Board Games - Jogos de mesa

1. Star Wars Destiny

Um jogo que desperta a capacidade analítica e raciocínio lógico. Star Wars Destiny não exige dos jogadores um conhecimento profundo da saga, mas para avançar no game é importante ter algum conhecimento sobre a saga de Vader e Skywalker. O game pode ajudar o gestor na tomada de decisão rápida, pois aguça a elaboração de estratégias em tempo real à medida que as jogadas acontecem.

2. Blood Rage

Não é só a beleza do tabuleiro de Blood Rage que encanta. Esse game exige controle e estratégia do jogador não só para combater os líderes Vikings inimigos na alocação de soldados e recursos. É um jogo excelente para estimular o gestor a pensar sobre como utilizar as ferramentas disponíveis com eficiência, e identificar se os seus funcionários estão nas áreas corretas e cumprindo funções que deveriam. Muitas vezes um colaborador pode ter uma formação acadêmica em uma determinada área, mas ter aptidão para outra função. Esse game pode ajudar o gestor justamente nessa percepção.

3.Captain Sonar

Esse board game além de ser um dos mais lúdicos traz um dos itens mais importante para o sucesso de um negócio: O trabalho em equipe! Ambientado em uma batalha fictícia entre dois submarinos, o Capitão com auxílio do primeiro imediato e outros membros da equipe não conseguem obter êxito se não dividir as responsabilidades das ações no jogo. Ideal para jogar com os colaboradores e despertar esse espírito de união e sinergia para as atividades do dia a dia.

4. Onitama

Aparentemente simples mas extremamente complexo e estratégico, Onitama coloca os jogadores no papel de monges movendo seus iniciados em um tabuleiro, tentando garantir uma posição de vantagem sobre seu adversário. Exige análise preditiva e muita lógica. O jogo pode ser bom tanto para os gestores quanto colaboradores, pois evidencia a importância da tomada de decisões rápidas e racionais, além de despertar consciência de risco.

5. Coup

O último card game e não menos importante que os demais é rápido e que exige capacidade de leitura de sinais de seus oponentes para identificar se os mesmos estão falando a verdade ou não sobre seus personagens. Estimula a dinâmica de grupo, pois só pode ser jogado de três a dez participantes. Ideal para chamar grupo de funcionários de diferentes áreas para identificar habilidades.

Pecados dos empreendedores

Conheça os deslizes mais comuns dos empreendedores brasileiros em geral:
1. Relutam em delegar tarefas. Quando o fazem, os empreendedores são altamente exigentes e impacientes.
2. Têm dificuldade em motivar a equipe.
3. Não sabem ouvir.
4. Subestimam a complexidade dos problemas.
5. São teimosos: querem que tudo saia do jeito deles.
6. Impõem seu ritmo de trabalho aos outros.
7. Assumem muitas tarefas e não as concluem.
8. Gerenciam pela autocracia, ou seja, gostam de reinar absolutos nas empresas.
9. Não são bons o suficiente em comunicação.
10. Não sabem administrar bem o tempo.

Outros

1. Pessoas da família trabalhando na empresa
2. Falta Planejamento
3. PF x PJ no financeiro
4. Capacidade administração reduzida e centralizada
5. Relação frágil com fornecedor
6. Relação frágil com o mercado
7. Deficiência no processo – setor produtivo
8. Aceitação de pedidos acima da capacidade
9. Falta de politica de RH
10. Falta de TI
11. Endomarketing inexistente
12. Falta de visaão de melhoria continua

IBGE mapeia a origem de 49 produtos e serviços certificados

http://saladeimprensa.ibge.gov.br/noticias?view=noticia&id=1&busca=1&idnoticia=3283

O IBGE disponibiliza hoje (20/10/2016) a versão digital do Mapa das Indicações Geográficas do Brasil, fruto de uma parceria com o Instituto Nacional de Propriedade Industrial (INPI). O mapa traz informações sobre os chamados Selos de Indicação Geográfica (IG), localizando as regiões de origem de 49 produtos e serviços nacionais certificados por Indicação de Procedência ou Denominação de Origem. Elaborado na escala 1:5.000.000 (onde 1 cm = 50 km), o mapa digital está disponível aqui.

