How to Bravely Create a Vision for the Project You Want to Get Done

“NEXT week, I’ll be more brave.”

Do you ever say that to yourself?

Me too…. But then I came upon this quote by Charmayne Warnock:

“Being brave doesn’t mean you’re not scared. Being brave means doing the right thing even if you are scared.”

Loved that.

So today we’re talking about how to bravely create a vision and plan for that important project we selected last week. (If you didn’t select one yet, click here for last week’s post.)

And as a quick follow-up, it would be an understatement to say I was overwhelmed by the response last week. It wasn’t just the volume of comments and emails, but the depth of the stories and experiences shared. Eric and I feel like we are coming to know you better—seeing into your hearts. You are incredible, beautiful people with important goals and a whole lot going on in your lives. We appreciate you opening up to us and to each other. Truly.

Now to get started creating a vision and plan for that big project, I’m going to outline a six-step process that you can either replicate or adapt. Let’s dive in!

STEP 1 – Identify What You DON’T Want

I love this idea from Joe Vitale’s book The Key. Take two minutes and write down what you don’t want the outcome of your project to be.

My project is to write and podcast regularly over the next 12 weeks here at LearnDoBecome. I love sharing things I believe can help others, and this process is really important to me.

But I don’t want to hold back or freeze because of fear. I don’t want to stress myself out if we have a busy week with limited writing time and I don’t post on an exact schedule. And I don’t want to let it shake me if we get some critical messages back in response. (I know I can’t please everyone, but I still find myself trying!)

How about you? Can you take a moment and identify what you don’t want your project outcome to be?

STEP 2 – Identify What You DO Want!

(I like this step better!)

When your project is “wildly successful” in 12 weeks, what will it look like?

Here’s what I’m shooting for:

Three months from now, I want to have between 8 and 12 posts or podcasts published on LearnDoBecome that (a) are created with my heart, (b) give you easy ways to take action on your own goals (getting you results), and (c) lay a strong foundation for the exciting work ahead of us here in this community.

As a side note on “c”–I wish you could hear the conversations Eric and I have about you. We talk about you more than you know–how much we admire you and how we want to do the best we can to help your lives feel easier and happier. There is a lot ahead, and the whole vision isn’t going to appear in 12 weeks, but I’ve learned that it’s absolutely not about the speed by which you accomplish your mission. It is about how willing you are to ask for help (Learn), take inspired action (Do), and let those beautiful experiences shape who you are (Become).

STEP 3 – Outline the Steps

This isn’t going to be “perfect.” We just do it as well as we can–leaving room for refinement and added insights.

I made mine with markers, and it was SO FUN:

As I was creating that vision, I thought deeply about my desired results and how I could most easily get started. While brainstorming topics, I considered these questions:

• How can I help our community members to succeed and get quick wins?

• Which posts will I feel excited to wake up and create?

• How could I involve others, so this builds relationships in the process?

This took about 30 minutes, and while it will likely evolve as I go, I felt like I was coming alive again!!

STEP 4 – Figure Out EXACTLY What Needs to Be Done This Week

If you were to divide up your project into 10-12 generally equal parts, what would that first part look like?

You’ll definitely want to identify Next Actions. (If you aren’t in our STEP program or haven’t attended our class, we can teach you how to do this!)

For this post you are reading, the process looked something like this:

• Create my vision for what the 12 weeks would look like
• Outline this first post
• Write the first draft of this post
• Write the final draft of this post
• Decide on a title
• Find and upload the images
• Publish this post
• Email this post to our community
• Share this post on social media

I worked on the steps in order and didn’t stress about the whole thing. (One little step at a time.)

STEP 5 – Create a Calendar Reminder to Continue the Project One Week from Now

This is like putting the next stepping stone in place. It’s telling our brains that we’re pacing ourselves and we won’t forget to come back to the project.

Next week, I am going to brainstorm and create another post. My calendar will remind me. I don’t have to worry about it this week.

Making a calendar trigger literally takes 30 seconds. But try it. It works.

STEP 6: Ask How You Can Receive More Help from Above as You Move Forward

There is an added element of strength and confidence when you know you are not doing this alone.

We know that all of you are carrying heavy responsibilities. You are finding jobs, writing books, raising children, getting rid of clutter, healing relationships, growing businesses, getting bills and budgets organized, moving, leaving bad situations, trying to create good situations, overcoming anxiety or depression, establishing new routines—and a ton of other worthwhile projects. We are totally cheering for you.

And while I don’t know exactly how it works, I know without a doubt that when you pause for just a moment, acknowledge that you need more strength than you currently have, and ask for added support from a higher power, you’ll see a way to receive it.

(We’re excited for you!)

I know we’re on opposite ends of this screen. I know you can’t see me. And it’s SUPER easy for you to move on and pretend you were never here.

But what IF this works? What IF you start to get results and feel relief and finally realize that vision of who you’re meant to become.

I like how that feels.  And I think you will too.

Today is the day to be brave. You can do this.

With gratitude,

April (and Eric)

 

Your LearnDoBecome Challenge:

We’ll be back in the next week or so with some additional ideas we hope you’ll love (not all about project planning), but in the meantime, we encourage you to go through this six-step process outlined above and report back in the comments to let us know how it went. Good luck!