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Process of developing strategy of turning goals into actionable plans?

Anything related to matters of the mind

DMNinja

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Hello everyone!

As the title suggests, I am trying to develop processes so I can turn my goals into actionable plans. I have no idea how to break down what I want into a plan so I can act upon it. I originally thought about asking for direct help, but upon hindsight, it's better if other watchers could see how other members of the forum went about doing so.
  • How do you transform your wants into goals?
  • How do you build a strategy to see them through?

I know that MJ states that applying mathematics to the daily target is what is required, and then segment the goal into individual actions. It pains me to admit it, but I don't have previous experience in doing so.

In simpler terms: How can I develop a laser focus on progression instead of using the shotgun approach? The shotgun approach not only leads to inefficient action, but also leads to errant action. So obviously, a new skill is required, and instead of asking for a custom solution, I'd rather understand HOW to do it for myself.

As always, than you for your input
-Constantine

EDIT: Thanks to @Flint I understood that I had not phrased my original question correctly. Thus I reworded the OP. Thanks for understanding.
 
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Flint

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Do you really need to sit back and think about a plan or what you want to do?

How about simply finding yourself in situations where you can see opportunities and then take risks and act?

Exposure. Human to human interactions. Simple acts of kindness. Bold moves. Finding the truth of the situation. Experimentation. Playfulness of it all. New reference experiences.

You see, most people never act. Elon Musk could give his business plan to a hundred random people and not a single one would do anything or get anywhere with it.

In my opinion, nearly anyone at the top of their field found their way there over time. By testing and tweaking and acting on opportunities. Not by trying to write an algorithm for the next 20 years upfront. They approached something and they figured it out by doing.

I found that once you embrace this philosophy and put yourself out there, the feedback loop kicks in, your perception changes, you start seeing more opportunities around you, you find your likes and dislikes, and just follow your path more engaged.

To paraphrase Vin Diesel's character from Knockaround Guys:
How about starting with meeting 500 hundred new people while you go about your day to find out more about them. You need them for experience. To develop skin in the game. To get past the silliness of it all. To finally figure out how you can help yourself by helping others.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgEEn75JEuY
 

DMNinja

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Do you really need to sit back and think about a plan or what you want to do?
I should've clarified (and I will actually edit the thread title) that what I'm wondering about is how can I make my goals into a concrete plan.

Regarding the rest of the topic, for me it's not an issue of acting, but figuring out when to do the correct action, at the correct place, at the correct time, in accordance to my goals.
 

Mattie

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Hello everyone!

As the title suggests, I am having troubles determining my goals. I have no idea how to break down what I want into a plan so I can act upon it. I originally thought about asking for direct help, but upon hindsight, it's better if other watchers could see how other members of the forum went about doing so.
  • How do you transform your wants into goals?
  • How do you build a strategy to see them through?
I know that MJ states that applying mathematics to the daily target is what is required, and then segment the goal into individual actions. It pains me to admit it, but I don't have previous experience in doing so. This leads to me progressing forward in areas that I should (learning the tools that I'll use to build my product, figuring out how to build a minimum upkeep business, taking care of my physical mental health etc.) but I do so through a scatter distribution pattern.

In simpler terms: I do things that are congruent with my chosen direction, but I don't do the appropriate things at the appropriate time, in the appropriate place.

This not only leads to inefficient action, but also leads to errant action.
So obviously, a new skill is required, and instead of asking for a custom solution, I'd rather understand HOW to do it for myself.

As always, than you for your input
-Constantine
I am very goal oriented. I am naturally this way. I just focus on a goal for the future. It can be shor-term or long -term. I've always lived by the theory of focus on one thing at a time. Divide your time and focus on one small area at a time until you master it.

If you have mental health issues, this consists of many different emotions, thoughts, fears, anxiety, and stressors.

Contributors:

Relationships:

Family
Friends
Co-workers, Managers, Bosses, and Supervisors.
Romantic/Sexual Relationships.

Finances:
Resources Available, Methods, Techniques, and tools.

