When writing an action plan to achieve a
particular goal or outcome, you can get much
help from the following steps.
Clarify your goal. Can you get a
visual picture of the expected outcome? How
can you see if you have reached your
destination? What does make your goal
measurable? What constraints do you have,
like the limits on time, money, or other
resources.
Write a list of actions. Write down
all actions you may need to take to achieve
your goal. At this step focus on generating
and writing as many different options and
ideas as possible. Take a sheet of paper and
write more and more ideas, just as they come
to your mind. While you are doing this, try
not to judge or analyze.
Analyze, prioritize, and prune. Look
at your list of actions. What are the
absolutely necessary and effective steps to
achieve your goal? Mark them somehow. After
that, what action items can be dropped from
in the plan without significant consequences
for the outcome. Cross them out.
Organize your list into a plan.
Decide on the order of your action steps.
Start from looking at your marked key
actions. For each action, what other steps
should be completed before that action?
Rearrange your actions and ideas into a
sequence of ordered action steps. Finally,
look at your plan once again. Are there any
ways to simplify it even more?
Monitor the execution of your plan and
review the plan regularly. How much have
you progressed towards your goal by now?
What new information you have got? Use this
information to further adjust and optimize
your plan.
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