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I am continuously amazed at the number
of success stories that started with a simple plan. A sketch
of ideas with modest beginnings that turn simple dreams into dynasties.
Some of the biggest names in the business got where they are
today...with a plan! From humble beginnings comes greatness.
Three businessmen on a trip from Dallas/Ft.
Worth to Houston, appalled by the rising cost of airline travel,
dreamed of an airline that would be affordable to businessmen
and vacationers alike. Their plan would constitute a schedule
of short hop flights all over the South. They sketched their
ideas on a cocktail napkin and so was born... Southwest Airlines.
A traveling ice cream machine salesman
had grown tired of traveling the countryside and never knowing
the quality or taste of the food he would be eating from one town
to the next. He dreamed of a fast food "joint" that
would serve up hot, fresh, fast food that would taste the same
in Kansas City as it did in Salt Lake City. On a blank order
pad, he listed his ideas and plans for a nationwide food chain
based on four simple principles...quality, service, value, and
cleanliness. Today, kids all over the world have come to know
and love this "joint" as the world's largest restaurant...McDonald's.
Two young, industrious railroad employees
labored endlessly cataloging and auctioning the unclaimed freight
of a major railway shipping company during the late 1800's. They
dreamed of organizing their own small mail order company that
would buy the merchandise from the railroad, list the items in
a small catalog and send the catalog out to neighboring communities.
The town folk could place an order and expect to get their merchandise
delivered to their railroad station on the next trip through their
town. Detailing their game plan on the back of an old mail bag,
they set out to organize the beginnings of what would become the
greatest success story in marketing history. The Sears & Roebuck
Company..
Theodore Roosevelt once said, "No
one plans to fail, we only fail to plan." It seems that
success is no mistake. It takes a little forethought. It takes
a plan. Some of the most talented directors fall short of their
potential simply because they themselves have no direction. No
detail...no plan.
Have you ever had the feeling you were
running from place to place just putting out fires? Just trying
to keep ahead of the game? Do you have 35 open projects? All
at one time? Do you have 55 checklists? Do you have an "in"
box bigger than the yellow pages? Do you ever actually balance
your checkbook? Complicated as your life may seem, you can manage
it.
1. Determine your Objectives
An objective is a purpose, an end result.
Your objectives may be to help increase your student's dance
abilities and widen their artistic horizons. Or you simply may
be charged with organizing a performance team for Friday night
football games. Each team's objectives are different. To maintain
a healthy day to day regimen and direction you must define these
objectives. If you are aware of the expectations that are facing
your daily, weekly, and monthly life, you can better determine
a game plan for each day.
2. Categorize Your Objectives
You do this process for all your academic
classes, so why not for your dance classes? Why not for the rest
of your life? Set objectives for each area of your life. Professional,
personal and social. This helps keep us focused. This process
also helps keep the sometimes faint lines between our personal
and professional lives clearly drawn. This gives us a sense of
direction.
3. Set Your Goals
Goals are dreams. Each and every one
of us have dreams. Alfred Lord Tennyson said, "Without them,
we are nothing." We must all have dreams to stay alive.
To stay fresh. To reach for new and ever heightening levels
of accomplishment. We must set our standards high above what
we could ever actually imagine ourselves accomplishing. Through
this process, we grow. And we mark our progress through the recording
of our dreams as goals.
So, next comes the fun part. Sometimes,
as teachers, we can feel drained. Used by the very people that
we long to help in the world of education. We tend to forget
that our lives are just as important. You must have goals and
dreams of your own. Spend a quiet afternoon or morning alone.
Grab a cup of coffee or glass of wine and relax. Get a big pad
and pen and sit down to dream. Just think about what you really
want to do with your life: a vacation, to perform again, a nicer
car or bigger home, a job change, that master's degree you keep
saying you're going to work on. What do you want? Think big!
You only have one shot at this life and you will get out of it
exactly what you put into it. Take your time… Write them
all down. No matter how silly, put them in ink. After all this
is your life we're planning. Enjoy dreaming. You are just as
full of potential as your kids are. This is life and it should
be fun!
4. Categorize Your Goals
Now grab a muffin or a couple of cookies
and settle in for the real work. Take a good look at your lists.
You need to categorize them. Personal, Professional and Social.
Regardless of your goals… you must remember you and your
dreams are just as important as the students and families that
you serve. Always keep in mind that you must accomplish your
objectives while attempting to reach your goals. Through this
exercise, we are stimulated, challenged, encouraged and nurtured.
We stretch ourselves, our minds, our bodies and our personalities.
And then we grow. We achieve new heights. It is the miracle
of dreams that landed man on the moon. That put man in the air.
That brought light to the darkness. All this...from dreams.
And you need them too.
5. Chart Your Objectives and Goals
Set up a chart that you can easily refer
to for your personal, professional and social objectives. Do
the same on another chart for your goals. While these charts
can appear somewhat overwhelming on paper, this is your life.
Post them where you can see them. They are important to you
and reminding you of them is just as important as writing them
down. Post them where others can see them. This helps others
around you appreciate you and your values.
6. Set Your Schedule
Once you have completed your chart of
goals and objectives, you should set your daily and weekly schedule
to assist you in meeting your objectives and begin the process
of accomplishing your goals. Consider each day of the week and
what you could do that day to help reach those goals. Putting
away extra money, working out 15 minutes a day to lose that tummy,
or just blocking out 30 minutes for you and your significant other.
What goals do you need to work on each day? Then weekly, monthly,
annually, 5 years, 10 years, 20 years, etc. Be reasonable, but
set a challenge.
7. Give Yourself A Report Card
From time to time, you need to sit down,
grade and record your progress. It is imperative that you keep
this process alive. It is constantly changing. We are all part
of this process naturally. Unfortunately, few of us ever really
understand and harness its full potential. For you to perform
at your maximum potential, you must have a plan and direction.
You are less likely to be effective if you are burnt out from
spinning your wheels. With a plan and direction you find it easier
to believe in yourself. This process can be difficult, but the
alternative is worse. You may remember our three examples at
the beginning? They all got their start using this same simple
process. Without it, their dreams certainly would not be where
they are today.
As you become more organized and focused,
you find yourself meeting your objectives with a higher level
of performance and as the weeks go by, you should begin developing
a sense of pride and accomplishment. You are succeeding, little
by little, in establishing a direction. As you become more aware
of your potential, you are able to take bigger strides in accomplishing
those dreams. You become more determined and more sure of yourself.
You begin dreaming bigger!
This becomes a circle of growth that
can be the difference between a life of chaos ruled by the fire
of the moment or a life rich and full that comes from the joys
of success. As it has been said, "Success is a journey,
not a destination."
With this plan, you become a better
teacher, employee, student, parent, or partner. Whatever your
roles in life, you are a better person for having established
your objectives and set out on your journey to reach your goals.
You will have made a plan and you will be going somewhere with
it. Where? That's up to you...but at least you're going somewhere!
Henry David Thoreau said, "If one
advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors
to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success
unexpected in common hours."
So grab a cup of coffee and let's get
started. What do you have to lose?
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