|
Favorits •
Web Domain Directory •
ODP •
Annuaire FR •
Directorio ES •
Directory EN •
Diretório PT •
IT Katalog •
Czech Katalog •
Polski Katalog •
Maps •
Satellite Photos •
View Card
|
||
|
|
Organizing |
|
|
| ||
 |
A Personal Action Plan for Change
There are eight distinct steps to constructing and executing an action plan for effective and lasting change. Item 1: Evaluate your strengths and weaknesses. In the "Betterchange" workbook there's an exercise contributed by the late Dr. David Viscott. We've reproduced it (with permission) at the end of this article. It's a self-evaluation, and we believe that it's the best one we've seen. By completing it - honestly - you'll find yourself focussed on your own areas of greatest strength (based on your experience) and weakness (based on your perceptions). You needn't complete this now. Later, at your leisure, review this outline, then list on your action plan the three, four or five areas of your greatest strength, and the areas in which you feel you're weakest. As you build and execute your plan you'll be learning how to capitalize further on your strengths and to minimize or eliminate your weak areas by changing the way you think about them and about yourself. Item 2: List your goals and objectives - completely. Big ones, little ones, crazy ones - write down every goal you can think of, and be as complete as possible. Go into as much detail as you feel you need to make a really clear picture out of the goal idea. Take your time with this, and feel free to add to it at any time. Item 3: List your fears about each of your goals, and jot down the limiting beliefs you hold about each goal. No action plan would be complete without at least an acknowledgement of the fears and self-imposed limits we inflict on ourselves. Getting these items out where you can see them will help you deal with them...even, perhaps, laugh at them (because most of them are pretty silly, after all). Item 4: Write out the risks you believe you'll have to take?and prioritize them. Again, this is done so you can see them objectively. At this point in the development of your plan you should begin to feel the motivational notion that "I can do it!" Item 5: List the actions it will take in each area to move you from where you are to where you'd like to be. You may not know every action yet, but list the ones you do know -- in roughly the order in which they must be done -- and start doing them, one at a time. If you need to break down a large-scale action into several smaller ones, do that. Be as specific as possible. As I'm sure you can see, this process is going to take you some time, so be prepared to work on it, then work on it some more. Item 6: Create affirmations and do visualizations. It may be helpful to construct some affirmations and start using them, or to relax and visualize your outcomes in a constructive way. The last two ingredients are? Item 7: Track your progress -- in writing -- and Item 8: Continually examine yourself and re-evaluate your situation. Here's a place where journaling can really help. Record your thoughts, feelings and actions. Look them over every day. See what's happening. Plan the next actions. Visualize the outcomes. Create affirmations. Then, as things develop, revise your action plan. Analyzing Your Strengths And Weaknesses With a bow to the late Dr. David Viscott, the noted psychiatrist and author, with whose permission we reproduce this section of his best-selling book, "Taking Care of Business", here is a series of questions for you to ponder before you start creating your Personal Action Plan. Honest answers will give you considerable insight into the depth and breadth of your personal potential. The best way to do this exercise is simply to write...don't think ...until you've completed the whole thing. Then review what you've written. Surprise! You'll discover some things you won't even remember having written, and as you examine each section you'll be able to pick out some consistencies and patterns, some inconsistencies that will need further examination to resolve, and a rather complete picture of who you are. It's exciting. Please take the hour or so you'll need; you'll find it most worthwhile. Success Component Consider all your successes in the past. What do they have in common? What role did you play in each? Were you a leader or a follower? Were you closely supervised or left mostly on your own? Was your function creative or managerial? Did you do best in certain locations, in certain companies, professional situations or in a particular career? Did you work as part of a group or by yourself? Was your schedule rigid or free? How did you feel about that? Is there a single ingredient in your success without which you would have failed? If so, what was it? What do your best judgements depend upon? What attitude works best for you? Failure Component Is there any pattern in your failures? What were your most critical misjudgements? (People/situations/information/risk level/optimism vs. pessimism) Are you still that way? When you misjudge, what gets in the way of clear thinking? Were there any warning signs you ignored in any failure situation? When do you find yourself most likely to get into trouble? Vulnerability Component When are you likely to act in ways that aren't in your best interest? How do people flatter you? When do you waiver from what you know is right? (When are you frightened, closed, defensive?) When are you most likely to lose sight of your goals? Where is your immediate point of vulnerability? What personal failing gets in your way? Skills Component If you could have any additional skill(s), which one(s) would you pursue? What difference do you think having new skill(s) would make? How difficult would it be to acquire what you want? What is standing in the way of your attaining what you believe you'd like? How important is all this to your success? Strength Component When are you at your best and most secure? Why do people look up to you? What personal quality do you value most in yourself? Write down what you believe to be your 2 or 3 greatest strengths (in priority order!) Copyright 2002, 2005 Optimum Performance Associates/Paul McNeese. Paul McNeese is CEO of Optimum Performance Associates, a consulting firm specializing in transitional and transformational change for individuals and institutions through publication. His publishing company, OPA Publishing, is an advocacy for self-publishing authors of informational, instructional, inspirational and insightful nonfiction. Email: pmcneese@opapublishing.com
