What"s The Plan
People fail not just because they expect to fail, but oftentimes because they fail to plan. They attempt a major goal or a new business venture all excited and motivated but gnawing at the back of their minds is a sinking thought that €what if things don't work out?€, €what If I fail at this?€, €what if I blow it?€.
And you know what they do blow it. Not for lack of trying or lack of motivation but often times as a result of having a weak strategy for realising their goals. Weak strategies result in poor levels of preparedness and these often reveal themselves in feelings of ignorance, low confidence levels and ultimately, a fear of failure.
The likelihood of success when embarking on any venture is directly related to two factors - self-belief and strategy. What I have found from experience is that one's degree of self-belief is immensely boosted by having a great strategy. All the excitement and motivation in the world will not make up for a half-baked strategy; you may eventually realise your goal but a weak strategy will only protract the process due to all the unanticipated challenges and scenarios you had not properly planned for. When you have a weak strategy for accomplishing something, you tend know it. It will manifest as thoughts of doubt, anxiety and a fear of failure.
The number one method of overcoming the fear of failure when attempting a goal is to plan, plan, plan - have a great strategy. Planning and having a great strategy is not just about downloading a generic business-plan off the web. I've seen many start-up businesses make this mistakes only to be side-blinded because some challenges they never thought of suddenly pop up. Having a great strategy for any goal requires taking the time out and analysing the goal or objective from as many angles as possible. It requires seeing what other people have done, how they have done it, why they failed and why they succeeded when embarking on the same goal. When you've conducted extensive research as part of you strategy, you'll know it. You'll feel confident and you'll experience a much lower fear of failure than someone else who's done much less prep work. Besides, you'll have a far greater sense of self-belief, which is critical to the achievement of any form of success.
For instance, if your goal is to set up a business, conduct as exhaustive a research as you can regard what the business entails. For example as part of the process of devising your strategy, some of the questions you should be asking yourself should include: What is my product or service? What are the competing products or services? What is the degree of demand for such a product or service? What is the competition like? How and where will I source suppliers? What are some of the challenges inherent in such a business; Who is my product / service best suited to? How am I going to reach them? How am I going to obtain financing? Is the business cyclical? Which are the slow and busy months?; How am I going to make up for the slow months? What are some of the fixed costs associated with the particular business? Why did other similar businesses fail? Why did other similar businesses succeed? What additional skills will I need if I am to succeed at this business? Have I got the right temperament for this type of business? What's the best location for such a business? How am I going to make money from the business?
Going through the process above allows you to really think about your goal and to come up with a plan for what you're going to do, how you're going to do it, when you're going to do it, and the best way to ensure success. It also allows you to identify potential pitfalls that might pop up and as such you're better a able to devise possible solutions in advance. Better preparation always reduces the fear of failure, feelings of incompetence and boosts one's confidence levels.
So what are the secrets to a great strategy?
Firstly, Plan. Get as much information as you can. It's usually means a lot of legwork and research but that's the thing about success - it usually disguises itself as work and this is what scarce some people off. To have it, you must earn it. Knowledge displaces ignorance and creates a stronger sense of self-belief.
Secondly, a part of devising a great strategy is to break down the ultimate goal into milestones or sub-goals. These milestones are markers that not only provide a sense of direction but also allow us to gauge how we are tracking towards our goal. When we face a task we believe to be daunting or overwhelming, we develop feelings of inadequacy and we end up sabotaging our own efforts. By reducing our overall objectives into milestones, the process becomes far more manageable and the entire experience is less overwhelming. Successful people know that the only way to accomplish a great goal is one milestone at a time.
Finally, remain flexible. No matter how thorough or comprehensive your plan, always factor in the fact that circumstances can change. As a result, your plans should never be rigid but must always be flexible enough to adapt to unforeseen challenges and factors.
