90 days or 3 months happen in a flash. They are almost done and dusted before you have even got started. Things don’t seem to be slowing down any, do they? Reflect, rethink, reboot. Reset the start of the 90 days.
What do the next 90 days hold for you?
The next 90 days beckon. You’ll be at the end soon enough no matter what you do. What if, instead of just getting through them, you decided that they would be extraordinary? What if you lifted your game right now? What if you made this 90 days full of more great work?
Why 90 days? It seems to be a perfect planning period. Not too short so nothing can really be done. Not too long that your plans don’t deteriorate into “5 year plan” fantasies. It’s the Goldilocks planning period – not too big and not too small…just right.
How to make a plan
It’s all about focus.
Don’t try and plan the world. Don’t try and “boil the ocean”. Focus on “the valuable few”, the things that will really make a difference, the things that really matter to you.
Try following this structure to see if it helps.
- Write down two things that, if you achieved them, would make it an uncommon year, a year to remember.
- Turn your attention to the next 90 days. For each goal, write down a project or an action that would move things forward that would… Be the easiest thing to do; Have the biggest impact; Be most fun to do; Take the most courage; Be Great Work
- Pick two that would have the most impact … and that you will truly do. You should have four in total.
- For each of the four actions or projects, list the two things that will mostly likely get in the way of you completing them.
- For each of the four actions or projects, list the two things you need (eg. resources, support) that will most likely help you accomplish them.
- Make a commitment to someone about what you will do by the 90th
- Rinse and repeat for another 90 days and another and another
- Build in celebration to acknowledge your successes
Encouragement from some famous people who made their 90 days count:
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” John Lennon, British musician “Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.” Winston Churchill, British statesman “A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.” Proverb “Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning.” –Thomas Edison, American inventor “To be prepared is half the victory.” Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Spanish writer “To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.” Anatole France, French writer “Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it. Plan more than you can do, then do it.” Anonymous “I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult.” E. B. White, American humourist “Adventure is just bad planning.” Roald Amundsen, Norwegian explorer