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Do You Have A Personal Plan?
By Scott Sumner
     
In business we have business plans. As a person we can do a plan
which I call a personal plan.The first step in making your personal plan
is to figure out in your mind what it is you really want. I mean REALLY
want. Not something you think you need, but aren't sure of, but what
kind of a life you really want at the centre of your being, the centre
of your soul. The beautiful thing about the mind is that you can think
about and visualize things in full vivid detail  at any time or place
right in your mind. You don't have to leave the comfort of your bed or
chair. You can play out exactly what you want in techni-colour detail.
Many succesfull world class athletes do this all the time. They often
call it " visualization" . If you're about to make a shot on the 18th
hole  that could win you the Canadian Open Golf Championship, you look
at the hole and your target, and  clearly see in your mind the shot
before you swing. For instance, at the 2000 Bell Canadian Open, on the
final round, 18th hole, I witnessed in real life, a six iron bunker shot
over water to the par 5 finishing hole by none other than Tiger Woods.
This memorable shot created a birdie and allowed him to win by one shot
over his closest competition. Afterwards, listening to him at a live
media conference, which I attended, it became clear he visualized the
shot before he executed  it. He had assessed the risk and knew in
himself that he had the ability. In life you should visualize your life
as you would like it to be, before your live it. . It's much simpler to
do this than to try many directions in life that don't work, and then
find out you didn't really want them. It's much less costly in terms of
time ,effort and money this way.    I'm sure you can think of things
that have occurred in your life that if you could, you would have
changed  in  a split second. What you did  without much thought in the
past may have ended up costing you BIG TIME in terms of  peace of mind,
money and self respect.
   I like to take this process of developing  your mind in full detail,
that is what it is you really want more than anything, one step further,
and to write it out in simple paragraphs. your dream Or Your personal
plan -PP. It is really very simple. You write yourself a story about you
that is a blueprint of exactly how you want your life to be. Then you
have a written record  which you can refer to and analyze day by day,
week by week , and month by month.
   So what good is the dream . How will it happen , come true? Will you
get your wish? Yes you will when you roll up your sleeves, unbutton your
collar and get down to WORK!!!. It's really that simple.  The first step
is done . You know what you want. Your dream is developed and includes
the areas of spiritual, emotional, physical, financial and career,. You
have an indepth knowledge of what you really want. Remember getting to
this stage isan' t something to do in an afternoon. I believe it takes
concentrated well-thought out time after you have got good ideas from
some of the best minds our world has ever known. BUT once you have a
well- developed dream that is exactly where you want to go, you can
start to work to achieve it.
   I think a next step is to break out your written dream into five
areas with specific steps or goals in each one. I' ve been doing this
for some time, and as a MBA graduate it is really alot like creating an
elaborate business plan for not your business, but for YOU!! After all
you are far more important than a business so why doesn't every one
have  a business plan for themselves.
Your goals are written out in clear language. For example, if in your
health you want to get in good shape you might have a goal to weigh 185
lbs. If you now weigh 210lbs you clearly know your target. The question
is how will you get to it? Your plan will list the steps in detail. It
will show you the route to your goal of weighing 185 pounds. It will
have time lines that are clear. You have to know when you will achieve
your goals, and a specific time line will  help make things happen.
    When you have a well thought out dream/ plan that cuts exactly to
your real interests of what will make your life EXCEPTIONAL, you need to
spend  energy working towards it. All the time . If you spend your time
on things that aren't leading you to your goals,  you are wasting your
time. I think when you have a clear idea of the direction you are
headed, you become increasingly focused.

About The Author:
Scott Sumner grew up in Northwestern Ontario Canada  and is a graduate of Lakehead University's ( Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada ) Honour Bachelor of Commerce Program as well as York University's ( Toronto, Ontario Canada ) Master of Business Program. He founded North Superior Publishing Inc, a regional specialty publishing company almost 20 years ago in 1982.  This company has published 10 ongoing titles in the areas of real estate, business, lifestyle, travel, golf, snowmobiling, automative and family. His book Create An Exceptional Life: Mind, Body, Money can help you look at ways to accomplish more in your life that you ever thought possible. It will start you on a process of living your life to it's fullest potential.
Visit www.scottsumner.com