Plan the Next Chapter

On Sunday, we spent the entire day on action planning.  This is a typical thing to do toward the end of a personal development program.  The objective to produce a plan was typical, but the approach we took was unique. 

Each person first reviewed all the work she completed over the prior days, highlighting or taking notes on the specific actions to include in her plan.  She then created a set of specific goals, with deadline dates, and a short list of supporting tasks or milestones.  Some people had a few specific goals, and others had loads.  I ended up with ten goals.  It sounds like a lot, but they were clustered into four themes and they feel 100% do-able to me.

We used large sheets of cardstock to create a planning board.  Some people organized their goals into a timeline.  Others used a quadrant format.  Some had an arc.  One person created "books" to hold various goals in themes.  Some people used both sides of their board.  I created a mindmap.  Once we had the goals and steps articulated in words, we cut up magazines and added images and/or headlines to embroider our plans with more layers of meaning and beauty.  Unbelievably, we spent three solid hours on this activity and most of us would have taken more time.

After a quick lunch, we shared our plans with our small groups and got feedback from each other.  Then we rejoined the main group and shared a one minute version of our plans with everyone.  It was inspiring to see how everyone's personal visions came together.

We closed the day with some thoughts about how to take the work forward, how to keep in touch with our small group, and how to stay connected to our plans.  I already re-set the wallpaper on my cellphone as a picture of my plan.  My small group has a call scheduled for next month to reconnect.

Having now completed Life Launch, I'm ready to start the Coaching Certification phase.  That starts on Monday and I'm looking forward to it.