dragonbook

20 STEP TW0—ESTABLISH A FIVE YEAR PLAN No, I’m not advocating Stalinist policies here—just a modification of Dale Carnegie success strategy. The Carnegies types say that, after listing one’s lifetime goals, the next step is to come up with a plan for achieving those goals. The question to ask yourself, “What are you going to do in the next five years that will help you achieve your lifetime goals?” Now this is generally pretty easy to do. If one of your goals is to become a teacher, your five-year plan probably includes getting a BSEd. It probably also includes ways of gaining the experiences that will help you become a good teacher and that will make you marketable when you’re looking for a job. Your plan might include volunteer work at the YMCA or the Boys’ and Girls’ Club, teaching Sunday school, coaching, or working as a tutor. If your lifetime goals include marriage and family…well, maybe there are a few things toward this goal you could work at during the next five years as well. STEP THREE—ESTABLISH A PLAN FOR THIS SEMESTER/SCHOOL YEAR What are you going to do this semester that will help you work toward your five-year plan and toward your lifetime goals? What classes are you going to take? What other kinds of activities are you going to be involved in? STEP FOUR—CREATE A WEEKLY SCHEDULE Make a 7x24 grid, a grid with one square for each hour of the week. On the grid, reserve blocks of time for everything you’ve got to do/want to do during the week. Mark the times you’re going to be in class. Mark the times you plan to be sleeping. Mark the times you’ll be at work, eating meals, etc. Mark down also the times you intend to use for recreation and relaxing, and the times you want to spend with family and friends. And now it’s time to be like Jim Rich: