When it comes to planning, I’ve followed a few different formulae over the years (see my blog about lessons from planning of the dim, dark past) but this one, without a doubt, is the best I’ve used. I’d like to take credit for it, but in fact, my mate Ken taught me this one (he credits Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) and it’s an absolute cracker.

Begin with the ROLES you play in life (AKA: Begin with the end in mind).

Undoubtedly, this is a highly creative interpretation of what Stephen Covey had in mind, but hey, it works for me. First, we start with the roles we choose to play in life. These are the facets or categories of life that draw our attention, time and energy.

My own roles are:

• Businesswoman
• Lover
• Investor
• Friend/Family Member
• Social Butterfly
• Learner
• Adventurer
• Poet
• Giver
• Responsible Adult

Yep, in that order. Your list of roles may be entirely different. Yours might include soccer coach, dance mum, gardener, innovator, artist, wine connoisseur, sailor, or any number of other roles you choose to play in life. So, go on, make your list… I’ll wait.

Hot tip: Make sure you rank these in order of importance in your life. For example, if you’re a parent and you’re really thinking you should rank this number one, even though your role as a business owner or leader is pushing its way to the top of your mind, then just be honest with yourself. Rank them according to where your energy flows first. There’s room for all your roles, but if you can’t be honest with yourself at this stage, well… go read another blog because there’s no point in continuing.

Next, assign Goals to your Roles…

This is about getting 100% clear on how you want to play that role in your life and making deliberate statements about how you will achieve the highest expression of that role for you.

Here are a few examples (just a snippet!) from my own Roles and Goals:

Businesswoman

• My industry sector is XXX, and I actively seek introductions and referrals at every opportunity.
• I work 44 weeks a year and take 8 weeks off (2 weeks a quarter).
• I am face to face with clients 4 days a week, with one day a week networking and administrating my business.

Learner

• I do at least one online course of interest every year. 2020 is XXX with XXX XXXXXX.
• I coordinate a business women’s retreat weekend on the Sunny Coast. (Wanna come?)
• I attend XX conference in April and XX’s retreat in October.

Adventurer

• I ride my horses every Saturday morning.
• Go sailing in 2020 with friends.
• Go in a hot air balloon in 2020.

Giver

• I match my client’s donations to charities via our workshops.

Yes, these are real examples (with some personal details deleted) from my Roles and Goals this year. I suggest you take a pause right now and start listing your ideas for goals against each of your roles for the coming year.

What Next?

With my list of roles and goals complete, I make a detailed plan for the first 3-6 months (just do the timeframe you’re comfortable with) which will see me establish the routines and carry out the required actions to live into the highest expression of each of my roles.

My weekly list is likely to include things like how many leads I will follow up, blogs and posts to generate, events to initiate, calls to clients, etc.

Now it’s your turn! Use the free downloadable resource below to develop your own Roles & Goals plan for leadership success. I hope you find this process as useful as I have.

Contact Angela to talk about your leadership development, team building and culture change challenges.

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