Tag Archives: strategic plan

Have you ever asked yourself, “How will I stick with my plan?” Often the plan is not too complex, the timeline is reasonable, and the level of personal or professional growth is attainable. So what limits your success? Why do so many still come up short?

Coming Up Short

Much of my business is focused on helping individual people or entire organizations reach for more. I work with clients to do coaching programs, training and development, and even create some incredible strategic plans, but not all of them will accomplish their goals.

Often the hardest thing for us to do as people is to stay focused and committed to the plan. That doesn’t mean that the plan cannot change, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t fluid, and it doesn’t mean that it won’t be hard, but a lack of commit to the plan is almost always the beginning of a looming failure to achieve the goal.

Blame

Many will find situations or circumstances to blame, they might cite a lack of motivation, discipline, or even blame it on a lack of time. The truth is that while all of those things might be a factor, they aren’t the real reason.

The real reason is that you or the employee teams responsible for the goals and outcomes didn’t follow through.

You fell back to old habits, made excuses to abort activities or tasks because they felt awkward, cumbersome, or simply not within your comfort zone. Time is often blamed, there isn’t enough or the old way was faster.

If you’re going to make changes you are going to have to stick with your plan.

Becoming Sticky

How do you make that happen? Here are a few tips:

1. Be realistic. Make sure that your goals are worthy of stretching and reaching, but they must also be realistic. Losing 10 pounds in two days probably isn’t realistic and neither is increasing sales or production efficiencies by triple digit percentages within a very narrow window of time. Stretch is good, unrealistic is not.
2. Check results. You must always be measuring to your goal. Smaller goals that are progressive are often much better than larger goals that feel overwhelming and cause people to stall or stop. Provide visual aids as reminders, put it on your calendar if that makes sense, and frequently measure your distance to a milestone or the goal.
3. Stay focused. Don’t stray from your plan or the activities associated with it. It will be easy to tell yourself that something else is more important, or that the timing isn’t right, or you’re just not in the right mood. If you are so compelled to talk yourself out of the actions that support your plan, revisit the plan, make an adjustment if necessary, and stick with the new plan.

Nearly all people and organizations will face hurdles, obstacles, and other scenarios that may result in shortcomings or failures, but that doesn’t mean that it’s time to stop, quit, or send the plan to the recycle bin.

Keep your plan fluid and flexible, but make sure you don’t lose sight of the bigger picture.

Even the goal can change, but it must still be something that pulls you towards it and draws you in.

Will you stick with your plan?

The answer is easy—only if you want to.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a four-time author and some of his work includes, Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce and Pivot and Accelerate, The Next Move Is Yours! Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

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