Dream Delivery System

In yesterday's post we talked about your Red Book, an approach for defining and planning out how you will achieve your dreams. Like many planning activities, there is often a great deal of enthusiasm around the initial plan, but then time passes and your wonderful plan slips away, only to be thought of with guilt for not doing anything more with it. That's why this approach is not just about creating a plan, but also about how you work the plan until you reach your dreams.

But, by the way, there is power in just going through the planning process and turning your mind to what you want. I went to a financial planning seminar many years ago and one of the night's exercises was to write down ten things we wanted to accomplish financially. I got busy with other things and tossed the list in a drawer, didn't take a look at it until five years later. Guess what? Every single thing on that list had been accomplished!

So we've already got even more omph that simply writing a list and tossing it in a drawer with the first part of the Red Book Process. The next part is to ensure that you rapidly and consistently progress towards your goals. Here's how to 'Work' the Red Book after you've come up with your plan:

1.) Put 12 meetings in your diary for you (and your partner). This is one to two hours per month for thinking, discussing and planning what you have done and what you will do next in moving towards achieving your dreams. Make the meeting in a special place where you can talk and spend a couple hours uninterrupted.
2.) Bring your Red Book and your To-Do List(s). And when I say To-Do List, I am talking about your Work To-Do list. Yes, I want you to put your personal stuff on your work to-do list! Why? Because your work to-do list is the one you focus on, put the most importance on and get the most things done on, why wouldn't you put your the most important activities of your life (achieving your dreams) on there too?
3.) Have a cup of coffee and go through each of the items under each of the categories, discuss and check off the things that you have done, enjoy what you have accomplished so far. Each and every check gets you closer to your goals
4.) Look at each of the items under each of the categories, what needs to be done next? Assess, is it something we can do during the coming month? Break each task down into something that can be done in 15 minutes or less (we can always find 15 minutes, right?!). Decide who will do it and put it on that person's To-Do List.
5.) Make sure the next meeting is in both of your diaries!

This monthly meeting is the key to making progress, along with putting your 'Dream Delivery' activities on your work to-do list and breaking the tasks down into 15 minute chunks. Steve always says that we over estimate what we can do in a day and under estimate what we can do in a year, and we've found that to be very true. Each month you'll see the progress that you've made (even if it is just one little thing!) which will motivate you to do more - you're making progress, that's exciting!