Dream – Plan - Act
Things don’t just happen no matter how much you dream! Dreaming is just the beginning, to actually move forward on the journey you need to make a plan of action.
From my island home...
Two years ago I had a bold thought; I wanted to live part of the year in Australia and the rest of the time where ever in the world I wanted! That is to be location independent. It was a massive undertaking, I have a house, a car and more stuff than I believed possible!
It was truly a hugely outrageous fantastical dream and it certainly took a while to move from dream to plan to action and finally reality. As important as visualising the dream was; making some logical decisions about what it would take, started the ball rolling.
You can often get overwhelmed by the unrealistic nature of your imagination, but the more you visualise how it will look when you get there, the easier the plan of attack will be. If you missed Part 1 – Dream then have a quick look at The Dream Depict-er so you can start to gain a clear picture.
Prioritise the small details to get to the big picture.
Planning in itself is the act of creating the map to your destination. Each step will bring you closer, some will be simultaneous others concurrent. You will need to understand the art of prioritising the small details to get to the big picture. Once you have your dream life in your mind, work backwards to see how you arrived at your destination. Some parts will be unknown, but have faith they too will fall into place as you start to plan and continue to visualize.
My journey from a two bedroom townhouse to two suitcases
- Tell my family and friends
Life Packed...essentials only...well mainly!
- Turn my off-line business into an online business
- Tell my current clients
- Sell, give away or donate all unnecessary clothes and household items
- Organise storage of my remaining possessions
- Renovate my house for rental
- Rent my house out
- Sell my car
- Buy a plane ticket and some travel insurance
- Pack my suitcases and go!
These 10 Steps were only the beginning.
Of course I then had to break each one down, some required a lot of research – changing my business model and others required a great deal of courage – telling my family and friends, but no matter what, the to-do-lists and action plans made the exercise as satisfying as it was challenging.
The sense of forward movement was made visible by the line through each completed item. Done!
...first stop Sweden, the land of the Vikings!
Building the excitement and momentum is the key, which I’ll discuss further in Part 3 – Plan (Prioritise).
Until then if you too would like to learn how to create a successful online business then check out the fabulous Natalie Sisson of The Suitcase Entrepreneur. I highly recommend her Build Your Own Business Online Guide and The Ultimate Toolkit for Entrepreneurs as a start. If you want some help with working out what your dream life or business really is then contact me for a coaching session.
PS In the spirit of total disclosure, the links to The Suitcase Entrepreneur are affiliate links and as you know I only recommend products and services I have used myself!
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6 comments
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Debi says:
August 17, 2012 at 2:38 am (UTC 9.5 )
Good for you Kylie!! It has been so inspiring and exciting to watch your journey. As you know I’m setting up for a similar one of my own so I’m really enjoying your story. Congrats to you because I know it took a lot of hard work to get to this point. Yay you!!
Kylie says:
August 17, 2012 at 8:30 am (UTC 9.5 )
Thanks Debi! The journey is both exciting and challenging, but when you keep the end game in sight the challenges seem to fade away! I am also following your journey with interest, it’s so great to see everyone strive for their dreams.
Claire says:
August 17, 2012 at 5:28 pm (UTC 9.5 )
Way to go Kylie! Thanks for leading the way! Your example is a wonderful way of showing exactly how Dream Plan Act can play out in our lives. Looking forward to connecting with you
Kylie says:
August 18, 2012 at 1:40 am (UTC 9.5 )
Thanks Claire! Your support is wonderful! It will be so much fun to connect face to face!
Angela says:
August 17, 2012 at 5:51 pm (UTC 9.5 )
Hey Kylie
Fantastic post and I’m really looking forward to Part 3. As an aspirant location independent person myself, I’d love to know more about the nitty gritty of how you achieved your goal.
Ang
Kylie says:
August 18, 2012 at 1:42 am (UTC 9.5 )
Hi Angela
Thank you, and your comment and some other feedback has made me rethink my next post!! So I hope it will give you the info you require, this was going to be a 3 part series, but I see now I have a few more posts to go.
Kylie
Part 3 of Dream – Plan (Prioritise)- Act » Productive Resourcing says:
August 23, 2012 at 8:43 am (UTC 9.5 )
[...] « Part 2 of Dream – Plan – Act [...]
Part 6 of Dream – Plan – Act » Productive Resourcing says:
September 28, 2012 at 1:54 am (UTC 9.5 )
[...] came the all important planning stage, this is where you wrote your first To-do-list, it included working out the true cost or saving of outsourcing and I gave you a simple tool for [...]
Part 1 of Dream - Plan - Act | Productive Resourcing says:
December 11, 2012 at 4:56 am (UTC 9.5 )
[...] Part 2 of Dream – Plan – Act » [...]
4 Practical Steps to Create a Usable Business Plan | Productive Resourcing says:
March 19, 2013 at 8:24 pm (UTC 9.5 )
[...] Goals – Focus on the next 6 to 12 months, what do you want to achieve? Three is a good number, but no more than five otherwise it becomes overwhelming. They should also be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Relevant & Time bound). [...]