If I am struggling to build a bountiful plan I will use some if not all of the following to assist in the creative process.

• Put it down and come back to it 36 hours later.  My subconscious will still work on it, but it will be a different time of the day.
• Sometimes I use family, a friend or a teammate as a sounding board for my ideas.  Sometimes just saying it out loud generates additional thoughts.
• Mind-mapping is a good technique for getting your thoughts down on paper.  Our mind is full of associations to various points  in time and personal experiences.  Once you establish the main theme for the map – relax your mind and allow it to freely associate.  write down the information as your brain sees it.  Do not try to put it in a list form.  I find this helps me to look at all aspects of a task.

I am sure that you have your own tools that you use to generate ideas and unlock great inspirations in your own mind.  Don’t forget to consider the critical issues and the roadblocks that can pop up.

What do you do to plan for success?  I would love to hear from you.  Click on “comments” above or email me at: john@bountifulresults.com

So how do we act boldly?  There are 3 key steps:

• Proclaim your intention to be successful.  Share your vision with others.
• Get started as soon as possible and overachieve early on.
• When you hit your first obstacle – adjust and keep going.

Acting on your plan is at the heart of achieving; any shortcuts or feeble efforts will show up in your results.  I am reminded of some of the basics of planting vegetables.  If we skip the breaking up of the soil part or in haste toss the seed on top of the ground,  some plants will manage to grow, but it will be significantly less than what is possible.

I wish everyone bountiful results, but more important, I wish upon everyone the heart to act boldly on their dreams.

S – specific, significant, stretching

M – measurable, meaningful, motivational

A – agreed upon, attainable, achievable, acceptable, action-oriented

R – realistic, relevant, reasonable, rewarding, results-oriented

T – time-based, timely, tangible, trackable

I will not go into detail about each aspect.  Wikipedia has great information you can read.

One additional aspect of planning for bountiful results is identifying and planning for the critical issues of the task, event, or mission. I define critical issues as the most difficult or challenging part of getting great result.  For instance, when I made my most recent career change, the critical issues were the hundreds of procedures and policies that I needed to learn.  It wasn’t managing the people or interacting with all the new team members.  I will always remember what my trainer told me about taking in all of the information in such a short period of time.  He said, “It is like getting a drink of water from a fire hydrant.”

What are the critical issues that you are facing?  Identify them and make a plan to deal with them.  What could potentially pop up and create a road block while you are trying to achieve your goals?  Create a solution now and then act on your plan boldly knowing that you thought it through and believe that you have addressed the things that would keep you from achieving bountiful results.

How many times have you said to yourself, “Things are going smoothly and I am ahead of schedule, so I am going to quit and move on.”  I do not say that either.  It is the tough times, the road blocks and resistance that discourages us and often causes us to fall short of bountiful.

Deal with the critical issues up front and plan to succeed.

Visualizing the realization of the need makes it so much more likely that we will get bountiful results. Did you know that most Olympic gold medalist had already visualized themselves on the top platform of the podium many times before it became a reality? The more detail we add to our need the clearer the vision will become. Which of these two examples of a need do you think will lead you to bountiful results?

1. I need to save money to take a nice vacation.
2. I need to save $600.00 in order to sit on the deck of a Lake House sipping my favorite drink while overlooking the  lake. The Sun is almost set and across the sun, a sailboat is passing.

Wow. I am ready to go on that vacation.

Now! We have transformed the need from a dot on the horizon into an in focus full color image in front of us. We do not want to stop there though. We also want to make sure that it is a challenging need that will result in great satisfaction when realized. Do you remember learning how to ride your first bike? There was some fear; there was some doubt, and a lot of wobbling and weaving going on. I am sure that the sense of accomplishment when you were able to stay upright and straight was incredible.  I know that you can site numerous other examples of your big accomplishments and the great feeling of satisfaction that it gave you. Great satisfaction is a motivator to be more and try even more challenging things.

I need you to splash a little color and detail onto your needs.

The components for Bountiful Results are:

1. The specific and detailed need.
2. A plan that identifies the critical issues and has SMART goals.
3. Act on the need and plan boldly.
4. If not already in your possession,  acquire and utilize the tools and training necessary.
5. Develop sustaining motivation and/or accountability.
6. Effectively adjust and adapt as the circumstances and the plan changes.
7. The proper amount of time.

I have had successes and I have had failures.  When I reflect back on some of the failures, I am finding some common tendencies.  I did not develop enough motivation and was not accountable to the results(5).  I did not understand what the critical issues would be and when they popped up, I did not adjust to them(2)(6).

As I have shared with you before, I have read many articles and books on how to be motivated, how to execute, and even books on speed reading.  I didn’t understand why the new found information was not setting me free. I was not doing much with it during and after I read it.  All 7 components are necessary.

Give this a try.  Reflect back on some of your successes and failures – I am sure you will see how each of these components impacted your results.

I would love to read your perspective on getting bountiful results.

This meant that I could no longer blame someone else for me quitting.  No more scapegoat for my lack of focus on the mission.  I now must choose to succeed.  I must accept sole ownership of my reaction to an obstacle or an unforeseen consequence of my plan.  At first this can be a little frightening,  but don’t worry, this freedom now empowers you to adjust and adapt to still get the bountiful results that you seek.  “Adjust and Adapt” is the 6th component to getting bountiful results.

What can you do with this insight?  Are there projects or dreams that you should revisit?  I believe that each and everyone of us can get bountiful results in that one thing that we have blamed on someone’s negative opinion of us or our capability to complete.

I choose my own emotions and I am happy to share this with you.

Outside of my office, I have a sign that reads:  “NOTICE: NO MEDIOCRITY BEYOND THIS POINT!”.  I did not post the sign to accuse anyone of being mediocre – I want to challenge any and all to be their best.  I want to look at the sign and know that I have the potential to be better today than I was yesterday if I bring my “A” game.

The first two components of getting results are the need and the plan.  The third component is action.  In order to make them bountiful results, you need to visualize the need, create a plan for success and act on it with boldness or with positive energy.  The fourth component of getting bountiful results is the motivation or the accountability to see it through to the end. In my opinion,  one of the biggest differences between mediocre and bountiful is the energy in the action, coupled with motivation to see it through.

You have unused potential.  You deserve bountiful.  Act on your plan with boldness and leave mediocre to someone else.