I am a believer in the power of project management.
As a professional project manager for 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.
Know the most important location on your success roadmap?
A roadmap shows you the path between two points. When considering the roadmap to successfully accomplishing your goal, you may be tempted to focus only on your destination. But, the destination actually isn’t the most important location on the map.
While I agree with Stephen Covey’s guidance to begin with the end in mind, it only tells part of the story. What about the other side of the journey? What about the starting line.
An early deliverable of most projects is the as-is and to-be process mapping.
As-is process maps document (hopefully in a pictorial process flow document) how things work today in the area being impacted by your project.
To-be process maps document how the processes will work in the future after the project is implemented.
When these two process flows are compared, the differences between them are the scope of your project.
On a side note, there are times when I say, “we don’t know our as-is from a hole in the ground.” This happens when teams struggle to document their as-is processes because they don’t really know their process. They just do “stuff,” and results happen. Feel free to use my dumb dad joke.
This process mapping approach is valuable when managing your personal goal projects. I’m going to just focus on the as-is for today’s topic.
No matter what goal you are pursuing, it is essential to know where you are starting from today.
Want to lose twenty pounds? Why aren’t you losing weight today?
Want to be a millionaire? Where is your money going today, and why aren’t you saving?
If you don’t know why you haven’t already achieved your goal, it is doubtful that you will be able to change your outcome.
Between defining your SMART goal and building your project plan, press pause for a minute. Take time to complete a personal audit first. Observe your current behaviors related to your goal and take lots of notes. Where are you spending money on discretionary things? Where are you picking up extra calories each day, and how much exercise do you get? How are you behaving today, and where might you be able to intervene.
By having a good grasp on the reality of your current situation (your as-is process), you will be better positioned to make the changes needed to achieve your to-be goal.
Are you ready to be a PM Believer?
Beginning with the end in mind is important advice, but there are other important points on that roadmap. If you don’t know where you are starting, how will you ever reach that all-important destination? Spend a little time with your head in your as-is, and it will reap major dividends.
Do you need some help figuring out where you are and the roadmap to reach your destination? That’s one of my superpowers!
Click Here to learn more about my Operation Melt coaching services.
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