In this series of blogs, we have taken you through the Life and Career Planning Model© found in the book Time To Get Real! and you have learned about each model topic and then how to analyze and learn from the work you would have done with each tropic. The final phase of life and career planning is to create your personal and professional strategic plan. Whether or not you have read the book and followed through on the model, the information in this blog will still help you to think about what it would take to create a life and career plan for yourself.

The first thing you would need to consider is how far in advance do you want to plan. We recommend that you look ahead at least two years but no more than three years. The reason for this is that things have a way of changing with a level of rapidity we can seldom predict--you lose a job, you obtain a new job, there’s the birth of a child, illness strikes someone in the family, a new home is purchased, and on and on.

Next, you would need to force yourself to concentrate on a discrete number of strategies, probably no more than six to eight per year. A strategy is a stated plan of action designed to achieve a major aim for a desired future, so you have to be specific about what you want to achieve. You don’t want to overwhelm yourself, nor be unrealistic in terms of choosing just how much you believe you can accomplish.

Third, specific goals would need to be established for each of your strategies. A goal is the object of your effort, a desired result that you commit to achieving. To make your plan effective, the goals must be specific, measurable wherever possible, attainable and realistic, and time-based.

To begin the planning process you would need to look back at the work you have done on your life and career plan and begin to make choices about the areas of strategic focus that are most important to you now. As a model or a possible approach for doing this, we have noted below a simple way to assimilate information that one can then develop into strategies for which goals can be stated. For example:

MODEL TOPIC - Strengths and Development Areas

YOUR INSIGHTS - I have three specific areas requiring further personal development: increasing my emotional intelligence; learning more about the financial aspects of this business; understanding more about project management.

STRATEGY - To focus on the three areas requiring personal development so that each of those areas can be strengthened.

GOALS AND TIMELINE -

1. Determine if my organization will support me in my effort to strengthen these three areas by either paying for it or allowing time to do it. By the end of next month, know whether or not I can attend a class or seminar on this subject or be tested on emotional intelligence.

2. In two weeks, ask a senior executive in the finance department if they would be willing to mentor me through a process of increasing my financial acumen. If not, determine if there is an adult education or college course I might take to do so, perhaps company paid.

3. By the end of the month ascertain if Human Resources and my boss will support me in either engaging in project management training or be assigned to a project with a leader who is willing to mentor me through a project management process.

4. After taking the above actions, determine within three months if I will need to either discuss with my employer additional actions that would be open to me for self-development in these areas or if none are available, consider whether or not I must seek another employer to gain the progress and the development that I need. If the latter is the case, set a goal to construct my job search plan.

By now, you would have a fairly good idea of where you need to prioritize your attention. Remember, this is not the last plan you will be developing. It is your first one and it is important. Choose to focus on the areas that bother you, that need resolution, and that will help you to move toward your goals and your vision. When you do this exercise, attach to each goal a time for beginning and ending, and any aspects of the goal that can be measured. Be as specific as possible, name names, dates, and expected outcomes. After you document what you want to do, ask yourself – is what I plan to do reasonable and attainable?

When you finished documenting your plan, you would need to prioritize the strategies, laying them out over the two-year period. For example, those that are precursors to other goals should be done first. Those that are of deepest concern to you should be done first. As you plan this out, for each quarter of the year you should see some even distribution of the actions to be taken so that at the end of the two-year period of your plan, each of the strategies you’ve chosen and the goals attached to them will have been completed. The important thing is to look back over your documentation for each of the model topics, pulling out the lessons and teasing out the strategies that are most important to you over the next two years, and committing to specific goals that are time-based.

Noah had a real problem selecting only six to eight strategies. He really wanted to get things done quickly. However, he was afraid that if he selected too many strategies, he would not be able to focus on any of them, and it would deflate his enthusiasm for action. Noah decided that he would prioritize just six areas and would do it in a way that would keep his level of interest up. He chose to act first on two areas of the plan where he felt it would be easier for him to take action and for him to achieve early success--“personal development” and “exploring new interests.” The next four areas of the model he chose he knew would be a bit harder for him, but these were areas that really bothered him and where he wanted to see progress. Those areas were “life balance”, “improving or shedding a toxic relationship”, “focusing on what he wanted for his next job”, and “getting a long-delayed financial plan accomplished.” Noah listed his strategies, goals, and actions by quarter for each of two years. The last four areas of focus would begin toward the end of the second quarter of the first year. He decided to take care of the “toxic relationship” and to “hire a financial planner” so that both would be resolved in the second half of the first year. He left “life balance” and “planning for his next job” to be the focus for the early part of the second year of his plan. This excited him. He had things to do, knew what he wanted to do, and understood that by accomplishing his goals he would be moving toward his vision.

Once you’ve completed your action plan, it would now be time to share it with at least one key relationship in your life. Try reserving enough time with this person to review your entire life and career plan. Depending upon the relationship and your approach to these kinds of discussions, you may or may not want to share a written document summarizing your plan in advance with your key relationship. Whether you share the information in advance or at the meeting, be open. Divulge to them your concerns, insights, expectations, and plans. Let the individual know that your one and only interest, as a result of your respect for that person, is to seek their candid advice about each of the model topics, how you saw them, and the resultant strategies and goals you have developed.

While talking to your mentor or key relationship listen intently and try not to make any judgments about what is being told to you. Focus on getting clarity from the individual with whom you are speaking, take notes. Be sure to thank your key relationship for their input. Later you can review the input you have received and keep what you find valuable while discarding the advice that you don’t feel would be helpful at this time. At that point, your plan can be revised with what you learned and you can move on to implementation.

We recommend to our clients that they review their life and career plan at least every two years and whenever a major life event occurs, determine what has changed, create a new action plan, and go through this whole process once again. It is much easier the second time around since you are reviewing the documentation from the first time, identifying anything that has changed, and then documenting the new information and any new actions needed going forward. We find that some goals might be carried over to the third or fourth year, and new goals are developed as a result of new information.

The important thing is to treat the life and career action plan as a living document used to make decisions, used to provide actionable guidance, and used to keep you on the path to your vision. So don’t be dissuaded. Stay the course. Make the adjustments. Keep moving forward. If a major life event occurs, redo your plan, and if necessary, your vision. The Life and Career Planning Model© will continue to inform you, motivate you, and guide you toward your best possible life.

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