Dave Ramsey is THE MAN, and this is what he says about goal getting: “A goal without a plan is just a dream.”
BOOM.
This is the time of year when we all make goals that will make this year the best of our lives. But for most of us, by the time March rolls around, we aren’t that much closer to achieving any of them.
How can we change that? How can a busy wife, mom and working woman achieve anything with the few spare moments she has?
It’s probably impossible without a clear plan that breaks down, even the biggest of goals, into small digestible steps. And the best way I’ve found to create that plan is by using the LASER method.
- L- List all the things that need to happen in order to achieve the goal. Remember, no step is too small. Write down everything you can think of.
- A- Arrange them from first to last. Look at your list and decide what must be done first, then second and so forth.
- S- Schedule each task in your planner or app on your phone. I prefer the planner method because I like to schedule tasks for the week instead of a particular day. As a mom, I don’t always have control over my day, so scheduling tasks for the week allow me to tackle items when it works best for me.
- E- Execute. Get to work. The best way to achieve any goal is just to start with one small action. The only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.
- R- Review. Regularly review your plan to make sure it still works for you. If you feel like you are faltering, you may need to try a different strategy. It may take trying a few strategies before you find the one that works best for you. There is no one size fits all way of doing anything.
I’m going to use an easy example to show you what I mean. Let’s say my goal is to meal plan every week.
List: I need to find recipes, look at our calendar for activities, make a list of items needed, figure out what meals I will plan and decide what days I will cook.
Arrange: 1.) Look at the calendar, 2.) Decide what meals/snacks I will plan, 3.) Decide what days I will cook/prep, 4.) Look for and choose recipes and 5.) Make a list of items needed from the grocery.
Schedule: Maybe I can tackle #1-3 all on Friday. Then I’ll find recipes and make my grocery list on Saturday. And on Sunday I’ll go to the grocery. Monday I’ll be ready to cook my first meal. So, I write each of these tasks in my planner.
Execute: I go to the grocery and make meals according to the plan.
Review: On Friday, I think about how the week went. Is there anything I need to do to make the process go smoother? Do I need to plan leftovers for our busiest night? Should I make more crockpot or make-ahead meals? Was Sunday a good day to go to the grocery?
If you need help creating a plan for one of your goals, let me know. I’d love to help you get started by brainstorming steps you should take to reach your goal.
This is the fourth post in our New Year series. You can read the posts on choosing your one word here, setting goals using the minimum effective dose here, and creating a vision board here.