Action Plan Implemented

I have always heard that it takes 30 days to create a habit.  As I have been trying to implement my Action Plan for Life, I might argue that it takes a bit longer…I do think it is now a part of my life.  I will make this my last blog post about implementing my action plan.  I first wrote about the action plan in September and then wrote a 30 day update.  I am now 90 days in and my action plan is now a part of my life.

Action Plan Summary:

1. Open my eyes to outliers
2. Remember Failure is Success 
3. Take time to journal for reflection
4. Read daily

I’ll begin with the bottom two listed and work up.  As I wrote in my 30 day update, reading daily was the easiest to implement.  Although I have been a bit side tracked lately with the return of fall television shows I love…Grey’s Anatomy in particular…those shows cut into my evening reading time.  TIVO is my friend and is helping my reading frequency.

Daily reflection was also an easy task, although writing those reflections down required a deliberate effort. I bought a journal and put it on my bedside stand.  Each night before bed, I committed to writing in it for at least five minutes. Once I became more accustomed to this process, the five minutes quickly turned into ten and then twenty. I also found that reflecting about what I was reading became a way to connect two of my action plan steps.  

Committing to the idea that “Failure is Success” was a difficult personal task for me.  However, since beginning my action plan I have consciously started two projects that I knew I could not do 100% at this current time.  However, starting them now made it more successful now than not doing anything.  Not doing something 100% is something I feel is a failure…but with this new thinking I see how this is actually success.

Lastly, opening my eyes to outliers was an easy concept to accept — it just seems like the right thing to do.  However, the actuality of doing it in meetings, conversations, and debates was a challenge.  I will continually keep this idea on the fore-front of my mind.  I have never been shy about speaking my opinion and backing it up with my reasoning.  Now, I am beginning to see that my opinion can be altered when listening to outliers.  And, I don’t mean that now I am easy persuaded to change my mind.  I am now just more open to listening to others perspectives and reasoning. I think it brings about better meetings and debates. And in the end, that brings about better decision making.

This action plan was a means to an end — creating a habit in my life.  However, I learned as much from the process of implementing the action plan as I did in living by the steps in it.