Planning makes perfect (Part 1of 5)

Now that I've established the things I want to fix, I need to decide the best way to accomplish these goals.

I could go about things haphazardly, trying things here and there as they came up, never sticking to a set plan, but I've tried that before and it hasn't gotten me very far at all.

So, I've got to come up with plans. Methods that are tried and true or methods that I establish. But the key is that these methods will be premeditated and I will stick to them.

As I've said, I have four main goals that I want to accomplish in this reformat.

• To get ahold of my depression.
• To increase my productivity.
• Get physically healthier.
• Become financially stable.

These are things that a lot of people want. My goals aren't special, I'm not out to save the world or become the next Tom Brady. But just because they're ordinary, doesn't make them any less important. Most people have specific goals in mind at all times. But most people don't actively seek to make their goals attainable.

I know. I'm most people. I've had people tell me since the first (of three) time I dropped out of school that I'm not the only person with these problems and a lot of people are uncertain about their future.

Oddly, telling me I wasn't special in a time of intense upheaval didn't do much to settle my nerves. I continued to flounder, go back to school because it was what I was supposed to do, drop out, rinse, repeat.

I've only recently realized that if I want to get something done, I have to put all my effort into it. Complete submersion and focus are the only things that will allow me to accomplish the goals I have. It may not be "what I'm supposed to do." It may be frowned upon. I may not have full support from people around me.

But if the end result is me getting what I desire, then it will have been worth it. Not to rub it in the doubter's faces (that will be wonderful, of course), but because I accomplished a major task to improve myself.

So I've got to come up with ways that I think will assuredly work. If there's the slightest bit of doubt about a technique, I have to revise it. It may not be until after I have started that I realize it's faulty, but that's part of learning. Especially learning to do things on your own.

The key is to keep my goals clear in my sights and to always be moving forward. When I make a revision, I have to ask myself:

"Is this taking me closer or further away from my goal?"

If it's taking me closer to my goal, then it's a good revision and I can work it into the big picture. If I decide it would take me further from my goal, then I have to keep things how they were or come up with a revision that does work.

No matter what obstacles I encounter, if I keep my goals clear in my sights and I keep moving forward, there's no way I can fail.

I'm going to have a new post every day for the rest of the week, detailing plans for each of my goals. Each plan will be researched, well thought out, and thorough. After I establish these plans, I will make it my dying effort to stick to them.

-Dova