Plot Your Course to a Better Life

Having defined your Starting Point and determined your Destination, you are now ready to Plot Your Course.  These are the points you need to reach that will eventually lead you to your Destination.  We are not yet defining the "how", just the "where".  There are two possible ways to accomplish this:

1. Begin at your Starting Point and think of everything you must do in order to reach your Destination.
2. Begin at your Destination and think back to your Starting Point. 

Let's look at an example of both:

Starting Point to Destination
Starting Point - I weigh 270 lbs.
Destination - I weigh 180 lbs.
My Course (in lbs.) - 260, 250, 240, 230, 220, 210, 200, 190, 180

While this may seem very simplistic, these become the milestones I want to reach.  Once I reach the first milestone, my sense of accomplishment will be great, and I will be even more motivated to reach the next point.  In fact, I may change my course to increments of five so I can get that boost of motivation sooner and more often.

Destination to Starting Point
Destination - GTD Master (Black Belt)
Starting Point - Strong in the Collect, Process, and Organize phases, need to be more consistent with my Review, and really need to pick up the pace on my Doing
My Course - Want to hit all 100 points in The GTD Mastery 100.

In order to achieve this, I can work back from #100 to #1.

Once you have Plotted Your Course, you can put deadlines on when you want to reach each point.  Again, you can work from start to finish or finish to end.  Using my weight example:

I weigh 260 lbs. by Sept. 1, 2008
I weigh 250 lbs. by Nov. 1, 2008
...

Or

I weigh 180 lbs. by Jan. 1, 2010
I weigh 170 lbs. by Nov. 1, 2009
...

After completing this exercise, you will know where you are now, where you want to go, what milestones you need to hit, and by what date you want to hit them.  By doing this, you can easily track your progress towards your ultimate destination.

Comments

[Phil Stanoch]

Michael, great point,I do need to focus more on the items under my control.

I was actually subscribed to GTD Connect for a few months, but I unsubscribed due to the high cost. I do have hope that the cost will come down, and that it will become more affordable for what is offered.

[Michael Ramm]

Paul, for you Black Belt goal, I would not strive to hit all 100 of the items listed. There are some of the them that are not feasible to attain or within your control:

52. I am subscribed to GTD Connect and have listened to much of the material there. [I will NEVER do this, it is so not worth the money!]

70. I get regular coaching from someone with at least 4 years experience with GTD.

93. I'm surrounded by people who are as productive as me.

I would rather strive for hitting as many items on that list as you feel that you can.