Staying on Track

"Just claim it and it somehow becomes yours," a friend once shared when I asked how she bought the house she was dreaming to one day own. I wished it were that simple. 


Then she elaborated: she would pass the house day after day, claim it, then dream about it obsessively. Then it became hers... in a nutshell. Very Rhonda Byrne in "The Secret".  For me, though, more simplistic:  very Wayne Campbell in "Wayne's World": 

"It will be mine. Oh yes. It will be mine."

I prefer the more action-oriented approach I learned from a good friend and former work-mate, motivational speaker and trainer Anthony N. Pangilinan. He taught and continues to teach principles and techniques in his evolving Time Management, Prioritization, Life Management, Life Balance programs. I have used the techniques in his programs, pared-down to the five most basic and useful in my life. Although they (Anthony's principles) may have changed with the times, and I have tweaked them a bit since first learning them, I believe that once you know the basics, you can just adjust the application according to whatever situation you're in. 

1. Know who you are and what you want. This way, you are aware of how busy you are, what your life really is about, and how much you are willing to set aside for your goal and "game plan". 
2. Draw up your KRA's - Key Result Areas or Key Relational Areas.  My overall ones are me (broken down to personal, professional spiritual, physical), my husband, my kids, my work, my friends. I use the ever-reliable mind mapping technique popularized by Tony Buzan to give me a better overview of my "life" at a glance.
3. In view of your vision/mission, set your goals  -- measurable, realistic, and specific -- and goals for each KRA.
4. Break these into do-able chunks of action plans. Again, measurable, realistic, and specific.
5. Distribute these into the time frames where they apply: months, weeks, days, in your planner of choice. At this phase, you would  know how much time to devote to your plans, and how much free time you have left. This step sends me on combination of turbo-mode (because I now realize how much -- or little -- time I have left to get to where I want to go) and a release, signalling that I can begin to freely accept other events, activities, and options.

I've found it essential to post or keep these KRA's, overall goals and plans and the smaller broken-down chunks somewhere visible. Doing this not just keeps me motivated, but helps me remember I have a dream, a mission, a goal, a plan, so I need to stop procrastinating. With the constant reminder, pretty soon I begin to be more proactive and to automatically schedule and do things around my fundamentals.

Now, O-C that I am, I tend to stick to something set and keep my mind closed to all others.  That's good as far as focus goes, but not very good in the real world, where I don't exist isolated from all others. One good thing to remember is to be open to change and flexible as well.  As long as you stay grounded to what you believe in and that every step you are making leads to that one over-all goal, a little adjustment shouldn't hurt... much.

So, having applied these to my overall and current goals and explain why I'm so happy to find I am not torn apart by the various goals, dreams, and plans I have: 

• My blogs and websites are coming together, showing more cohesion and following one path.  
• My plans and the work I actually consider and accept are also going toward that one goal. 
• I find myself actually welcoming opportunities I have dreamed about when I first identified my dreams and goals.
• I am still able to be the present and accessible spouse and parent I've always wanted to be.

You might have other ways to go about charting, chasing, and finding your dreams and goals, but these five steps have worked for me for about 20 years. They've stuck with me because they have always worked. I forget sometimes, but I always go back to the drawing (mind map, haha) board when I get thrown off or confused about chaos in my life. 

There is so much satisfaction and validation resulting from each time something works out according to plan. And it just makes me so happy. As Hannibal of the A-Team would say with glee, "I love it when a plan comes together."