To continue with the theme of time. . .
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The countdown to the New Year has begun. And this is when article after article and blog post after blog post begin to appear about writing your marketing and rainmaking plans, how to set goals, etc. I am a big proponent of planning because as Benjamin Franklin once said:
“Those who fail to plan, plan to fail”
However, this is about time: the truth is more time is wasted by not having a plan than taking the time to develop one.
Let me explain: without goals and a plan for what you would like to accomplish and how you would like to achieve these goals, you have a tendency to be at the mercy of others and what they want – your clients, your associates and partners. And they will suck up your time, leaving you no opportunity to do what you need to do to control your career – that is, no time to do what you need to do to become a rainmaker.
Jim Rohn once wrote: “If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.”
Further, without a plan, you have a tendency to drift from one project to another. This creates a lack of productivity. This is why you feel so exhausted at the end of the day but feel like you accomplished nothing.
Finally, without planning, you will find other tasks that suck up your time that are ineffective for reaching your goals – think social media, office gossip, and long random acts of “lunch”.
While I do advocate a yearly Rainmaking Plan, you will effectively manage your time if you plan for the month, the week or even today.
Planning is simple (but not easy): Take a moment to decide what you want to accomplish in the New Year – that is, your goal. Determine each little step you would need to accomplish this goal. Then, start planning when you are going to complete each little step, thus, managing your time.
Take control of your plan and plan your time – you will find less time wasted and more time being productive.
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