Legalities:

Legal Laws, Restrictions, Rules, Regulations, Policies, Procedures of Business.

There are many things to address every step of the way.

I tend to have too many ideas of what I want to do myself. You have to write all your ideas down in a note book.

It's more about you learning to focus on one project. As I am doing right now, where I must cut out other projects, shut-down on social media, and focus in on one area for a time.

What is more valuable?

Then you have to cut out distractions. I annoy people offline because they don't see the bigger picture. It's not in their "Awareness" of why I would trade desire, want, and pleasures for reading books, writing, practicing and honing my skills to succeed long-term financially.

This is one part you have to master, because the people around you will never get it. Sometimes you just have to work through the noise, objections, opposition, and keep going. You may have to remove yourself from the environment if there is too much interruptions.

Other people can waste your time. You have to decide whether you want to allow them to waste your time.

Everyone is focused on something. What are they focused on all the time? And what are you focused on. It requires self-discipline, to acknowledge you can't be worried about what they're focused on. Only be concerned what your focusing on whether it is education or productivity.

There are 24 hours a day. There is a choice how you use that time and energy. Some people use it unwisely. How many minutes are in hour? What can you get done in an hour?

Do you want to get things done in a day, week, month, 6 months, a year. For short-term projects? Then you have different tools to use to divide up your day with what you do.

I understand some people like to have a calendar, schedule, lists, appointments, rules, regulations, policies, and procedures for everything in every area of their lives.

While it seems productive to a certain extent, it can also be quite a down fall since "Relationships" fail when you take this approach in the home life.

It is meant more for the entrepreneur world, the business world, educational settings. While we force families to comply to such things, this is where you either choose work over family and friends and become a lone ranger to pursue your goals, or make time for them.

If we take Elon Musk for example, he is quite wealthy, but if you watch the story of his relationships there usually unconventional relationships where there not long-term and he ends up placing his goals over people in his life.

While that might be grand for some people and work for them, it might not work for everyone.

There's this paradox you learn here in "How bad do you want it." What are you sacrificing for the Million or Billion? And are you a "Lone Ranger" in the end entirely with superficial relationships and surface networking or valuable long-term relationships.

There is finding some kind of balance in using your time wisely, and spending time with family.

Jumpers: Then you have some people who are just taking actions all the time. Quick, fast, furious, reckless, and end up getting wiped out because they don't think about the consequences.

The right timing cannot be scheduled, since some individuals may succeed before you, and others may succeed after you. I'm a prolific writer for example, I can write all day long every day. I can be quite productive, but this doesn't mean just because I am productive, have a plan, schedule, outline, list, and follow all the rules success is going to happen at a specific time.

It depends on multi-variables I've listed above.

Clarity and Purpose is actually knowing your Vision for the future, and taking steps to reach that goal.

Knowing when to move and knowing when not to move is really what you learn as you go along be trial and error.

You can believe a lot of things that might not work for you, that works for someone else. Beliefs are borrowed information that may work or not work in your experience. You have to weed out what beliefs apply and what beliefs do not apply in your personal experience.

Knowing is what you have already learned through trial and error. There was some kind of outcome in a negative or positive way by whatever action you've taken.

Everyone takes an action. Either through the choice to be indecisive, not taking an action, taking actions that have nothing to do with the situation at all and a waste of time, and then deciphering what is the right action to take.

You might "Believe" in the moment you are taking the right action. Then you find out through trial and error you've taken the wrong action.

Entrepreneurship is about adaptation, adjustment, problem shooting, and problem solving. This is the mathematical equation. Just like geometry, trigonometry, and algebra. Here you have the problem right in front of you. There is a formula to solve these problems.

I am not sure it can be explained how this correlates with your life other then saying you have tools, methods, techniques, supplies, materials, and you have a puzzle to solve in what you do with these things to create something out of it through experimentation.

Obviously, if you want to build a car like Elon Musk you have to have all the parts, the tools, the equipment, the blue print, and just like those box kits at the store with a model car, you have to take the action to build it.

