Stop, pause, pull back and spend some time in considering how things truly are.
In the last couple of posts I have been going through some lessons Daniel, a character from the Bible, has taught me about achieving goals.
In Daniel’s story we find him making a goal of not eating the Kings food. It wasn’t so much the food that was the problem it was the significance of eating this food. It would have meant that Daniel was saying to the whole world that he was aligning himself with the pagan worship of idols of which the food had been offered to.
So Daniel made a plan to achieve his goal.
A goal without a plan is just a wish.― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Daniel couldn’t rely on just wishing that his goal would be achieved. He didn’t sit back and hope and pray that his goals would be achieved. Instead he formed a plan.
I call it his S.TA.N. plan
Simple to understand by all
Timed for a Review
Aimed at a Deep Value
Negotiated with Key Others.
Lesson Number Three. Your plan needs to be Timed for a Review.
“Please test your servants for ten days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 You can then compare our appearance with the appearance of the young men who eat the royal rations, and deal with your servants according to what you observe.” Daniel 1:12, 13
Daniels plan was simple to understand and had a time limit. A short time limit where a review was going to be done.
In working in Mental Health I often used a problem solving sheet. I would sit down with the person I was supporting and possibly their family members or friends and we would together draw up a plan as to how we would help the ‘client’ achieve a goal they had set.
At the bottom of the sheet would be a review date where we would come back together and review the progress in achieving the goal. It might be the next day or the next week, but it was never too long that it would be forgotten about or that procrastination would set in.
At this review time we would simply and gently ask, without any sense of condemning judgment, as to how the plan was working.
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Has the goal been achieved?
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What worked?
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What didn’t?
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Are there changes that need to be made to the plan?
Praise was given to any progress made, any accomplishments. We erred on the side of positive reinforcement of any progress.
A review date is not a judgement date, its a time for the support team to gather together and see how things are going.
Also, in setting a date for review it gives those that are dubious about the plan a time limit to see if the plan will work or not. The plan can be reviewed and renegotiated at a certain time.
Tips for reviewing a plan.
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Make the review time sooner rather than later. Better to make course adjustments early in the plan rather than later when you are maybe far off track.
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Encourage an attitude of positivity. Praise all efforts and spend a lot of time focusing on what has been achieved.
Encouragement is oxygen to the soul. George M. Adams
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Encourage team responsibility and support. Probably 90% of our plans will involve others being part of the outcome. Having a team around you can turn the dream into a reality.
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Write down your plan. Who is doing what by when, the outcomes and any tweaks to the plan when reviewed. Give a copy of the plan and any changes made to everyone involved. Even the recording of progress can be a source of great encouragement and hope for when times get tough.
Thoughts disentangle themselves when they pass through your fingertips. Dawson Trotman
Some quotes to consider
Reality must be embraced before it can be changed. David G. Benner
The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant and a debtor. Max De Pree
If you always do what you’ve always done you’ll always get what you’ve always got. Henry Ford
With your goals, do you have a plan that has a review time in it? Leave a Comment below
For the previous posts on this topic check out these links
Barry Pearman
Photo Credit: i_yudai via Compfight cc
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