“Most people spend more time planning their summer vacation than planning their lives.”
—SOURCE UNKNOWN
When you hear the words “strategic thinking,” what comes to mind? Do the visions of business plans dance in your head? Do you conjure up marketing plans, the kind that can turn a company around? Perhaps you contemplate global politics. Or you recall some of history’s greatest military campaigns: The war of Panipat or Hannibal crossing the Alps to surprise the Roman army, Alexander’s invasion to India and War with Porus.
Or some Business strategies like Amazon or Google or Reliance Jio. Perhaps, but strategy doesn’t have to be restricted to military action—or even to business. Strategic thinking can make a positive impact on any area of life.
PLAN YOUR LIFE, LIVE YOUR PLAN
It is observed that most people try to plan their lives one day at a time or at most some new year resolutions of which 80% fails before they come to end. They wake up, make up their to-do list, and dive into action (although some people aren’t even that strategic).
Fewer individuals plan their lives one week at a time. They review their calendar for the week, check their appointments, review their goals, and then get to work. They generally outachieve most of their daily-planning colleagues. I try to take planning one step further.
Have you ever seen anyone preparing trajectory of life by planning. Although everything may not happen as it is planned at the beginning however any plan need course correction as you move forward towards executions.
Having a big picture in mind is very important otherwise where ever you land in life is the point you need to accept as destiny. The good thing is to visualise as strategic thinker as how you want to shape your life and what are the key mile stones and put the decisive action plan in place to reach those mile stone. I have learned a lot from corporate world and I always try to adopt these tools and techniques in personal life. May it be creating a vision or purpose and deriving an action plan out of it and then finally reaching each mile-stone by design or taking a corrective action when needed and more importantly accepting failure gracefully and learning out it and creating new plan to reach to destination.
John C Maxwell mentioned : At the beginning of every month, I spend half a day working on my calendar for the next forty days. Forty days works for me rather than just thirty. That way, I get a jump on the next month and don’t get surprised. I begin by reviewing my travel schedule and planning activities with my family. Then I review what projects, lessons, and other objectives I want to accomplish during those five to six weeks. Then I start blocking out days and times for thinking, writing, working, meeting with people, etc. I set times to do fun things, such as seeing a show, watching a ball game, or playing golf. I also set aside small blocks of time to compensate for the unexpected. By the time I’m done, I can tell you nearly everything I’ll be doing, almost hour by hour, during the coming weeks. This strategy is one of the reasons I have been able to accomplish much.
Similar way I keep the next year broad plan in consideration while designing the calendar for the year. Generally in my professional life also we practice to freeze our leave calendar for next full year before end of previous year November and by and large able to follow as team. This helps plan the life in much better way. You can plan the important event in much thoughtful manner except few short term needs.
One must strategically prepare the career plan for next three to five years and family and personal plans in the similar way so that you are almost well placed strategically in life having your vision and final destination at target. If you haven’t try this yet you may attempt this and I am confident you will fill the difference with strategic thinking.
Inspired with “How Successful People Think.”