Plan Your Work And Work Your Plan

Having detailed plans to follow is vital in achieving just about anything worthwhile. The lack of good planning is a very common reason for failure in many endeavors. “I discovered that MOST IDEAS ARE STILL-BORN, AND NEED THE BREATH OF LIFE INJECTED INTO THEM THROUGH DEFINITE PLANS OF IMMEDIATE ACTION.” (Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill).

Sun Tzu believed that good planning was so crucial that his very first chapter in The Art of War is titled "Laying Plans". The Art of War refers to planning in one way or another more than 1,100 times. Tzu believed that before undertaking the achievement of any goal it is essential to calculate a complete analysis of the situation.

Recording your Roadmap to Success by developing a detailed Plan of Action also allows you to work smarter and improve time management giving you more free time. “It is really not the number of things you do, but the efficiency of each separate action that counts.” (The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles).

The following excerpt is from Think and Grow Rich regarding the six definite, practical steps by which any desire can become a reality (the word money can be replaced for any definite goal that you wish to achieve) . Notice the level of detail involved in every step of planning:

First. Fix in your mind the exact amount of money you desire. It is not sufficient merely to say "I want plenty of money." Be definite as to the amount. (There is a psychological reason for definiteness which will be described in a subsequent chapter).

Second. Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the money you desire. (There is no such reality as "something for nothing”.)

Third. Establish a definite date when you intend to possess the money you desire.

Fourth. Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire, and begin at once, whether you are ready or not, to put this plan into action.

Fifth. Write out a clear, concise statement of the amount of money you intend to acquire, name the time limit for its acquisition, state what you intend to give in return for the money, and describe clearly the plan through which you intend to accumulate it.

Sixth. Read your written statement aloud, twice daily, once just before retiring at night, and once after arising in the morning. AS YOU READ— SEE AND FEEL AND BELIEVE YOURSELF ALREADY IN POSSESSION OF THE MONEY.