You Need a 90-Day Plan

 

Maybe you planned to accomplish great things this year, but you seem to be stuck in neutral, or worse, you’re moving backwards. Perhaps your big and bad goals were too overwhelming, and you never really got started. About this time last year, I learned the beauty of creating a 90-day plan. Instead of getting stuck trying to figure out what you can and will do in a particular year, look at the next 90 days instead. Here’s why you need a 90-day plan.

1. A 90-day plan allows you to benefit from simple multiplication and division. Let’s say your goal is to lose 30 pounds this year. What can you reasonably accomplish in the next 90 days? Could you plan to lose 10 pounds in the next 90 days? If that’s your goal for this 90 day period, you would need to lose about three pounds a month, which does not seem overwhelming at all. That’s how simple division works in your favor. While three pounds a month, may not sound like great progress, it sounds better when you apply multiplication. What if you could lose three pounds every month for the next 12 months? You would exceed your goal. If you want to write a book, start a business or get a new job, the process is the same. Decide what you can reasonably accomplish in 90 days. Apply division to make the tasks simple and easier to accomplish and apply multiplication to envision what you can get done in an entire year.

2. Creating a 90 day plan takes pressure off of you. You decide what’s important and what’s realistic, and you don’t have to worry about the other stuff. You’re only focusing on a short, 90 day period.

3. You can start new habits that will make a big difference. Let’s go back to our weight loss example. If you decide to lose three pounds a month, maybe you could do that by eliminating sugary drinks and exercising three days a week. At the end of your 90 days, you have two great new habits that will benefit you for decades.

For more on the power of simple changes and habits, read The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy. Hardy shows how to make small shifts in behavior that lead to tremendous changes.

Ninety days can make a big difference. Take a few minutes to plan the next 90 days of your life. Post in the comments what you will accomplish during the next 90 days.