Your Plans Hands-On

I have a hard time believing we have been talking about plans for the last week. It seems like we just started on Monday. And although we have barely scratched the surface, being here today is a perfect thing because you cannot only read or talk about planning. To actually learn about planning, you have to get out and try it for yourself.

Is planning easy? That depends on what you’re planning. Is it foolproof? Not for anyone that I’ve known. Yet if you practice, and you work on planning, it will get better. You will learn what to anticipate, what you can account for, and things like the weather which you absolutely have no control.

The more you plan, the better you will get at it. The trick is to start early and start small. Plan how you want your bedroom to look. Start planning for yourself and your family. It is you get used to planning reach out for larger projects.

You may have heard that forgiveness is often easier to get than permission. Here is something else you also need to know. The higher you go in your profession, the more difficult forgiveness becomes. A worker on an assembly line is more likely to get leniency and mercy than a supervisor. A level one manager is for more likely to have an error overlooked then someone in the board room. This does not mean you should want to make mistakes, but they do happen, and it is not the end of the world.

The trick to making affirmative plans is to keep everyone in the loop, making sure they understand the goal and the means to get there. Not everybody will be thrilled at first because change is a hard thing for some people to accept and do well. If you work with them, they will come around.

Thank you for being with me today. I hope to be with you again soon.

Author: Mike Balof

A retired Air Force Master Sergeant, Mike used to lay in bed at night and worry about what would happen if his plant closed or found himself without a job. One day his plant closed. Rather than panic and hysteria (OK, maybe a little) Mike found himself carried away on the adventure of his life. Mike started with the best job he ever had working at Home Depot. He spent 8 years working with job seekers at a local workforce center, helping them to find employment. He then started his own company developing courses, writing books and urging others to follow their own paths into the future. Mike holds a Master of Arts in Adult Education and Training and a Bachelor of Business Management, earned through the University of Phoenix and an AAS degree in Electronics Systems Technology from the Community College of the Air Force. Mike is a member of the Delta Mu Delta Business Honor Society. View all posts by Mike Balof