“A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action makes your dreams come true.”                                                                                                                                                                                           -Greg Reid (Author & Filmmaker)

Be it an entrepreneur with an exciting startup or a teacher in charge of imparting knowledge to a bunch of rowdy kids, they all have one thing in common- a desire to achieve their goals with an action-oriented approach. 

But what does goal attainment using actionable plans looks like, and how do you go about the action implementation part.

1. Set Up Achievable Goals.

The journey of a dream to a reality is a complicated one. It requires the implementation of sound goal-driven strategies coupled with intricate action plans devised to make life easier. What most people get wrong is setting up realistic goals for themselves. Setting up an unrealistic goal is inviting disappointment for yourself as every goal set up by an individual acts as an invisible judge transfixed in the sky looking down at the person falling short of attaining it. One feels discouraged by the failure, not knowing that the goal setting mechanism in itself was flawed. So instead of setting up a goal of shedding half your body weight in a month’s time, you can look to shedding a few kilos and developing a workout schedule as your initial goals.

2. Develop An Action-Oriented Strategy.

Once you’ve got the goal-setting right, it’s time to divide your goal into several mini-goals and come up with an actionable plan for each of them. This is an extremely important step as merely having a goal without an action-strategy is as good as not having a goal at all. Having a strategy can help you plan better and visualize the action steps you need to take. It streamlines your journey from scratch to having achieved your goals. For example, the goal of the marketing department in most organizations is to increase the revenue by generating leads. But a marketing strategy is required to guide its efforts in the right direction by analyzing the company’s current market position, USPs, competition and finally coming up with a sound budgeting plan to optimally spend every penny towards an actionable goal.

3. Get Your Measuring Techniques Right.

Many individuals and organizations are disappointed by the fact that they are not able to meet their targets in order to attain their goals. A reason for that could be the existence of low-resolution action metrics in place. Looking at a map via a low resolution lens can only provide a fraction of the picture, whereas, looking at it via a high-resolution lens can reveal the ravines, the currents, the marshy bogs, undulating lands etc. It is true of statistics as well, as simply changing the progress measuring techniques can reveal much more out of those numbers and provide a better picture to come up with more action-oriented strategies.

This can be explained through a simple example- In the pursuit of improving our health, we track our body weight. But the mere monitoring of the body weight does not give us a true picture of the state of our health. To improve fitness- quantifiable action metrics like recording the steps we take, the exercise sessions we complete, our calorie intake, water intake, and the amount of sleep we get are all important to evaluate our health status and redirect our efforts towards improving our health.

4. And Most Importantly, Don’t Stop. Keep Taking Actions.

Sometimes, taking action is the hardest part. When you feel stuck, overwhelmed, or discouraged, it can seem impossible to break down the barriers that stand in your way. But that’s when you need to consistently remind yourself that it's the actions you take that drive change. Taking actions with a goal-oriented mindset will give you the hope that things can and will improve.

For example- the action of continuously modifying and improving your organizational policies or setting up systems is vital for an organization to foster transparency and increase efficiency. With the goal to harbor a positive environment amongst the employees, policies need to be strategically devised and modified so that their implementation can lead to an enthusiastic work-force. 

To improve your systems, practicing process consistency, tracking deviations, monitoring process controls, evaluating performances, defining acceptance criterions, recording improvements, and recognizing the contributions of each action taker are some of the strategies that can be implemented.

A Chain Reaction. 

Taking action also creates a chain reaction. When someone takes independent action, others tend to copy. As a result, your actions become contagious, spreading to others who start taking actions themselves. With your actions, you create a momentum which is the force that keeps things moving forward. It’s unstoppable.

Working towards your goals with an action-oriented mindset having well-thought of strategies in place is absolutely imperative for you to turn your dreams into reality.                                                                                           

So don’t stop now. Keep taking actions. You will get there.