Os vinhos e espumantes do Vale dos Vinhedos (RS), o camarão da Costa Negra (CE) e as rendas de Divina Pastora (SE) e do Cariri (PB) são alguns exemplos de produtos brasileiros com Indicações Geográficas consagradas, assim como as cachaças de Paraty (RJ), Salinas (MG) e Abaíra (BA), o artesanato em estanho de São João Del-Rei (MG), as opalas e joias artesanais de Pedro II (PI), o mel do Pantanal (MT/MS) e de Ortigueira (PR), a própolis vermelha dos manguezais de Alagoas e as panelas de barro de Goiabeiras (ES), entre outros.

Ao todo, o Mapa das Indicações Geográficas identifica 49 áreas certificadas. Distribuídas por todas as regiões geográficas brasileiras, elas foram definidas pelas próprias associações, sindicatos e cooperativas de produtores locais e estão certificadas pelo Instituto Nacional da Propriedade Industrial (INPI). O Selo de Indicação Geográfica do INPI é regulamentado pela Lei da Propriedade Intelectual n.º 9.279 e pode assumir dois modelos: Indicação de Procedência (IP) – artigo 177, e Denominação de Origem (DO) – artigo 178.

A Indicação Geográfica atesta a origem e as condições especiais de fabricação dos produtos certificados, permitindo que os consumidores tenham informações confiáveis sobre a qualidade e a autenticidade daquilo que estão adquirindo. Esse tipo de certificação também valoriza a cultura local e fomenta atividades turísticas.

A figura a seguir destaca a legenda do mapa, com a lista das áreas de Indicações Geográficas reconhecidas nacionalmente, suas datas de criação, a espécie de certificação e os produtos a elas associados.

ÁREAS DE INDICAÇÕES GEOGRÁFICAS NACIONAIS RECONHECIDAS

10 Invaluable Online Resources To Help You Start Your Own Creative Business

by Faith Towers on Feb 18, 2016

If you're contemplating starting your own creative business but don't know where to begin, you're not alone. The prospect of becoming your own boss can be a daunting one. So today I'm sharing ten online resources that have been invaluable to me throughout my journey to becoming a small business owner. And the best part? Most of them are free!   

1. By Regina - This website has a wealth of (free) information beyond just creating an action plan. Tips for building an audience, being productive, creating an effective website, etc.Check out this awesome post here.

2. Coursera - This might be one of my favorites. Coursera is a site with thousands of university-level courses taught by real college professors. And every course has a free option. I find the business and marketing courses to be particularly helpful. Check it out here.

3. Dear Handmade Life - This site sells affordable online workshops on a variety of creative subjects. See their current offerings here.

4. Lynda.com - This one has a large selection of courses on topics ranging from business to software to creative skills. And you can try it out for free for ten days. Head over here to check it out.

5. Wonderlass - This post has a great step-by-step overview that will help you get started. There are lots of other informative posts on the site as well. See this one here.

6. Freelancers Union - This has a super helpful blog with all kinds of interesting information, as well as resources for freelancers such as insurance information and discounts.Explore the site here.

7. Elegance and Enchantment - This post would be helpful for those of you who are starting your own Etsy shop. See all of Michelle's helpful tips here.

8. Whitney Blake - This blog post has five excellent tips for starting your own business, along with lots of helpful links to additional resources. Read it here.

9. Skillshare - This site has tons of useful video courses on a wide range of creative business-focused topics. Check out their course listings here.

10. Creative Live - This is another one of my favorites; they offer tons of different live courses which are free if you watch them live, or you can buy any past course. Which means it pays to keep an eye on their schedule! Check it out here.

Fonte: http://www.curbly.com/

Plano de Negócios - Business plan preparation - Manual for Entrepreneurs

Source: McKinsey

Standard use of business plans

▪Start-up companies:

–Application for venture capital

–Search for management team members

–Communication with partners, suppliers, …

▪Established, developed businesses for investment decisions

–In-house budget allocations

–External financing

Generic requirements

Explanation

Constantly adapting

▪Business planning is an iterative and adaptive process that requires constant update and adjustment work

Impressing by clarity

▪Not the quantity of analyses, but the clarity and preciseness of the pack are important

Convincing by facts

▪No hype, but factual statements. Enthusiasm will be generated by the investor realizing the opportunity on his own

Understandable even for non-experts

▪Those who allocate investment resources rarely are technical experts for the technology used in the proposal

Consistent and concise

▪Those who allocate investment resources rarely are technical experts for the technology used in the proposal

Optically compelling

▪A clear, precise structure is a courtesy to those investing their time in reading the proposal

Executive summary

▪Gives a brief overview of the concept's most important aspects

▪Describes idea as clearly, compellingly, and concisely as possible

▪Raises interest of decision makers

▪Is not more than 5 - 10 minutes to read

▪Quality of summary decides if rest of business plan is read

– Key questions

Idea description

▪What is your business idea? In what way does it fulfill the criterion of uniqueness?

