At a recent conference, I once again heard these words “If you don’t have a plan and work that plan, you are on someone else’s plan and working that plan.” From my 20 plus years in business and education, one of the most consistent behaviors, I observe is the lack of a written plan.

Many people wonder why they are not successful and they fail to realize that success begins with a written Action Plan. Yet, a common day activity quietly revels the power of the written word.

Everyone has experienced the value that a simple, written grocery list has. When that written list is forgotten, the trip to the grocery store usually ends up costing one if not all of the following:

• Money because we spent more than originally planned
• Time because we walked up and down aisles that we hadn’t planned
• Frustration because we failed to purchase everything on the plan
• Redo’s because we had to return sooner than planned
• Control because the grocery store marketing experts now are in control

This simple list not only has value, but the value is significant due to the costs associated with not having a written list. So if a simple written grocery list has significant value, then where is the written plan for the rest of your life?

If you don’t have a written plan to achieve the success that you desire, then what you are really saying to yourself and others is that this simple, written grocery list has more value than your ENTIRE future!

So if you want to achieve success, begin today, and start committing your dreams and goals to writing. Keep these written lists in an organized binder and review them weekly, monthly and yearly. Since you haven’t used chisels and stone, you can easily review them and make the necessary course corrections because life is full of change. The secret to success is only a pen or pencil and a sheet of paper away.

Copyright 2005(c) Leanne Hoagland-Smith, M.S.

This article may be freely published. Permission to publish this article, electronically or in print, as long as the bylines are included, with a live link, and the article is not changed in any way (grammatical corrections accepted).

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