Think on your plan. Confirm that you're going in the right direction, that you have chosen the right priorities, that you haven't overlooked anything crucial, and that your long-term objectives and your short-term goals are realistic.



Document the plan. Unless you document the plan clearly, things will be forgotten and left undone, and you might as well not have gone to all the trouble of having created the plan in the first place. Good documentation is vital for follow-through, accountability, and gauging progress.



Execute! The most common pitfall of planning is failing to implement the plan. People invest in creating a great plan, and they have the best intentions in the world for carrying it out. But things come up, life is busy, and they don't follow through.



Monitor your progress. Set in place a means to monitor progress at regular intervals. Make sure that tasks are getting done when they're supposed to and that progress is being made toward reaching your short-term goals. If you don't stop regularly to check your "map" and see where you are, you're less likely to stay on the road to success.



Expect the unexpected. Be flexible. Things rarely happen exactly as we imagine they will. As you monitor your progress, be prepared for new factors and adapt accordingly. If something comes up that makes it impossible to carry out a task as you had hoped‚ look around for alternatives. If something isn't working, change it. Generally follow your plan, but don't set it in stone.



Keep it simple. Guard against additions or complications that would overload the time and resources you've allocated to reaching a particular goal. When you first plan something, it often looks simple enough. But as you go along, the project grows—either because you keep adding new ideas, or because things are just more complicated than you thought—and usually some of both. Recognize when your plan is becoming overloaded‚ and determine what is necessary and what is not. Be willing to cut the frills and scale back on aspects that are just too costly in terms of resources.



Celebrate your successes, the milestones along the way. Don't wait till you reach your long-term objectives. Celebrating the completion of short-term goals generates satisfaction and excitement.