You may have noticed it: your colleagues will turn to you and promise something good they would like to start doing next week, next month, or even next year. You congratulate them for taking such a bold step, and then next week, next month, the new year comes around, and nothing changes!
Perhaps you are even acknowledging it: “You are the one in the spotlight now,” which I refer to in this opening parallel. We often call it a new resolution. It means a determination we reached after considering many adverse outcomes to avoid and many positive results we desire and are determined to experience.
So how can you achieve your goal, enjoy the reward of your resolution, and take control of your career, health, family, finances, and anything appealing to you that needs this resolution?
There is one secret I would like to share….
Master the Secret…
First, most resolutions fail because we need to plan them carefully. When a plan is not thoroughly thought out, it often ends in disaster, leading to frustration. This is the root cause of many people’s disappointment when they cannot keep to their resolution.
Is there a good solution to this hit-and-miss? The clear and firm answer is yes.
I will show you the best practical approach to follow using the project management framework, and I am sure you will like it. You can experiment with it immediately to see how practical the technique is to everyday problems.
Develop I-P-E-MC-C
We will keep it simple and avoid all the big grammar of the trade so that you will not sound too academic when you share it with your peers.
You will need to go through 5 easy steps, namely.
1. Initiate your plan
2. Plan your plan
3. Execute your resolution
4. Monitor and control it
5. Close it by rewarding yourself
Initiate the Plan
As you become excited about your resolution and begin talking about it, get a paper and pen to convince yourself why you need to do this…. Moreover, remember why this decision is essential—at least it is not selfish!
Look up some information to guide you. Ask experts, trusted friends, or colleagues who have gone through a similar situation. Gather useful information and ask as if you are investigating. Learn their tips and tricks. Show appreciation for the information you just gathered for free.
Plan your plan
With the abundant information you have gathered, you can begin with “a baby step” by asking yourself: Where should I start? Select a plan that will be easy enough, but please make sure it is practical.
You can put all the plans in phases or stages. For example, in phase one, you will gather all the information; in phase two, you will start following the action plans one by one….and so on.
It is good to ask yourself: What if this first plan does not work out because of certain circumstances? Then, it is good to have a second plan. This is called Plan B. With these plans, it is advisable to have a timeframe. Good plans always have specific dates. These timelines will help you be more committed to executing them because they will be on your mind.
Execute Your Resolution
Did I mention executing? Yes. You must have been very attentive to this flow of thought. With the date you set, you can now begin to execute those plans step by step or phase by phase. If the first plan did not work, switch to the second one and keep the outcome in mind. Do not be discouraged.
If you notice that you are struggling, ask for help from trusted friends or experts. Remember the old saying, “A problem shared is half solved.” Keep executing, and please live one day at a time.
As you execute, commend yourself, and see yourself as if you are in a race, you need endurance, determination, and courage. Endurance is the strength that will help you bear all the pains. Determination is the willpower that will give you the stamina not to give up. Courage is the bravery that will put steroids inside your endurance, and you will not even feel the shame and pain again. You get what I mean!
Monitor and Control Your Plan
Now that you have the plan in motion, you are doing great. Walk tall and keep a positive mindset. It is true there will be some setbacks. It is during the monitoring and controlling phase that you will examine the statistics. How many times did relapse happen? What was going on that led to this slight interruption?
Honest answers to these and other questions will help you reassess whether “plan B” needs some tweaking. If I were you, I would tweak it, test the plan, dust myself up, and keep going. You will do better than that because we are all interested in the outcome.
Close it and reward yourself.
It has been how many months now? Or how many years? Oh, it has been quite a while. You have been enduring, learning, and changing. The world is now seeing a new, improved you because of all the hard work you put into your resolution.
You listened as your friends, colleagues, and spouse commended your determination and tenacity. By tenacity, I mean your firmness…that Queen’s grammar. It is how people observe you, to the extent of using grandiose or big grammar, to commend all your hard work.
Now that the result is in, you have acquired the experience and are ready to teach others. You can even write a book, start a TV show, do a world tour, or become a celebrity….Ah, not so fast. I was just making you feel too good about all the hard work!
So, let us close this chapter of resolutions and start another one. Remember the saying, “Life is a journey.” As you switch, you take a new turn and start another resolution.
Solid Project Management Skills
As you follow these five steps, you have just extracted and applied the core project management life cycle. Now, you have proved smart by distilling academic information to improve yourself in any aspect you wish.
Do you know that you can acquire a skill in project management as a resolution?
Just as it was easy for you to go through these five steps, I can share another secret that will help you improve your project management skills, help you lead a project and a project team successfully, become an expert in a short time, and you will even add professional certification that can lead to more opportunities; raise, promotion and leadership opportunities.
A New Resolution
Improving your career skills is a new resolution you can contemplate. Other examples include learning a new language, changing a habit, passing a certification to get a pay raise, improving the following annual performance review at work, and becoming a better team player.
Let’s talk about project management skills. You can initiate them by reading up on CompTIA: Project+; that is a good starting point. I have quite a few blogs on the subject; they are in one place for you to study, digest, and decide.
You can also plan how to acquire knowledge by studying, buying books on Amazon, attending a nearby college, attending a boot camp, or commuting from the office to class after work. Well, these are challenging options; in your “plan B,” what about attending the classes at home on weekends while in your PJ…. This sounds cozy….I mean, it is good to study online without driving to a classroom. I am letting you know that working smarter and not harder is good.
Now, you should follow through and select the cost-effective plan that works well for you—one that will not break the bank or one you will not need HR approval to attend. If you don’t like your previous plan, I can show you a link with a good package you cannot resist.
Say you follow the one that I just mentioned. You will attend the classes online for four weekends, and within that time, you will have covered the entire exam objectives, end to end; it comes with practice questions and case studies to prepare you for the exam and the real-life project environment. Before you know it, you will have passed the professional certification and be ready to close this resolution and move on to another resolution.
Conclusion
As you can see, practical project management skills will not only help your career but also help you make everyday decisions. Give this lifecycle experiment a try today. You will be amazed at the successful results.
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ACTION ITEMS
- Adopt project management life cycle for your project implementation.
- Master each cycle with precision.
- Develop your project management skills.
NEXT STEP
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