You have to plan out the day, the time, and you start with that one project. Obviously, scaling comes after you've mastered it.

Elon Musk has been at it for awhile. He's already mastered the time, outsources, and not a one island man. He knows how to prioritize his time effectively. This does not come at the beginning, it is a skill you acquire by the process of trial and error.

What many people do not understand, is relationships, career, finances, and family all have to be in balance. If you're going to be a Millionaire/Billionaire you most likely will sacrifice the relationships.

So, obviously, you have to be quite clear in the goals here in all areas, because if you do not become aware, you can make a mess with your family and friends if this is something valuable to you.

This comes down to what is valuable in your life? What is the value of family, friends, romantic/sexual relationships, and finances. You will find all types of people so it's just a matter of what you value in life.

The Goal and Focus has a cause and effect on every family member, friend, co-worker, and boss since there is a domino effect. Either they are learning by your example to be noble individuals or unethical individuals. And this is passed down generation to generation.

As the hustler in the ghetto knows how to use his time wisely, he has goals to sell drugs to the neighborhood, is organized, has schedules, lists, calender's, a plan for distribution, and outsources. They may be very wealthy for a time, and then that day comes where they are sitting in prison. Their children learn to become the criminal for generations.








Do you really need to sit back and think about a plan or what you want to do?

How about simply finding yourself in situations where you can see opportunities and then take risks and act?

Exposure. Human to human interactions. Simple acts of kindness. Bold moves. Finding the truth of the situation. Experimentation. Playfulness of it all. New reference experiences.

You see, most people never act. Elon Musk could give his business plan to a hundred random people and not a single one would do anything or get anywhere with it.

In my opinion, nearly anyone at the top of their field found their way there over time. By testing and tweaking and acting on opportunities. Not by trying to write an algorithm for the next 20 years upfront. They approached something and they figured it out by doing.

I found that once you embrace this philosophy and put yourself out there, the feedback loop kicks in, your perception changes, you start seeing more opportunities around you, you find your likes and dislikes, and just follow your path more engaged.

To paraphrase Vin Diesel's character from Knockaround Guys:
How about starting with meeting 500 hundred new people while you go about your day to find out more about them. You need them for experience. To develop skin in the game. To get past the silliness of it all. To finally figure out how you can help yourself by helping others.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgEEn75JEuY

I should've clarified (and I will actually edit the thread title) that what I'm wondering about is how can I make my goals into a concrete plan.

Regarding the rest of the topic, for me it's not an issue of acting, but figuring out when to do the correct action, at the correct place, at the correct time, in accordance to my goals.
 
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Last edited:

DMNinja

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I am very goal oriented. I am naturally this way. I just focus on a goal for the future. It can be small or large. I've always lived by focus on one thing at a time. Dividing your time and focus one small area at a time until you master it.

/snip

That was a very lengthy answer! I'll make sure I read and understand it properly. I'll freely admit I didn't get it on my first read, but I will do my due diligence.

Thank you for your input :)
 

lowtek

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It might be easier for you to focus on habits that move you towards your goal.

If you wanted to get big and jacked, you would have some loose plan of how you would progress in adding weight to the bar, and what you're going to eat, but then you'd just focus on not missing any workouts and making each one as productive as possible. Eventually, you'd be a mass monster, genetics permitting.

Maybe the same strategy would work for you in your career aspirations. What are the steps you would have to take every day to achieve success? If you're doing websites, for instance, it would like something like:
1) Every day make 100 cold calls
2) Every day follow up with leads from the previous days
3) Every day follow up with recent customers to make sure they're happy / get referrals
4) Every day work on client websites or monitor minion doing the web dev

There wouldn't be any plan per se, but if you did these things 5 days a week without fail, for months on end, you would rapidly find success.
 

lowtek

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I should also add, since you didn't mention what you do specifically... if you're not in motion yet, just get in motion. Make that first $1 then worry about the future.
 

DMNinja

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The One Thing by Gary Keller & Jay Papasan

this is must OP
Thank you both for the Suggestion. I am in the process of reading it before posting this thread.