▪Who are your target customers?

▪What is the value for those customers?

▪What market volume and growth rates do you forecast?

▪What competitive environment do you face?

▪What additional stages of development are needed?

▪How much investment is necessary (estimated)?

▪What long-term goals have you set?

Rough business plan

▪How high do you estimate your financing needs?

▪What are the sales, cost, and profit situations?

▪What are the most important milestones along the way to your goal?

▪What test customers have you approached/ could you approach?

▪What distribution channels will you use?

▪What partnerships would you like to enter into?

▪What opportunities and risks do you face?

▪What is the picture on patents?

Product/service

▪Potential foam plus applicator to replace expensive and space consuming earth that must be spread over garbage dumps every day

▪Space savings of ~30% for dump operators

▪Costs of coverage reduced by ~50% for dump operators

Market and competition

▪Customers: household garbage dump operator

▪Market: 300 to 500 dumps in Eastern USA with capacity of 500 to 10,000 tons/day

▪Major competitor: 3M/Sanifoam (application takes longer and is more complicated)

Marketing and sales

▪2007: Investments of USD 850,000 required

▪2008: Sales of USD 2 million (break-even)

▪2012: Sales of USD 15 million, profit of USD 1.5 million

Business system

▪Sale of foam and applicators (product business)

Opportunities and risks

▪Necessary approval from authorities

▪Proof of system's operational efficiency

Content of product/service section

▪Describes the function the product/service fulfills and the benefits the customer will gain from it

–Product/service description

–Customer value

▪Explains status and next steps of product/service development

▪Addresses patents/IP protection issues

▪Product/service section has to prove that entrepreneur can integrate the customers' perspective

– Key questions

Idea description

▪What end customers will you address?

▪What are the customers' needs?

▪What customer value does your product/service provide?

▪What is the nature of your innovation? Why is it unique?

▪What partnerships are necessary to achieve full customer value?

▪What competitor products already exist or are under development?

▪What stage of development has your product or service reached?

▪Do you have patents or licenses?

▪What further development steps do you plan to take? What milestones must be reached?

Rough business plan

▪Which versions of your products/services are designed for which customer groups and applications?

▪What patents/licenses do the competitors have?

▪What kind of service/maintenance will you offer?

▪What product or service guarantees will you grant?

▪Compare the strengths and weaknesses of comparable products/services with yours in an overview!

Successful product positioning

Identify relevant customer needs and problems

Define clear, sufficiently large customer segments

Define uniqueness and position offering vis-à-vis competition

Address subjective perception of customers

Content of management team section

▪Outlines educational background and professional experience of founders

▪Describes how existing skill gaps can be closed in the future

▪Convinces potential investors that both managerial and technological expertise is present to run the venture

▪Venture capitalist will invest only if the venture is managed by an excellent team

Management team – Key questions

Complete business plan

▪Who are the members of your management team and what distinguishes them: education, professional experience, success, standing in the business world?

▪What experience or abilities does the team possess that will be useful for implementing your concept and setting up your company?

▪What experience or abilities are lacking? How will the gaps be closed? By whom?

▪What targets do the team members pursue by starting up the business? How high is the motivation of the individual team members?

Reasons for business plan rejection

Inadequate technical expertise

Not patentable

Money commitment too large Long time frame

Not market-driven

Weak management team

Content of market and competition section

▪Provides thorough understanding of markets and competitors:

–Market size and growth

–Market segmentation

–Competition

–Positioning of product vis-à-vis the competition

▪The market and competition section has to outline the full economic potential of the venture

Market and competition – Key questions

Idea description

▪How is the industry developing?

▪What role do innovation and technological advances play?

▪How will you segment the market?

▪What market volumes do the individual market segments have, now and in the future (rough estimates)?

