someone else, with a clearer sense of purpose, will hire you to aid in
accomplishing his or her goals. Whether this is satisfying for you de-
pends on whether that person’s desires are in harmony with yours.
The prevalence of the Thank Goodness It’s Friday (TGIF) mentality
indicates such harmony is infrequent.Requirements of a Plan
Time management is actually a misnomer. You don’t really manage
time, but rather your activities. All the time management courses in
the world will not help very much if you don’t have an organized
and detailed approach for using your creativity to solve problems.
Without this, your efforts will lack focus and direction and are likely
to be driven by the desires of others.Perfectionism and Creativity Are Natural Enemies
There is no such thing as a perfect plan. Do not wait for yours to be
perfect before you begin working to achieve it. There is not even a
best plan. There is a wide variety of ways to accomplish any goal.
Different plans will work better for different people. Even after you
have written your plan, you’ll be changing it from time to time to
accommodate new information and unanticipated events.Five Requirements for a Successful Plan
There are only five requirements for a successful plan.- It must be written.
- It must be in chronological order, starting now and continu-
ing all the way to the end. - The completion of each step must leave you ready to begin
the next step. - It must be in harmony with your values and your true pur-
pose. - It must include personal growth activity.
If you are like most people, you already have some plans.
Some may be written in detail, and others may be vaguely formu-
lated. Use the requirements just listed to improve any plans you
have already made. You may discover that you want to discard
some of those plans because they are no longer in harmony with
your true purpose.254 Putting It All Together into a Plan