Effectivity

7 Quick Steps to Get Off the Ground

Knowing where to start something important, can be very hard.  Especially something as important as a life goal.  Imagine that today you have hatched a brand new goal for your life.  Where do you start, what comes first, how do you get off the ground? 

There is a logical process to follow.  If you carry out these first simple steps, not only will you have made some initial progress but you will have built up valuable momentum.  Momentum is one of the most important forces in achieving big goals.  So building it from the beginning can get you off to a really good start.  Try these 7 quick steps to get off the ground:

1. Decide what your final success will be like.  Define precisely, what it will look, feel, sound, and smell like.  Create a vivid image that will tell you exactly when you have arrived.  This will act as a motivator to get you there, as well as a signal that you have reached your goal.
2. Set up a structure to hang your actions on.  The actions that you carry out to reach your goal can get out of control over time.  The paper work, the network of people, even the equipment that you use to reach your goal can get confused and clumsy.  Take the time right from the start to get set up properly.   Perhaps you will require a file or a filing cabinet.  Maybe you will need to create a method for remembering names.  Maybe you will have to set up a new office.  Whatever your goal requires, do the practical preparation by setting up a structure that you can hang all of your actions on.
3. Make lists of everything you will need to get together to be successful.  This is the perfect time to think through everything you will need and how to get it.  Your lists might include the people you require assistance from, techniques, materials, tools and even skills that you will have to master.  Keep these lists handy as you begin, so that you can tick off items as a secondary gauge of your progress.
4. Break your goal down into effective action steps.  Usually we aren’t able to attack an entire goal at once.  We are much more effective if we work at achieving each individual step that leads to our goal.  So we must decide, early on, which steps will add up to our final goal accomplishment.  Break down the goal into the exact steps that will lead you to success.  Then you will be set to carry out these steps one at a time.
5. Create a visual representation of the critical path.  Plotting critical paths is a valuable process for anyone achieving goals.  Describing the process is more than this brief article can manage.  For now, let’s simplify things by saying that the critical path of your journey is the order that you must carry out your effective action steps to make the best progress towards your goal.  All of the steps must be carried out, but there is usually an order that is most efficient and the shortest path to get to your goal.  Play around with combinations until you think you have found it.
6. Take a big breath, relax and find the right mental state.  Early on in your progress towards your goal, you cannot afford to burn up all of your energy and motivation in excessive tension.  Early days are best spent in a state of calm, productive alertness.  Practice your ability to relax and modify your state of mind and control it so that you will have the energy to see your goal through to the end.
7. Start your first effective action step as soon as you can.  You have done the ground work and now all that is waiting is for your to start.  Don’t hesitate any longer.  Begin while you are on fire.  Make the most of this first spurt of momentum and head off towards success.

An example of this process in action was when I started LifeGoalAction :

• The first thing I did was to decide exactly what I wanted the finished product to be like.  I created a vivid picture of what success would be like. 
• Then I organised file space, physical notebook journals and web hosting to contain all of my subsequent actions. 
• The third step was to make lists of essential things that I needed for success.  I made lists of software and plugins, I made lists of article topics, I made lists of contacts and research to do and and I made lists of physical tools that I would require. 
• Then I broke my goal down into a series of specific, effective action steps.  These steps are forming a path from where I began to where I aim to end up. 
• I created a critical path diagram that brings all of the steps together in a most efficient sequence. 
• I practice active visualisation as well as relaxation in order to control the level of my stress and focus. 
• Finally I got started.  I began and completed my first effective action step and all of a sudden I was on my way.

These 7 steps aren’t the only way to look at starting out with your goal, they are just a quick summary of techniques that I have found helpful.  Soon I will be publishing a complete Goal Setting process on this site that will be a much more useful and in depth tool.  For now, keeping things simple, if you follow these 7 steps, you will have set yourself up for success, you will have built up initial momentum, and before you know it, you’ll be racing towards success.

Which do you think is the most important of the seven steps?  Which is the hardest for you?

Thanks

Tom