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PM Believer: Don’t Wait

I am a believer in the power of project management.

As a professional project manager for nearly twenty years I have witnessed project success drive business results. I have also proven that project management can change lives and help achieve personal transformation. Now I am sharing some practical tips and techniques that you can use to help achieve your own personal goals, live your best life and become a PM Believer.

Don’t Wait

Over the past few weeks I have talked about defining good goals. So what comes next after defining your goal? You need a plan, right? There may be another step that you haven’t considered that will move you closer to that goal faster than you expect.

Most projects follow a very similar process when getting started. The charter is completed, the team members are assigned to the project and a formal kick-off meeting occurs. Next, the team focuses its efforts on creating the project plan.

The problem with this process is that it often results in a dark period where the team is entirely focused on what work will happen and not on actually doing this work. While a project plan is critically important to the project, it doesn’t, by itself, deliver value.

Most project work needs to wait to be planned after the kick-off, but there is always work that can start immediately and can be delivered while the plan is being created.

This applies to your personal projects too. If you want to accomplish a goal, start the work NOW and not after you have the perfect plan.

If your goal is to lose weight and get fit, start today by taking a walk right now and start eliminating sugary beverages (coffee, soda). Don’t wait until you have your perfect goal and plan.

If your goal is to get out of debt, start today by packing your lunch instead of going out to eat and eliminate the expensive designer coffee. You can do this now while evaluating interest rates, creating your payment “snowball” and other steps of your plan.

If your goal is to find your dream job, start today by generating a list of the attributes of your ideal job so you know what your dream job is. Don’t wait until you have the perfect resume, LinkedIn profile or until you see your dream job posted.

Don’t be afraid of taking the wrong steps before you have a good plan. Any step forward today is better than the perfect step forward tomorrow.

Are you ready to be a PM Believer?

Have you defined a SMART goal that you want to achieve? Are you starting to think about your plan for getting to the finish line? Perfect is the enemy of good. You don’t have to wait to have your plan in place before making progress. Just start taking steps towards you goal now while building the full plan.

How have you applied project management for your personal success? Tell me about it at OperationMelt.com and make sure to join my email list to have updates delivered to your inbox weekly.

Make sure to help your friends achieve their goals by sharing this post on your social network and by following me on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

Want to know more about how I changed my life with project management? Pick up your copy of my book Operation Melt: How I Used Life-Changing Project Management to Lose Over 100 Pounds In Under a Year.

About Operation Melt

Operation Melt started as a blog to share my personal transformation and weight loss story. After achieving success with that goal, Operation Melt has evolved into a platform to help inspire, motivate and equip people to achieve their own personal and professional goals so they can live their best lives. My vision is to build a world where no goal ever dies of loneliness.

Published inPM Believer