MORE RESOURCES: |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Can You Make a "Torpedo" Out of Personal Junk? How to Optimize What You Have "Junkyard Wars," a TV series showed two teams of experts contending for a title. The aim of the competition was for teams to construct a torpedo that can hit a target. A Simple Effective Tool To Get And Stay Organized Often we are in overwhelm because we are holding too many things in our brain. We are trying to make everything a priority and get it done now. Letting Go Of Your Excuses At this point, you have probably run across some belongings that don't exactly serve a practical purpose in your life. Some items simply cannot be judged according to their function alone. Are You Stuck In The Clutter Trap? You arrived on earth without clutter. Your parents and doting relatives started you on a pathway to accumulation. Identifying the Rocks: Organizing Your Priorities In one of my favorite books, First Things First, written by Stephen Covey with Roger and Rebecca Merrill, is a story of the man in front of his class with a pile of rocks and a jar. He puts the rocks in the jar, and then asks the class "Is it full?" "Yes," they answer in unison. The Psychology of Being Organized Individuals who are organized in their personal lives most generally constitute efficient and organized employees in their work environments, succeed in their personal endeavors and are, more often than not, financially secure.Once an organizational state of mind is established, your status of efficiency in all areas of your life will ultimately benefit. Sticking to Your New Years Resolutions: Ten Tips for a More Organized Life 1. A calendar is an essential organizing tool - start the year with one that works for you! And whether you use a paper or electronic version, using Post-it® notes as reminders will help you "stick" to your resolutions. Spring Cleaning Spring is such a refreshing time- we are filled with the hope and promise of the seasons ahead. The flowers blossom, our spirits lift. 9 Simple Strategies for Home Organization Home organization means being able to find your stuff when you need it, not after an hour or more of searching. But home organization doesn't necessarily mean you're neat or clean. Breathing Life Into Dead Spaces "I don't have enough room!" -- this is a common cry amongst the disorganized. But sometimes, they just aren't looking closely enough. 7 Little Things That You Can Do to Organize the Kids Rooms 1. Sink to their level. Files vs Piles I recently read an article that had some interesting but not surprising statistics. Harte-Hanks published a survey in December, 2001 which reported that 96% of businesspeople interviewed were frustrated by their companies' information management. Can You Really Improve Your Organisation Skills I'm sure most of you have heard of Zig Ziglar International Sales Guru. Well in one of Zig's weekly newsletters, there were a number of comments about the habits of well-organised people which I couldn't resist sharing with you. Organization Tips - How to Set Up Your Database What's in a Name?Everything.What do you do with all the contacts you make in your organisation? Do you:Collect business cards and throw them in the bottom of your desk drawer hoping one day one of these people will ring and do business with you? Have any system for keeping information on your clients and prospects? Do you enter all their details into your database so that you can communicate with them in the future?Do you enter all your clients into the database with information about what they've bought from you and conversations you've had with them? I'm astounded that so many business people keep no comprehensive records of their clients, general contacts and prospects. How To Organize Your Paperwork Many people have a huge challenge coping with the incoming paperwork. (Whatever happened to the paperless office?). Overcoming E-mail Overload Using Microsoft Outlook Do you feel like you just get too much e-mail? If you're like me, some days you just don't know where to dig in. Fortunately, I've found a few tips that can help you dig out from under the pile and organize the important e-mails in your life. Clutter-Clearing and Your Authentic Self Have you ever felt so discouraged, your life so out-of-control, the universe so unresponsive to your needs and desires, that you couldn't help it: you just had to clean up? By paying attention to these impulses we recognize the deep connection between our personal environment and our innermost selves. It's as though by shifting the arrangement of our belongings we hope to rearrange the molecules of our emotional lives as well. Get Organised and Transform Your Life It takes effort to get results, and not just any effort, it takes smart effort. You cannot expect to achieve anything without doing something. 10 Myths of Clutter Clearing 1) It's easy to have a good clear out: Not always. For many people, breaking a life-time habit is really hard - everyone has a choice whether they want to make that break or not. Lightening The Load When I tell people what a FREEING experience moving is, they usually look at me like I'm crazy. "What do you mean freeing? It's the most stressful thing I've ever been through!" While there are stresses associated with relocating, each move offers you the opportunity to lighten the load.
|