Starting a New Job? Here Is Your 90-Day Success Action Plan

I heard long time ago that life is like a mirror, except that a typical mirror displays your actions instantly and life has a lag effect. Life has a way of showing what you do today later on in the form of fruits of your labor.

In the context of career, this lag time is approximately 3 months. What you do today will reflect back to you in about 90 days. I call this the 90-Day Rule, and you'll need to create a 90-Day Plan to keep you focused and moving in the right direction.

Here's how the 90-Day Rule works. Whatever you are doing right now, today, will affect your business in 90 days. If you're busy searching for new business two hours a day, you'll have fantastic results in 90 days. If you occupy yourself with paperwork and low impact activities, allowing them to consume all of your time, then 90 days from now you're going to be frustrated because you won't be generating the results I know you truly desire.

After a short time working together, clients will often ask me, "What is the problem - why aren't things happening for me now?" My response is (always): "What were you doing 90 days ago?" Those are the results you're getting today! It should make you think, and open your eyes to realize the importance of today's activities, and the thoughts, you are (or are not) putting into pre-planning them.

I often see my clients get focused, take massive action, network, make phone calls, have a calendar full of meetings, and see no immediate results in month one. They see some measurable results in month two, and then, bang! Amazing results and true momentum occur for them in month three.

The 90-day Rule will keep you going because it will help you understand what is happening in your business and why. You're less likely to become discouraged and quit when you understand this concept. It's fun to be looking days ahead, and it takes the pressure off while you're working your current plan.

Do
't beat yourself up for what you did, or didn't do, 90 days ago. It's what you do today that is important. When you accept this rule, it's much easier to persevere in the face of "downtu
s."

My simple advice: Create a strong, stable, constantly growing business, always be thinking and working 90 days out.

Here's how to make sure your business plan pays off: create a 90-Day Plan, and update it every single month. Meaning, you will actually create 12 90-Day Plans each year... starting with January 1st - April 10th, then the beginning of February, create a new 90-Day Plan - the dates of this one will be February 1st - May 10th. This will keep you consistently moving in the right direction, with on-going, effective check-ins to keep you on track.

Begin your 90-Day Plan with a mini-vision statement, accompanied by a purpose statement. These two statements will be your guiding light, reminding you not only what you're excited about, but why.

Next, create empowering descriptors for yourself, such as "progressive, educated leader" or "marketing maven." In other words, do you want to be "in shape" or a "goddess?" Give yourself a reputation to live up to, using the most energizing, positive words you can think of. Words are incredibly powerful, be particularly alert to the words you use to describe yourself and the actions you want to take. These powerful descriptions of you will help create and maintain a desire to continue, even when the going gets tough. Your plan should include three areas of focus. Depending on which areas of your business need growth, development and management, you'll pick the three most important.

Do you need more contacts? Are you getting, but not closing, presentations? Do you have plenty of customers, but want to improve your relationship with them? Pick the top three, most crucial to be the focus areas for this particular 90-Day Plan. Keep in mind that you'll be re-tooling, modifying and updating your plan monthly. You want your plan, and your business, to be balanced.

Quick Tip: As you are focusing on current sales, remember to look for new business and be constantly networking to keep your momentum going.

Next, define your resources. I'm not talking about cash resources here. I'm talking about people you know, books, seminars, and other business tools. Your resources are invaluable, in that they are a well you can draw from to maximize results. The more resources you have available, the easier your path to success can be.

Of course, you'll add in your goals - making them to fit within the 90-Day timeframe.

The last section of your 90-day Plan is the "Next Steps" section. This includes everything you can think of that needs to be done for you to reach your goals in the next 90 days. Like a to-do list, you are going to prioritize each item according to what is most important, then what's next most important... repeating until the list is completed.

Finally, take action. Best plans will fail, unless you act on them. Pick the high impact and important steps in your plan and start checking them off one-by-one.