Just don't jump into any goal feet first. Strategise properly. It might appear like a time-consuming exercise at first but believe you me, it's worth every minute; besides you'll end up achieving your goal much faster with a proper plan than with a €hope and see€approach.
And you know what they do blow it. Not for lack of trying or lack of motivation but often times as a result of having a weak strategy for realising their goals. Weak strategies result in poor levels of preparedness and these often reveal themselves in feelings of ignorance, low confidence levels and ultimately, a fear of failure.
The likelihood of success when embarking on any venture is directly related to two factors - self-belief and strategy. What I have found from experience is that one's degree of self-belief is immensely boosted by having a great strategy. All the excitement and motivation in the world will not make up for a half-baked strategy; you may eventually realise your goal but a weak strategy will only protract the process due to all the unanticipated challenges and scenarios you had not properly planned for. When you have a weak strategy for accomplishing something, you tend know it. It will manifest as thoughts of doubt, anxiety and a fear of failure.
The number one method of overcoming the fear of failure when attempting a goal is to plan, plan, plan - have a great strategy. Planning and having a great strategy is not just about downloading a generic business-plan off the web. I've seen many start-up businesses make this mistakes only to be side-blinded because some challenges they never thought of suddenly pop up. Having a great strategy for any goal requires taking the time out and analysing the goal or objective from as many angles as possible. It requires seeing what other people have done, how they have done it, why they failed and why they succeeded when embarking on the same goal. When you've conducted extensive research as part of you strategy, you'll know it. You'll feel confident and you'll experience a much lower fear of failure than someone else who's done much less prep work. Besides, you'll have a far greater sense of self-belief, which is critical to the achievement of any form of success.
For instance, if your goal is to set up a business, conduct as exhaustive a research as you can regard what the business entails. For example as part of the process of devising your strategy, some of the questions you should be asking yourself should include: What is my product or service? What are the competing products or services? What is the degree of demand for such a product or service? What is the competition like? How and where will I source suppliers? What are some of the challenges inherent in such a business; Who is my product / service best suited to? How am I going to reach them? How am I going to obtain financing? Is the business cyclical? Which are the slow and busy months?; How am I going to make up for the slow months? What are some of the fixed costs associated with the particular business? Why did other similar businesses fail? Why did other similar businesses succeed? What additional skills will I need if I am to succeed at this business? Have I got the right temperament for this type of business? What's the best location for such a business? How am I going to make money from the business?
Going through the process above allows you to really think about your goal and to come up with a plan for what you're going to do, how you're going to do it, when you're going to do it, and the best way to ensure success. It also allows you to identify potential pitfalls that might pop up and as such you're better a able to devise possible solutions in advance. Better preparation always reduces the fear of failure, feelings of incompetence and boosts one's confidence levels.
So what are the secrets to a great strategy?
Firstly, Plan. Get as much information as you can. It's usually means a lot of legwork and research but that's the thing about success - it usually disguises itself as work and this is what scarce some people off. To have it, you must earn it. Knowledge displaces ignorance and creates a stronger sense of self-belief.
Secondly, a part of devising a great strategy is to break down the ultimate goal into milestones or sub-goals. These milestones are markers that not only provide a sense of direction but also allow us to gauge how we are tracking towards our goal. When we face a task we believe to be daunting or overwhelming, we develop feelings of inadequacy and we end up sabotaging our own efforts. By reducing our overall objectives into milestones, the process becomes far more manageable and the entire experience is less overwhelming. Successful people know that the only way to accomplish a great goal is one milestone at a time.
Finally, remain flexible. No matter how thorough or comprehensive your plan, always factor in the fact that circumstances can change. As a result, your plans should never be rigid but must always be flexible enough to adapt to unforeseen challenges and factors.
Just don't jump into any goal feet first. Strategise properly. It might appear like a time-consuming exercise at first but believe you me, it's worth every minute; besides you'll end up achieving your goal much faster with a proper plan than with a €hope and see€approach.
