A Vision Without a Plan is Just a Dream: 5 Steps to Realise Your Vision

You have done a lot of visioning work and inward searching to find your life's true calling and purpose. You are excited about your newfound clarity. You are willing to move out of your comfort zone and take the necessary action to make it happen. But, you are unclear about what your next action should be or how to map out a plan. Perhaps you have not even thought about a plan of action and have bought into the idea that having a specific vision is all you need to manifest. I urge you to reconsider. Yes, having a clear, specific vision full of life is critical. However, a vision without a plan is just a dream. Here I outline a detailed action plan with five steps that will bring your vision to life.nn1. Goal This will look a lot like the vision you are working towards. It should be clear and very specific. Also, you should have a clear, realistic date for when you intend to achieve the goal.nn2. Milestones It is time to pull out a calendar. Work backwards from the date of your goal and realistically write down all of the specific milestones that occurred before the goal. If your vision is to build a website to market your business one milestone might be "Monday, December 5, 2008 - All of my web content is complete."nn3. Actions Imagine for a moment that you are playing a game of ring toss. Do you think it is more likely that you will ring your target from 3 feet or from 20 feet? I hope your answer is 3 feet. You will be more successful when you break your actions into three-foot tosses. For instance, when an author writes a book they don't usually start trying to build the whole book. While holding their vision of the finished book in mind they create an outline. Then they build one chapter at a time. Then they edit, etc. Give each action a specific date and time. For instance, an action might look like, "I will call xyz on Monday, December 12, 2008 at 9am to schedule our next meeting for Monday, December 19, 2008 at 2:30pm"nn4. Team It is time to make a list of the people on your team. Your team will consist of the specific people you will be working with and your support network. For instance, if you are building a website some people on your team might include your content editor and html programmer. However, don't just name the position. Name the actual people. In addition, the support people on your team are people who will not necessarily be working directly on the project, but people with whom you trust sharing your vision. Sharing your vision with people you trust helps put it into existence. In addition, I invite you to set up an accountability system with one of the people on your team. Among your support might be co-workers not working directly on this goal, your life partner, and your best friend. Get their permission for you to place them on your team. By doing this you are engaging their support. I also suggest specifically asking them to hold this vision with you and to occasionally ask you how you are doing achieving the goal.nn5. Resources Your resources will consist of everything you need to execute your plan. These include people, places, and things. People who may not be on your team but may be resources are experts in your field who have written articles or books you may refer to for information. If you are coordinating a seminar you will need a place to hold it. If you are coordinating a seminar things you might need are poster board and an easel. I do caution against rigidity. Keep your agreements with yourself and others and negotiate accordingly if you need to change them. This will allow for flexibility within this structure. When you follow this plan while holding a clear vision, it will support you in moving out of your comfort zone, and taking all the necessary action you have outlined. This is what it takes to achieve your goals! Copyright 2008 Jason Mannino. All Rights Reservedn