Try It!

The Importance of a Plan

planning May 13, 2019
 

I'm getting ready to do Iron Man #7 tomorrow morning, and I was just reviewing my race plan. And for those of you who don't know what a race plan is, it's pretty much a detailed map of everything that I expect to occur during my 14-hour race. And, it details and lists out the things, the activities that I will do, that I will engage in. Things like how often I will drink water, how often I will take electrolyte tablets, how often I will eat, all of those things. How fast am I going to swim during the swim portion of the race, what's my expected time, how fast am I going to ride on the bike for the 112 miles, what's my average speed, etc. So, all of those things are things that I'm monitoring while I'm doing the race.

And it is because of that, I'm able to accomplish two things. Number one, I'm able to successfully complete the race, and number two, I come pretty close to the time that I schedule to finish the race. Time after time, when I do these races and when I set a time, and I do everything that I just told you, I finish within minutes of my plan. This includes transition time. As an example, once I get out of the water, I have to take off my wet suit, I have to dry off, and I have to put bike gear on and bike shoes, and go get on my bike. That takes time. I plan exactly how much time I'm going to spend doing it and I practice all of those activities over and over again before the race.

I try to be as detailed as possible. I try to be as fast as I can because really, it's a race, right? So, these are the things that I do when I put together a race plan. It struck me that if other people wrote a plan for the things that they wanted to achieve in life, if businesses were better at planning, if people were better at planning the goals that they want to achieve, I think there'd be an exponentially greater chance of success because you've got a road map to follow.

All too often, people just dive right in. They get so excited they dive right into something, and it doesn't turn out the way they expected it to turn out, and often times they don't reach the goal that they want to reach. Something happens and they frustrated along the way. My plan always includes what-if scenarios. What if this happens, what will I do? How will I adjust?

So when you think those things through, you've got a much better chance of achieving the goals that you want to achieve again in your personal life, in your business life. And, if you're a sportsman like me or an athlete and you have a goal that you want to achieve, you're going to be able to be much more successful if you have a plan.

So I encourage you to not only think about it but also write it down on a piece of paper. Be as detailed as possible. The more detailed you are, the more you're going to think about it, the more it becomes ingrained into your memory, and the greater likelihood that you're going to get to where you want to get to. Go ahead, give it a try!

Rich 
"Finishers Are Winners!"

Dr. Richard B. Greene, DBA, SSBB, CMPE
Speaker, Author, Peak Performance Business Coach

© Copyright 2020 Rich Greene
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Dr. Richard B. Greene is an International Speaker, Best-Selling Author, and Executive Business Coach who helps business executives get to the next level in business, their careers, and their personal lives. Through his IronCode (www.IronMindSuccess.com) acceleration program, he offers one-on-one coaching, group coaching, live seminars, and do-it-yourself development products to significantly increase levels of personal and business success. He’s been featured on radio shows and various news sites including KVCG Radio, The Miami-Herald, The Denver Post, Wall Street Select, Financial News Today, Fox, and ABC.