Build a Frame for Change

Vision + Skills + Incentive + Resources + Action Plan = The Type of Change You Want

Change happens all the time but many times we aren't in control of that change. Blaming your problems on others won't change your life much. It's much easier to change yourself than someone else. It's so easy to make yourself feel better in the short-term to blame someone else for your problems. If you want long-term happiness you have to take control of your life and shape your own good luck.

Vision: What is your Vision of your future? What do you really want?

Take the next 5 minutes to come up with 5 things that you really want in your life. Prioritize them in the order of what you want most. Scratch out the bottom 2. Now prioritize them to the ones that would make the biggest impact on your life if they happened. Scratch out the bottom idea. Now prioritize the 2 you have left into the 1 that could happen the soonest if you really put an all out effort into making it happen. You now have your Vision for the change you want.

Skills: What do you call an activity you are passionate about, but have no skill in? A hobby! Now that you have your vision you must find out what kind of skills you have toward your vision. More importantly what skills you need to learn in order to get your vision. This is ego check time. You might want to be Mr. Basketball star but you may be 5'4" like me. Yeah, Spud Webb made it but who else.

Incentives: What pleasure will you get from this goal? What pain will you avoid if you get this goal? What pleasure have you gotten in the past from not getting this goal already? How much pain will you still be in if you don't get this goal?

Resources: Who can mentor you through this change? Do you have friends that will morally support you through this change? What alliances can you build through networking that will help you get your goal? Do you have enough money to get your goal? Do you need to get certifications or have prerequisites for your goal to happen?

Action Plan: Tony Robbins calls it a Massive Action Plan. Tony asks 3 very important questions so your Action Plan can become Massive. Tony Robbins Massive Action Plan starts with a tangible purpose and is results based. The MAP you build to get you to destiny will involve chunking ideas into groups of no more than 4. The majority of people can only hold onto 4 ideas at a time. David Allen has a system he calls Getting Things Done that organizes these chunks into logical steps that will make you successful.

Dreams can become reality if you wake up and put your plan into action. Change happens either to us or because of us. Take control and be the change that you want.