Create Your Plan of Action (Part 5 of Intention Series)

If you are following along, you read about my dislike of resolutions and my plan to create my Intentions.

1. Write out your intentions
2. Pick one word to summarize your intentions
3. Create a visual of your word and intentions
4. Create your plan of action

We now have intentions, a word and a visualization, but how are you going to achieve this? In my earlier analogy, I equate this to planning a trip. We have chosen the destination (our word and intentions), but now now we need to plan how we will get there.

Start With the End

Begin with your end goal. Where do you want to be in one year and break that into smaller goals. For example, one of my intentions is to lose 15 lbs and live a healthier lifestyle. In one year, I’d like to be 15 lbs lighter and eating healthier, exercising consistently, doing yoga and taking time regularly for myself. I’ll break this down into 4 smaller goals:

• Lose 15 lbs
• Eat healthier foods
• Regular exercise routine including yoga
• Take more time for myself

Instead of focusing on all 4 at the same time, my plan of action will be to focus on each of these smaller goals. If I begin by losing 15 lbs, I will then focus on my eating, my exercise and taking time for myself. My intent is that as I focus on each smaller goal, it will become habit and part of my life. I won’t just forget the past goals, but instead I’m building on each previous small goal which equals my larger goal of living a healthier lifestyle.

Set Several Deadlines Throughout the Year

It takes at least 28 days to form a habit, so when you are setting your smaller goals, be sure to spend at least 1 month forming the new habits. I have broken my larger intention into 4 smaller intentions so I will spend each quarter focusing on the smaller actions plans and building up to my larger one.

• Lose 15 lb by March 31
• Focus on including healthier foods (veggies, fruits, whole grains, lean meat) into my diet. Eat out less. Drink 8-8oz glasses of water/day. April – June 
• Focus on setting regular exercise routine including yoga, cardio and strength workouts. July – September 
• Focus on taking more time out of my day for me. October – December 

This action plan looks more doable than the lofty intention of just being healthier in a year. Break down each of your intentions into smaller more manageable action plans. If you are having a hard time coming up with actionable items, just start writing down anything that comes to mind when you think about that intention. Put each item on separate post it notes. Sometimes a visualization of each item helps put it into perspective.

Here are some links with ideas on creating action plans:

Action Focused Goal Setting

My Action Plan

Here is my action plan for the other two intentions I have set.

1. Lose 15 lbs and get back to my healthy lifestyle of eating right, exercising reguarly and taking time for myself.

Lose 15 lb by March 31
Focus on including healthier foods (veggies, fruits, whole grains, lean meat) into my diet. Eat out less. Drink 8-8oz glasses of water/day. April – June
Focus on setting regular exercise routine including yoga, cardio and strength workouts. July – September
Focus on taking more time out of my day for me. October – December

2. Declutter my life. Get rid of all the stuff that has accumulated in my home, body, head, etc.

I will focus on a different section to declutter each month for the first 3 weeks of the month. The last week of the month will be set aside to be sure past areas stay decluttered.

3. Continue to grow my community around my blog and business.

First Quarter – Planning and finishing business side of blog
Second Quarter – Newsletter
Third Quarter – ebook
Fourth Quarter – podcast

Now I have a plan of action for my intentions, a word to keep me focused throughout the year, a visualization of my intentions. Sound complete? Not quite yet. Tomorrow we will talk about staying on track, evaluating your progress and what to do if you fall off course.

Have you set an action plan for your intentions?