I had one cup in the morning (when I say cup, please appreciate it is a BIG cup), and then had tea with lunch instead of a second pot, er, cup of coffee.
Read goals - gotta let my mind know every day why I'm doing this... what I'm doing it for ... the blueprint. Read them just recently.
2 Hours with my MLM business - building leveraged income is about consistency. Most people have times where they pick up the phone and call of the people interested in their business, then other times where they don't feel like talking to anyone. This is my daily action to keep it consistent. It is what generates checks for me even through the weeks that I did not work the business, and is what funded me being able to leave my full time job and start my Natural Physiques™ business. Therefore, while I am not going full time, I do focus on 10 hours per week to keep the momentum because my goal is to earn 7-figures through this part-time business in addition to what I create with my other streams of income. This 2 hours includes at least one hour of speaking with people who are interested in the business, and the rest is either talking to similar people or coaching those who started their business to become successful and reach their own first paychecks. I did one hour of calling earlier and met some incredible people and am excited to work with them later this week, and plan to do another hour of calls later in the day.
1 new affiliate approach - I reach more people by partnering with other websites through my affiliate program. I have some incredible affiliates now, but like the MLM business, to keep it growing, I pick one new person to approach about the possibility of partnering with me each day.
Dog walk - this isn't a goal for me, it's about my animals. Sometimes we can get so caught up in business that we don't do the things our family, pets, etc. deserve. I don't have to write down the goal to spend time with my wife and family, because I do hours of this every day. However, I noticed that there were times I didn't spend with the pets and especially taking the dogs on the walk they deserve each day. So this is a goal, perhaps I'll do that after I write this!
Focus on team - this goes hand in hand with the MLM/affiliate goals. Take the time out of each day to work with my business partners and contribute what I can to their success, because in partnerships, my success happens through service by helping others achieve success.
1x visit to forums - I try to spend time giving advice and working with individuals online in chat rooms and forums. Sometimes that can be a productivity-killer, however, so I made it a goal to visit one time per day. It's okay if I spend awhile there sorting through posts and responding, but I will not get caught up in the trap of visiting every 15 minutes to respond to something new, see if someone wrote back, etc.
Update blog - that's what I'm doing. Consistency is important, so something like committing to writing to a blog like this means it is a daily action that I will honor. See, in 2005, I made a very strong commitment to not speak it unless I make it real. I had some big dreams I would share but not follow through on, and I realized, this is not the person I want to be .. someone they say is a dreamer. I want to be the person that people say, "When Jeremy says it, it'll happen - if he commits to doing it, it'll get done."
Emails 3x - email is another productivity-killer. It's easy to drift off and use checking e-mail as an excuse to break out of momentum and action. So, I am limiting myself to checking emails 3 times per day - once in the morning, once in the middle of the day, and once in the evening. I will still hold to my commitment of answering EVERY e-mail I receive, but do so in a more organized fashion.
Next day appts - before I go to bed, I will read my appointments for the following day and create a new task list so that I can wake up and know exactly what I should do that day.
Coaching - my greatest passion is coaching because that is the most direct way I connect with people to empower them to change. I devote time each and every day to work with my clients and make sure they are headed towards, not away from, their goals.
Whew - that's quite a checklist but that is what I am committed to each day to grow my success and the people I can reach and impact.
Today, I met with a bookkeeper in town who is very entrepeneurial and understands my business quite well. I'm excited to turn over the paperwork to him. I learned from my coaches that I should always focus on what I am best at, because that's what adds value - you don't read this and my clients don't coach with me because I keep good accounting records, so instead of taking time to learn those, I prefer to hire someone and at the end of the day turn over the receipts, books, records, etc into their capable hands. I spoke of this the other day - having a business team, such as a lawyer, a bookkeeper, etc and so on.
Okay, enough about me ... time to get going, I still have more items to check off!
Jeremy Likness
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