Thank you so much! I was not aware of this book! I will make my due diligence and read it as soon as I can! I just got a copy of it (in audiobook format).
 

DMNinja

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I should also add, since you didn't mention what you do specifically... if you're not in motion yet, just get in motion. Make that first $1 then worry about the future.
The good thing is, that I have made money... through freelancing. I am developing the skills needed (in my case how to design an different types of Neural Networks) to design and launch a product. Although I am at a loss on how to determine its demand by the market, my gut instinct tells me that there's demand that is unexpressed.

That's what i've been seeing in retrospect from my life experience. On your previous post you said the following:
It might be easier for you to focus on habits that move you towards your goal.

If you wanted to get big and jacked, you would have some loose plan of how you would progress in adding weight to the bar, and what you're going to eat, but then you'd just focus on not missing any workouts and making each one as productive as possible. Eventually, you'd be a mass monster, genetics permitting.

Maybe the same strategy would work for you in your career aspirations. What are the steps you would have to take every day to achieve success? If you're doing websites, for instance, it would like something like:
1) Every day make 100 cold calls
2) Every day follow up with leads from the previous days
3) Every day follow up with recent customers to make sure they're happy / get referrals
4) Every day work on client websites or monitor minion doing the web dev

There wouldn't be any plan per se, but if you did these things 5 days a week without fail, for months on end, you would rapidly find success.

In that case, how do you develop a "system" to turn a goal into actionable habits? In the case of exercise (which has been very important to my life and it is something close to me), I understand how the pattern works...ish.

The process would be split into the following cycles: Explore, Exploit, Refine, Review, Adjust. And the process works in a meso cycle (Explore, Exploit, Refine) and a macro cycle (Adjust). The meso and macro cycles are connected through the Review cycle.

Explore: This is the period when you know you don't know nearly enough on how to train, and so you look up information on how to do so.

Exploit: This is where you actually put the work in, and train your motor patterns. This is where you lift the weights/ do bodyweight etc.

Refine: This is where you understand that your previous exploration and or/ training is no good, and thus you shave down the actions needed to successfully do so. In essence, you declutter and simplify what you think you know.

Review: This is were you judge your progress either tangibly (by looking at the mirror) or intangibly (by noticing your mood, energy levels and other minute details)

Adjust: This is where you decide to stick to or pivot depending on your already available data from the previous steps.

So, how did you get to arrive at the steps you determined in that post? Is there a meta-process behind it? Because if not, that means that the ONLY way to determine the process on a field is to actually spend time IN that field. That one's ability to design processes is a trait non-transferable between disciplines BUT with the underlying identities (in the case of exercise it'd include being mentally resilient, focused, committed, never missing a day etc.) being able to provide a more solid framework to design upon.

Sorry about the long post.
-Constantine
 

Flint

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So, how did you get to arrive at the steps you determined in that post? Is there a meta-process behind it? Because if not, that means that the ONLY way to determine the process on a field is to actually spend time IN that field. That one's ability to design processes is a trait non-transferable between disciplines BUT with the underlying identities (in the case of exercise it'd include being mentally resilient, focused, committed, never missing a day etc.) being able to provide a more solid framework to design upon.
I think sometimes we're too intelligent for our own good. We try to analyse, dissect, generalise etc. But most of the time, we just need to bloody do it and see if the approach is good enough to move us forward. We only need to be directionally correct and engaged in the real world. Precision and flawless logic are not required.

It looks like what may help you is a mix of effectual reasoning, atomic habits and a simple backlog of prioritised things to complete. Like in the health analogy that @lowtek provided, you could build a system of habits and tasks that is directionally aligned with your goal but not derived from it in some mathematically correct breakdown. Systematically moving in the roughly right direction (and improving it on the fly) trumps perfected planning.

Just be careful not to spend more time working on a system than doing the productive work. The rabbit hole is deep for the analytically-inclined minds.

Good luck!
 
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DMNinja

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I think sometimes we're too intelligent for our own good. We try to analyse, dissect, generalise etc. But most of the time, we just need to bloody do it and see if the approach is good enough to move us forward. We only need to be directionally correct and engaged in the real world. Precision and flawless logic are not required.

