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Do you always stick to plan?

Anything related to matters of the mind

GoodluckChuck

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I don't. I might follow through most of the time but I never stick to plan 100%, and I just realized this today...

I was in the gym doing deadlifts. After two sets I realized that I've done the stronglifts program before but never for more than a few days before altering the program. That's why I have no idea what kind of results I could get if I actually stuck with the program.

As soon as I recorded a little video note for myself about this realization I went into the third set.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5... Shit..

I was only supposed to do 1 rep. It's been 3 seconds and I already deviated from the program.


Maybe it's not a big deal with weight lifting, but I do the same thing in business. I make plans and processes and then never follow them closely enough to measure results and adjust the system. It's getting to the point where I'm stuck as the bottleneck of my business.

So, what do I do about this? I know I need to learn how to follow plans so I can be more consistent and build better systems in my business.

Another option is to team up with someone that naturally sticks to plan, but I'm one that likes to improve my weaknesses.

I bet there's other people out there like me. Are you like me? Do you improvise everything? Do you make detailed plans only to go off and make it up as you go?
 
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GoodluckChuck

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One thing that helped me over the years was to separate the Manager and Technical sides of me.
I plan, and then, execute without thinking.

The E-myth is a wonderful book about the subject.

Funny I was just referencing that book two days ago.

I did a Meyers Briggs personality test and it turns out I'm a ENTP which naturally improvises everything and has a hard time sticking to plans and details... It describes me to a T.

It's going to take practice for me to get better and my next hire will be someone with a judger personality that likes to follow methodical plans..
 

Dan_Cardone

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Funny I was just referencing that book two days ago.

I did a Meyers Briggs personality test and it turns out I'm a ENTP which naturally improvises everything and has a hard time sticking to plans and details... It describes me to a T.

It's going to take practice for me to get better and my next hire will be someone with a judger personality that likes to follow methodical plans..
Just wanted to chime in and say the myer briggs test is complete BS. Psychologist consider it just a small step above astrology.
 
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GoodluckChuck

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Just wanted to chime in and say the myer briggs test is complete BS. Psychologist consider it just a small step above astrology.

That may be but it described a lot of my experiences very accurately.
 

Ernman

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In the military we are taught that a plan only survives till first contact with the enemy. In biz, that means your plan is only good until you touch customers. That is why so many here recommend getting started. MJ calls it the market mind - remember his comments about the cover of his first book? I believe the truly successful are those who have found a balance between their plan and the market mind - or understand how to adjust? I say it's a balance because sometimes the market can give you false or damaging signals.

Example, I like your widget but I want it cheaper. OK, who doesn't want to pay less for something? But you know that without a reasonable profit you'll go out of biz or not be able to keep adding the desired features/benefits others in the market are asking for. It's a balance.

I've also experienced what happens when one single mindedly sticks to a plan. President of the company said the customer was too stupid to understand they were wrong and our answer was right. Guess who didn't get the contract? And the company that listened to the customer is successfully making millions doing what the customer wanted.
 

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I experienced the same thing too. After spending my whole day planning, listing out 20+ tasks i would do, i left all of the tasks. What i felt right there is that i knew all what i should do, it does look too hard so why should i rush. So i keep procrastinating and ignore all the tasks. Until everything was messed up and i worked like hell, but not following any plans.

So now i don't plan all the details anymore. Just plan enough so i don't feel lost not knowing what to do. For example: uploading products to my website - i used to list all details including: double check the contents, resize the images, adding tags, categories,... But now i only have one big task. All the small tasks i could improvise.

And the second thing is that i allow myself to work on 3 tasks at a moment, listing them in DOING. So i could narrow my focus and if i get boring with task 1, i will try to complete task 2 or 3, and then go back to task 1 when i no longer have that feeling.
 

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I don't. I might follow through most of the time but I never stick to plan 100%, and I just realized this today...

I was in the gym doing deadlifts. After two sets I realized that I've done the stronglifts program before but never for more than a few days before altering the program. That's why I have no idea what kind of results I could get if I actually stuck with the program.

As soon as I recorded a little video note for myself about this realization I went into the third set.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5... Shit..

I was only supposed to do 1 rep. It's been 3 seconds and I already deviated from the program.


Maybe it's not a big deal with weight lifting, but I do the same thing in business. I make plans and processes and then never follow them closely enough to measure results and adjust the system. It's getting to the point where I'm stuck as the bottleneck of my business.

So, what do I do about this? I know I need to learn how to follow plans so I can be more consistent and build better systems in my business.

Another option is to team up with someone that naturally sticks to plan, but I'm one that likes to improve my weaknesses.

I bet there's other people out there like me. Are you like me? Do you improvise everything? Do you make detailed plans only to go off and make it up as you go?

I wouldn't say my plan is detailed to the letter of what I'm going to do. I have a fair idea of how it will go but...the strategy always ends up changing a bit or I go off into another direction if I need to, or the plan ended up sucking. And then I just make a new plan.
 
