If 2021 is the year that’s right for you to execute your business dream you’re going to have to be organised and super productive in your approach to your goals.
So if you believe like us, that planning is the main way to realising potential, then you need to plan your life like a boss. At Startup Giants we begin with the upside down pyramid when working out tasks for our startups. Draw one out like the image here and begin …
Break it down to build it up
The beginning for us in our process is actually focused on the end – what is the end result that you really want? This doesn’t matter if it’s five years down the line and seemingly massive or bizarre to anyone else, if it’s what you want to achieve write that down at the top of your page.
The biggest goal is your end result so it comprises of the whole top bar. Draw it out now and dream big.
Next logically you back track from that large goal to list all of the other milestones you will need to achieve in order to get there.
Need inspiration for those? Perhaps it’s doing a collaboration with a large brand, maybe it’s the hiring of core people in your team or releasing a larger app as a phase two roll out, obtaining more funding to expand your offering …
When you’ve listed your main milestones down you can then work out what you can control and feasibly bring to life.
12 weeks to greatness
Business decisions can change in moments, days and weeks which is why we subscribe to the 12 week concept when micro planning. It works incredibly well as you can reasonably foresee the next twelve weeks and add/subtract variables within that time frame where possible.
So from where you are now you need to look at the bottom end of your pyramid and start a separate list for what you want to achieve in three months time. Break your list of goals down into into your three separate months. Some things will be easy to schedule – course dates and meetings run on other people’s schedule and not just your own, but for everything else you’re going to need to get insanely realistic and productive.
Understanding the difference between main task goals and completion and breaking them down
Look at your pyramid and pick your main task goal from the bottom, you need to break it down into days, hours and then place those opportunities for task completion into your diary.
Your goal might need an hour on research, an hour’s phone call with a colleague, three hours of training and two hours to execute. These might all happen on different days as per your busy schedule but you can see how to complete just one of your micro goals you might have more than one task within it.
There can be multiple elements to simply crossing off one main task as ‘completed’. You may need to collaborate with an expert, learn a new skill, expand on an existing one, allot research time and figure out when you can actually execute your role within your company on top of that.
During the Startup Giants’ mentoring we will nurture your planning and productivity to ensure that you reach your goals. You’re not alone in this.