Planning to Eat your Elephant… er Frog

You have heard the old question, “How do you eat an elephant?” Answer: “One bite at a time!!”

So, how do you eat your biggest, ugliest frog???

The same way, you break it down into specific step by step activities and then you start on the first one.

As you would have seen, for those of you who have downloaded the One Page Plan, we suggest you breakdown your large goal into three smaller goals and then create an action list. Brian Tracy suggests the same thing.

Brian mentions that your mind, your ability to think, plan and decide, is your most powerful tool for overcoming procrastination and increasing your productivity. Your ability to set goals, make plans and take action on them determines the course of your life.

Conversely, as Alex Mackenzie wrote, “Action without planning is the cause of every failure.”

Your ability to make good plans, before you begin, is a measure of your overall competence. The better the plan you have, the easier it is for you to overcome procrastination, to get started, to eat your frog and then to keep going.

You may have heard mention of the Six “P” Formula. Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance!

Planning is simple to do…. all you need is a pen and paper (more p’s!!) or for those who have moved on from paper maybe your iPad….

Making a list of the actions you need to take to achieve a goal is vital. Always work from your action plan or list. When something new comes up, add it to the list. You can increase your producitivty and output by 25% or more, by about two hours, from the first day that you begin working consistently from a list.

Create different lists (or one page plans) for different projects. I like to then look at the plan each week and move the actions I am going to take that week into my daily planner. Do not leave your actions to chance. Planning them will guarantee results, rather than just seeing if you have time…. I can guarantee you we rarely just have time.

Eat That Frog! Brian’s Tips to making it happen….

1. Begin today to plan every day, week and month in advance. Take a notepad or a sheet of paper and make a list of everything you have to do in the next 24 hours. Add to it as new items come up. Make a list of all your projects, the big multitask jobs that are important to your future.
2. Lay out each of your major goals, projects or tasks by priority, what is most important, and by sequence. What has to be done first? What comes second?  And so forth. Start with the end in mind and work backward.

Think on paper is probably one of the best tips I have ever received, especially when are wearing multiple hats as many direct sellers do when they are starting out. You will be amazed at how much more productive you become, and how much easier it is to ‘eat your frog.’

To your success

Celine

The legendary Eat That Frog! (more than 450,000 copies sold and translated into 23 languages) provides the 21 most effective methods for conquering procrastination and accomplishing more. This new edition is revised and updated throughout, and includes brand new information on how to keep technology from dominating our time.

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You can purchase your copy here.  You are invited to read each chapter as you follow along with Celine’s articles and share you thoughts, experiences, success stories and challenges as we go.