It looks like what may help you is a mix of effectual reasoning, atomic habits and a simple backlog of prioritised things to complete. Like in the health analogy that @lowtek provided, you could build a system of habits and tasks that is directionally aligned with your goal but not derived from it in some mathematically correct breakdown. Systematically moving in the roughly right direction (and improving it on the fly) trumps perfected planning.

Just be careful not to spend more time working on a system than doing the productive work. The rabbit hole is deep for the analytically-inclined minds.

Good luck!
Absolutely correct! And the issue becomes worse because of my background in R&D. The best times I've ever had in progressing is when I only though of that step right in front of me. The rest would just reveal themselves later.
 

DMNinja

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An update: While in a rush, I actually got a book of his called Getting Things Done. I was lucky since it is pure gold. It's essentially a 3-hr seminar on how to turn any goal into a process and how to never bother again with trying to schedule in your head. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Time to get the correct book this time (and quite possibly be mindblown judging from his other works) :p
 

lowtek

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The good thing is, that I have made money... through freelancing. I am developing the skills needed (in my case how to design an different types of Neural Networks) to design and launch a product. Although I am at a loss on how to determine its demand by the market, my gut instinct tells me that there's demand that is unexpressed.

That's what i've been seeing in retrospect from my life experience. On your previous post you said the following:


In that case, how do you develop a "system" to turn a goal into actionable habits? In the case of exercise (which has been very important to my life and it is something close to me), I understand how the pattern works...ish.

The process would be split into the following cycles: Explore, Exploit, Refine, Review, Adjust. And the process works in a meso cycle (Explore, Exploit, Refine) and a macro cycle (Adjust). The meso and macro cycles are connected through the Review cycle.

Explore: This is the period when you know you don't know nearly enough on how to train, and so you look up information on how to do so.

Exploit: This is where you actually put the work in, and train your motor patterns. This is where you lift the weights/ do bodyweight etc.

Refine: This is where you understand that your previous exploration and or/ training is no good, and thus you shave down the actions needed to successfully do so. In essence, you declutter and simplify what you think you know.

Review: This is were you judge your progress either tangibly (by looking at the mirror) or intangibly (by noticing your mood, energy levels and other minute details)

Adjust: This is where you decide to stick to or pivot depending on your already available data from the previous steps.

So, how did you get to arrive at the steps you determined in that post? Is there a meta-process behind it? Because if not, that means that the ONLY way to determine the process on a field is to actually spend time IN that field. That one's ability to design processes is a trait non-transferable between disciplines BUT with the underlying identities (in the case of exercise it'd include being mentally resilient, focused, committed, never missing a day etc.) being able to provide a more solid framework to design upon.

Sorry about the long post.
-Constantine
It's very simple. How do you find clients? How do you make them happy? I mean you, specifically, in your past successes.

Answer those questions and do those things every day. Just keep doing the stuff that brought you success, every day.

I honestly think you're trying to come up with excuses for not doing anything.

Even doing the wrong things is better than sitting around navel gazing and trying to think about how to think.
 
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DMNinja

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Answer those questions and do those things every day. Just keep doing the stuff that brought you success, every day.

Simplified, yet answers my question beautifully. Thanks!

I honestly think you're trying to come up with excuses for not doing anything.

Even doing the wrong things is better than sitting around navel gazing and trying to think about how to think.

If I am, it is not my intention. Even on the days I don't feel like putting the hours in, I show up and do some work at the very least. But you are correct. Doing the wrong things while experimenting is still progression.

This post also had another (unintended?) side effect. It gave me a good smack across the face and got me back into reality. I don't want to be that TFF guy who just "dreams and discusses" about progress. I want to do actual progress leading to actual results. Your time (and all those who post here) is more valuable than giving advice to someone who's never intending to progress forward.
 

DMNinja

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And with that, I'm personally considering my question answered. Time to do my due diligence. Thank you everyone for your time and answers!
 

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