Ahhh… the smell of autumn leaves on the ground somehow sparks in me a feeling of renewal and forward thinking for the coming year. I have a few lofty goals and I’m working through a roadmap to get to the finish line. If you’re anything like me, you’ll probably start chasing squirrels or shiny things and not stay on task if you don’t have a solid, attainable plan. Thank goodness there’s a tool for us.
A GPS, otherwise know as a 1-3-5, is an action plan geared to help you hone in on the specific action items you need to accomplish in order to hit your goal. Humor me and work though one of your biggest goals for next year. This won’t take long and the impact will be huge.
ONE GOAL
First, what’s your goal? What do you want to accomplish? While you’re here, take some time to cast your vision for this goal once you’ve attained it. What will this do for you? For your business? For your family? What will it feel like to hit this goal? What are you going to do once you DO hit it? How important will it be to achieve this goal? What will happen if you don’t achieve it? Who will suffer? What needs to happen to ensure you don’t miss it? Write all of this down.
If your goal is financial, your next step will logically be to break that down into an Economic Model to figure out specifically how many appointments you’ll need to go on in order to hit that financial goal.
Hypothetically speaking, let’s say I know I’ll need to go on 34 appointments next year to hit that financial goal. My ACTUAL goal is not to make $200,000 (something that right now feels intangible), it’s really to hit 34 appointments (something I know I can do). Let’s now break that down.
THREE PRIORITIES
From you goal, you’ll outline three main priorities to ensure you hit your goal. Think critically about these and make sure they’re things that, no matter what, will help you hit your goal. What are the most important things? Are they things you’re willing and able to focus on? If my goal is to go on 34 appointments next year, my three main priorities might be my three sources of business. Let’s say my sources of business are my sphere, online marketing, and events. Documenting these priorities will help train my brain to not get easily sidetracked by gimmicks or shiny objects.
FIVE STRATEGIES
For each priority, you’ll then outline no more than five strategies that will enable you to fulfill that priority. Don’t get caught in the weeds here, keep it stupid simple. For each of those strategies, consider if another GPS is necessary.
For my sphere I only have three simple strategies:
1. Grow to 600 contacts in Database
2. Nurture: 36+ touches to Sphere
3. Four VIP events with Board of Directors
Like me, you might notice that your strategies are actually goals that need to be broken down as well. How do I get to 600 contacts in my database? Roughly speaking, I’ve got four priorities for this strategy: nurturing my neighborhood farm, volunteering at school events, joining two sporting leagues, and hosting open houses. For each of these priorities I’ve got several strategies as well. For instance, I intend to flyer my neighborhood with market updates every month, door knock once a quarter, host three neighborhood social events every year, and do two funds/goods drives for our local food shelf. Can I break those priorities down further? Sure! For specifics I might want to draft an action plan for the events and drives. I’ll continue to break these things down until I have granular action items that I can put on the calendar.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Finally, when you’ve whittled every portion of your goal down to specific action items, this is when you’ll get out your 4-1-1 and your calendar to begin playing arts and crafts with your schedule. Be mindful of your priorities, seasonality, and personal commitments. Start with quarters and then break those down into months. Each month should more or less have a balanced workload.
Congratulations! You just drew a ridiculously specific map to hitting you goal. Now, revisit why it’s your goal. What it’s going to do for you and what you’re going to feel like when you hit that goal? Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and imagine yourself in the space where you just completed this big objective. What’s around you? Who is with you? What’s next?
Exhale. Remember that feeling. Hold onto it and revisit it when thing get hard or if you feel yourself going off course.
You’ve got this. We’ve got this.
I’m so proud of you and I love you.
PS I’m not a monster, of course I have a tool you can use for this! Download your free copy of the GPS tracker here!
