“Of all the things I’ve done, the most vital is coordinating those who work with me and aiming their efforts at a certain goal.” 

– Walt Disney, founder of Disney  

Hopefully, you have your ONE thing picked out and ready to work on from yesterday’s lesson. Today it’s time to take ACTION.

Reflection:

Now it’s time to create an action plan that will enable you to do your ONE thing.  

Be specific. Ensure that it’s attainable, not frustrating or unrealistic. Break it down into steps to take. Have an end date for each specific step.

Let’s go back to the example of having lunch/getting to know an employee once a week. (You’ll recall that this originated from one aspect of your mission - to use your skills or position for the emotional good of the company.)

Specific steps would be something like this:

●     Choose 4 people.

●     Contact each one to choose a date, time, and location. Assure them that there's no underlying agenda!

●     Confirm and add each date to your calendar.

●     Enjoy your lunch and conversation with them.

This is a very simple example, but you can see how each step is do-able and you know when it’s been completed.

Your ONE thing may be a little more complex. Or a lot more complex! Take the time to break it into manageable components, each of which will be completed before moving to the next.

The goal is focusing on your ONE thing to the exclusion of other projects, but let’s be realistic - there are often urgent situations, sudden demands, unexpected phone calls and more that will interfere with even the best of plans.

Knowing where you are in the sequence of steps helps you to recover and get right back to what you were doing before an interruption came along. You’ll find you can accept those interruptions a lot more peacefully.

Once you complete your ONE thing, prioritize what you’ll be tackling next. Getting one item done leads to achieving your next one thing and starts a healthy chain reaction.

Action:

Using the ONE thing you decided on yesterday, write out the specific manageable steps you’ll take to ensure completion.

Where possible, assign a date for each step to be completed.

Assign an end date for the entire goal to be complete and add it to your calendar.

Does the overall plan, and each step leading up to completion, appear to be realistic? If not, make adjustments to the plan, keeping in mind there will likely be unexpected interruptions.

Tomorrow we’ll find out how to clarify your team mission. See you there.    

©2020 Slavica Bogdanov