Day 25 of 31 days to Creating Your Inspiring Personal Plan for 2012
Congratulations! For most, this step will be one of the most gratifying in the process. For some, it may also be one of the most nerve-wracking.
The time has come for you to share the draft of your plan with each of the members of your “Board of Advisors.” If by chance you skipped putting in place a Board (Step 2), I strongly recommend that you reconsider the strong logic of having some individuals that you respect and trust review your plan.
The benefits of having someone beside your planning buddy (idenitified in Step 1) review your plan are as follows:
- A fresh set of eyes will see things in your plan that you (or your planning buddy) may have missed. Having a couple of extra sets of eyes is sure to produce a golden nugget or two that can advance your plan.
- Sharing your plan with others is a powerful way of “baking” more commitment into a plan. A public commitment, even to a small group, tends to make individuals follow-through better. That is why group change programs often have much better results than solo efforts to change. You may not be ready to announce your plan to the public in a widespread manner, but sharing with your Board will get you much of the positive effect of going public.
- The feedback from your reviewers will provide you with a quality data point as to whether you want these reviewers to be some part of your team going forward with implementation. In Step 28, we will be addressing your implementation team.
Truth be known, I was also counting on your doing more diligent planning knowing that your draft plan was going to be shared with others. Please forgive me for using almost every means I could possibly think of to bring out the very best in you. 
If you have not yet assembled your plan for distribution to members of your Board, please follow the assembly instructions in Step 23.
When you have a draft with which you are satisfied (and please, if you are getting stuck read Janet Vanderhoof’s excellent quik-read post Perfectionism: What a Killer!), please read the Guidance for Plan Reviewers, a link you may want to include in your request for a review.
You are ready to compose a short request of your reviewers. Make sure you thank them in advance for taking the time to review your plan. Depending on when you send out your request, you may want to indicate a date by which it would be helpful for you to have their feedback.
To avoid bumping into any perfectionism by your reviewers with respect to their writing-up your feedback, you may want to consider suggesting that you would welcome phone feedback if that would be easier for them.
Summon up your courage and once you are sure your plan is attached to your email, press the send button.
Congratulations! You have moved mountains. In less than four weeks, you crafted a plan worthy of sharing with your virtual Board members. How cool is that!
Our work together is not quite done. Between now and New Year’s eve, I want to help you put in place a structure of support that will maximize the likelihood of you achieving each and every goal you have included in your 2012 Plan. Tomorrow, I have a very special audio message for you…one that should only be listened to after you have sent your draft off to the members of your Board. And, I also have some help for you in assembling “Magnificent Milestones” that will power you throughout the year.
Stay the course. The finish line is within sight!
I look forward to celebrating with you, on New Year’s eve, your accomplishment of crafting an inspiring 2012 Plan.
When you have completed Step 25, you can access Step 26 here .
Please note: If you have arrived at this step first, it is not too late for you to join other high performers who are collaborating to follow the bite size steps that are unveiled here every day. Get started here.
This blog post was written by Dave Carpenter. Dave is a prolific author, inspiring speaker, and well-known consultant to professional service firms. Besides writing regularly for this blog, Dave’s writing can be seen in leading business and personal development publications. Dave is also the leader of the Accelerate Success mentoring program where he mentors high performers in a unique program designed to do great things for the favorite charity of each participant. If you are (1) a high performer who believes you still have untapped potential, and (2) passionate about a favorite charity, you may want to learn more about this powerful program. You can also follow Dave on Twitter, on Facebook, and/or on Google+.