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GoodluckChuck

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In the military we are taught that a plan only survives till first contact with the enemy. In biz, that means your plan is only good until you touch customers. That is why so many here recommend getting started. MJ calls it the market mind - remember his comments about the cover of his first book? I believe the truly successful are those who have found a balance between their plan and the market mind - or understand how to adjust? I say it's a balance because sometimes the market can give you false or damaging signals.

Example, I like your widget but I want it cheaper. OK, who doesn't want to pay less for something? But you know that without a reasonable profit you'll go out of biz or not be able to keep adding the desired features/benefits others in the market are asking for. It's a balance.

I've also experienced what happens when one single mindedly sticks to a plan. President of the company said the customer was too stupid to understand they were wrong and our answer was right. Guess who didn't get the contract? And the company that listened to the customer is successfully making millions doing what the customer wanted.

I understand what you're saying. It's important to seek feedback and be flexible. I'm great at that.

The part I struggle with is following a process or procedure. I design processes bases on evidence from past experience but my brain hates to follow those rules and always wants to find a new better way to do things.

It makes it hard to measure results of a process because I can't ever follow the rules.
 

GoodluckChuck

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Barnum effect. Google it

Interesting and true.

That isn't the case in my situation. Ive been describing this phenomenon for a few days trying to narrow down what I'm struggling with. Then found a match for my written words perfectly in the explaination of this personality type.

I think accuracy of a personality test depends on the quality of the inputs. There's a reason why employers everywhere are testing their employees during the hiring process.

I also think it's a bad idea to dismiss the whole premise of personality testing because of something you read in an article.
 

Andy Black

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I’ve done quite a bit of personality profiling. I don’t stick to the plan - I create the plan then hand it off.

I’ll come back and add more later.
 
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Ernman

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It makes it hard to measure results of a process because I can't ever follow the rules.
I have a love/hate relationship with measure processes. If you want to make 100,000 of the exact same widget, then process is critical - the ole Lean and Six Sigma world.

Where I've seen measured process break down is in chaotic systems like the weather prediction or human interactive processes. Weather forecasting at it's core is solving a very complex, chaotic, fluid motion physics problem. Even our best super computers and "models" aren't there yet. But forecasters are "graded" on their accuracy...a measured process. Salespeople and business owners try to forecast revenue/sales but humans are also a complex and chaotic problem.

The best we can do is adopt best practices. But even these fail over time. Selling to Millennials is very different from selling to Baby Boomers...or is it?

That is why I've come into agreement with many of recommendations made by very experienced members of this forum and MJ. Get your product out there and touch the market. It is good to have an overall strategy, say ecommerce. But be ready to adjust the execution as the market mind directs. Said another way. Don't be a slave to a detailed process. Have a general idea of the direction and activities, but adjust as you move along.

Those who sail boats are very familiar with this concept. You know you want to sail from Miami to Bermuda. But the wind will dictate how many times you must change course.
 
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amp0193

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Make a plan.

Even if you deviate, it keeps you heading in the right direction.

However, if you don't make a plan at all, you head whichever way the wind blows.
 

Kruiser

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Just wanted to chime in and say the myer briggs test is complete BS. Psychologist consider it just a small step above astrology.
I've heard that before, but I simply don't think it is true that Myers-Briggs is bs. I've taken a lot of different personality tests and have found a LOT of correlation between them (Myers-Briggs, Big 5, Enneagram, DISC, etc.).

If I read through Myers-Briggs description of my type, I say "yeah, that is definitely me." Same with Enneagram and other assessments.

But when I read other type descriptions (e.g., ENTP, etc.), I can say "yeah, that is definitely not me."

I'm sure the Barnum effect is real, but I think it is limited and usually overstated. At least in the personality type context.
 
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Brian Suh

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I don't. I might follow through most of the time but I never stick to plan 100%, and I just realized this today...

I was in the gym doing deadlifts. After two sets I realized that I've done the stronglifts program before but never for more than a few days before altering the program. That's why I have no idea what kind of results I could get if I actually stuck with the program.

As soon as I recorded a little video note for myself about this realization I went into the third set.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5... Shit..

I was only supposed to do 1 rep. It's been 3 seconds and I already deviated from the program.


Maybe it's not a big deal with weight lifting, but I do the same thing in business. I make plans and processes and then never follow them closely enough to measure results and adjust the system. It's getting to the point where I'm stuck as the bottleneck of my business.

So, what do I do about this? I know I need to learn how to follow plans so I can be more consistent and build better systems in my business.

Another option is to team up with someone that naturally sticks to plan, but I'm one that likes to improve my weaknesses.

I bet there's other people out there like me. Are you like me? Do you improvise everything? Do you make detailed plans only to go off and make it up as you go?
I think it is best to have key habits but other then that life is too chaotic to be perfect. Do the best you can.
 

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