Do you Plan? I do.

I believe in planning. If I already had the discipline to follow through with my plans consistently I would have my everyday planned for me. I actually kind of do.

Wanna know why I am such an advocate for planning? It's simply because I see the benefits. The first time I ever felt strong alignment with my goals was when I started started writing them down along with my plans on how to get there.

Seeing the roadmap to where I want to go makes it somewhat easier for me get to where I want to go. I say somewhat because simply writing down the steps is never enough to get me there. But when I plan good enough, I find that my actions become more effective to getting there.

The most important rule of planning for me is to follow through with the plan. Planning in itself is very easy but it pales in difficulty next to following through. This is because following through requires so much from a person against enemies like depression, lack of motivation and different obstacles life throws. At times to follow through, you need to fight through.

Planning is for me is the first step after realising a goal I want to achieve. I feel like I have become a better planner over time because I have tried out different techniques for effective planning. These are just factors you could incorporate in your planning strategy to make a bit for effective to achieving a goal.

• Write Down The Goals First

The first step when I plan is to write down what I call the end goals. It is very important for me not to have too many end goals at a go to avoid feeling overwhelmed.

It is adviced that we write down our goals as SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-based) and I agree with the logic but not down to a T. Whenever I focus too much on making a goal specific and overly constrained to a specific time life rarely ever follows my script and I find that overbearing.

So since I write my action plans monthly I do not place any other time limit on myself other than the end of the month.

• Make a schedule

This is the second step for me and it is where I establish actions I need to take daily within a month to ultimately to reach my targets. I do this to avoid having to constantly set targets for myself everyday because by using this method all I have to do daily is refer back to a schedule that's already completed.

The schedule is like a manual to me on how to achieve my goals and it takes away the need to write down a to-do list daily. I do edit my schedule here and there to adapt when life gets in the way but I never edit the end goal.

• Get an accountability partner

An accountability partner is a person or people who are willing to hold you accountable to following through on your commitments. My main accountability partner is my boyfriend and because he is a good one, I honestly see the benefits of having one.

It works out better for you if you find someone you feel free to open up to about your goals and action plan because the idea is for them to make sure you see your goals to a conclusion, pressure you to get back to it when you slack on your pursuit and motivate you when you lose courage. Life is easier when you don't have to do it alone.

• Follow through

As I mentioned earlier this for me is the most important aspect of planning and while your accountability partner can hold you accountable, only you can act on your goals. The whole point of planning is to reach a certain objective.

It takes so much character and heart to be someone who follows through. Consistency for me is the biggest opponent I have had to face in my battle for character development and it makes it hard for me to always carry out my action plans.

I have learned that the trick is to face whatever opponent you face that won't let you follow through be it procrastination, a hangover or even depression but then don't let it get you down for too long. Remind yourself to get back up and keep going.

Conclusion

Planning is setting out objectives and goals and a course of action to achieving those goals. Planning alone won't help you achieve your goals but it does make the journey clearer. It is important to follow through with the actions plans you set out for yourself and having an accountability partner is a good way to enforce discipline and to make the journey more bearable when it gets hard.