Plan for 2015 - Set Goals by Working Backwards

If you read yesterday's post, you can see where there are less busy times of the year to meet goals you have set for yourself. During the slower times of the year, will you have enough time to accomplish what you want? How do you find out find out? 

Today we'll talk about tackling large goals by working with a deadline. It requires planning ahead and some structure, but it's relatively painless. 

Hate deadlines? Then think of it as closing the deal. Defining an end to project is imperative, and you need to imagine a cut off point to see if you have time to finish what you've started.   

It's easiest to describe in a Case Study: 

Meet Richard. He's a Hotel Furniture Sales Rep and his top priority this year is CAREER GROWTH. 

Richard knows that in order to grow his career he needs to support this goal with specific activities, such as expanding his sales line. He wants to do this in effectively within four months.  Can he do it?  He will work backwards to find out.

A simplified example of Richard's timeline might look something like this:

Supporting  Activity for CAREER GROWTH - Sell (1) New Line in Four Months

      *January and February - choose new line, meet with key contacts, sign contracts

      *March - learn the line, develop/practice sales pitch, order sample materials

      *April - create call list, set up appointments, arrange travel, appointments/follow up
To ensure his monthly goals are accomplished, he further breaks down his activities by the weeks of each month, taking into account other things that are going on in his schedule. 

January might look like this: 

     *Jan 1st week - decide most appropriate lines to pursue

     *Jan 2nd week - research three manufacturers of bedside tables and dressers

     *Jan 3rd week - (nothing assigned - too busy with NC project, family commitments)

     *Jan 4th week - research five manufacturers of headboards

He would then break down his weekly activities by days to ensure they happen. 

So yes, Richard can feasibly see this through in four months.   

By working backwards, it gives you a fairly good idea if you need more or less time to see your deadline through. Maybe there isn't enough time to stick with your original plan, but you can break your goals down into small tasks so that you're still moving forward with your goals.  

It's important that every step you need to support that deadline should be included on your calendar. Plan for the year, then the month, then the week, then daily.

You will also get a good idea of how much time you have for the other priorities in your life. We'll talk about compartmentalizing and multi-purposing another day. But for now, try tracking one or two long term activities backwards to see how they can become part of your year.