Your Project Plan
Project You
Your plan for your new life has a start which is right now and it has an end objective which is achieving the goal of the new story of your life.
Every project plan needs to have interim goals and objectives. These steps are called “Milestones”. When the Romans built a road they placed a numbered stone every mile between the destinations that the road connected. Just like a traveler on a Roman road your milestones will let you know how you are doing in reaching your ultimate destination.
Thinking about, defining and writing down these milestones will help you determine more clearly what you need to do to achieve your objective of a better life. This process will likely help you identify other milestones that you hadn’t considered that may need to be inserted to get from one milestone to the next.
You can also break your milestone down into “Tasks” which provide details about what is necessary to accomplish that milestone. Identifying the tasks you need to accomplish will also give you an idea about how much time it is going to take to complete the milestone.
“Project You” needs to have a timeline so you can have some idea of how much time you need to be prepared to invest. Have patience, complete each task as well as possible, but don’t be afraid to give yourself a deadline. If something comes up and you need to change it, then change it. Write down what caused the change. If it’s a lame excuse it will be evident to you when you write it down. Try to stick to your timeline, I want you to have a successful project.
Again, write the tasks and milestones down so you can study them to make sure they are going to get you to where you are going and you can check them off as you accomplish them. The best part of creating milestones is that you can actually see yourself making progress toward your goal. Each time you accomplish a milestone you can celebrate in your heart that you are one step closer to achieving your goal and the vision you have for yourself.
Project Milestone, Tasks and Timeline example:
This same format can be applied to any situation or objective.
Milestone – Get GED – 61 days
Tasks:
- Contact High School to see what options they offer.
- Contact Workforce Development Board to see how they can assist me.
- Contact State Board of Education if necessary
Time: 1 Day
Task:
- Schedule a time to take GED evaluation test to see how many classes I will have to take to prepare for the GED exam.
Time: 1 Day
Task:
- Take GED Evaluation Exam
- Arrange personal schedule to take GED Classes
Time: 1 Day
Task:
- Enroll and take GED classes
Time: 8 weeks
Task:
- Take GED Exam
Milestone – Apply to trade school - 18 days
Task:
- Talk to counselors at area community colleges and trade schools
Time: 5 Days
Task:
- Select course of study I will take
Time: 3 days
Task:
- Discuss financial aid options and apply for financial aid
Time: 5 days
Task:
- Apply to community college or trade school
Time: 5 days
Milestone – Attend trade school
Tasks:
- Have a good attitude and expect to excel.
Time: 18 months
< ---Sample Time Line
Writing down your milestones and tasks will help keep you focused on executing your plan and give you confidence that you can obtain your objective.
As you work toward your objective you may find that you need to insert other milestones that need to be completed before you begin the next milestone. There has yet to be a project that started and finished without a few changes and delays along the way. Yours won’t be the first, so just recalculate your time to completion and follow the plan.
It’s ok to occasionally take a look at where you are going and remind yourself of your end objective, but remember that you must accomplish the milestones and tasks of your plan in order to get there.
When you put all the milestones together and the time you need to complete each one, you will have created a project plan for your life. If you commit to doing these things then congratulations! You just became the Project Manager of YOU.
Elsewhere on this site we discuss other topics that we need to address, such as our attitudes, our beliefs about ourselves and the people around us. These are all aspects of our lives that have an impact on our ability to reach our destination of a better life.
Even though many of these topics are emotional or worldly things, they can help define and shape our milestones and tasks. If it becomes evident that making a change in your life or your personal habits is required to help you reach your objective, then add it as a milestone and assign yourself some tasks to accomplish.
As you complete each task, check it off until that milestone is complete. Everything you need to get from where you are to your new life can go into your plan.