▪Who are your target customer groups?

▪What major competitors offer similar products/services?

▪How sustainable will your competitive edge be?

Rough business plan

▪What market volume (value and amount) do you estimate for your individual market segments over the next five years?

▪What will influence growth in the market segments?

▪What is your estimate of current and future profitability of the individual market segments?

▪What market shares do you hold in each market segment? What segments are you targeting?

▪Who are your reference customers? How do you plan to get reference customers?

▪What are the key buying factors for customers?

▪How does the competition operate? What strategies are pursued?

▪What are the barriers to market entry and how can they be overcome?

▪What market share does your competition have in the various market segments?

▪How profitable are your competitors?

▪What are your competitors' marketing strategies?

▪What distribution channels do your competitors use?

▪How will competitors react to your market launch? How will you respond to this reaction?

▪Profile the strengths and weaknesses of your major competitors with your own in the form of an overview!

Content of marketing and sales section

▪Outlines planned marketing and sales activities (four "Ps" framework):

–Product

–Price

–Place

–Promotion

▪Marketing and sales section has to explain how market is developed

Marketing and sales – Key questions

Idea description

▪What final sales price do you want to charge (estimated)? What criteria did you use to arrive at this final sale price? How high is the profit margin (estimated)?

▪What sales volumes and sales revenues are you aiming for (estimated)?

Rough business plan

▪In which partial market segments will you make your market entry? How do you plan to turn this "toehold" into a high-volume business?

▪What sales volumes are you targeting (detailed data by market segment)?

▪Describe the typical process of selling your product/service. Who, among your buyers, ultimately makes the purchasing decision?

▪How will you win reference customers?

▪How much, in time and resources, will it cost to acquire a customer?

▪Which advertising materials will you use to do so?

▪What other planning steps are necessary in the run up to launching your product/service? Draw up a schedule with the most important milestones!

Content of business system section

▪Outlines what parts of the value chain are covered by the venture

▪Discusses organizational issues

▪Describes necessary partnerships

▪Makes "make or buy" decisions

▪Business system section describes all necessary elements that enable the venture to physically deliver the customer value

Business system – Key questions

Rough business plan

▪What does the business system for your product/service look like?

▪What activities do you want to handle yourself?

▪Where will the focus of your own activities lie?

▪What business functions make up your organization, and how is it structured?

▪What resources do you need (quantitative and qualitative) to create your product/service?

▪How high is your need for technical input (raw materials, materials to create your service)?

▪What will you make, what will you buy?

▪Which partners will you work with? What are the advantages of working together for you and your partners?

Content of implementation plan section

▪Describes the most important activities and milestones for the development of the business

▪Lists the planned short- and long-term investments

▪Links the investment needs with major milestones

▪The implementation plan section gives the investor a clear roadmap to control the business development

Implementation plan – Key questions

Complete business plan

▪What are the most important milestones for the development of your business, and when must they be reached?

▪How do you plan to structure the work to reach these targets?

▪For which tasks/milestones do you anticipate bottlenecks?

▪How many new employees will you need in the individual business areas over the next five years? What will this cost?

▪How much real capital is necessary to achieve initial sales?

▪List your planned short-term investments!

▪List your planned longer-term (3 - 5 years) investments!

▪What investments will be required when which milestones are reached?

▪How high is the annual depreciation for each investment?

Content of financing section

▪Provides rough cash-flow forecasts

▪Outlines forecasts of profit and loss statements

▪Gives overview of future balance sheet structure

▪The finance plan explains the timing and volume of necessary financing rounds

Financial planning – Key questions

Complete business plan

▪How will your revenues, expenses and income develop?

▪How will your cash flow develop? When will you expect to break even (= sum of all revenues greater than the sum of all expenses)?

▪How high is your need for financing based on your liquidity planning? How much cash is needed in the worst case scenario?

▪What assumptions underlie your financial planning?

▪Which sources of capital are available to you to cover your financing needs?

▪What deal are you offering potential investors?

▪What return can investors expect?

▪How will they realize a profit (exit options)?

Financial plan outlines

▪Cash flow statement

▪Income statement

▪Balance sheet

Content of opportunities and risk section

▪Describes the venture's specific opportunities

▪Identifies the venture's main challenges

▪Tries to assess and quantify risks (e.g., with sensitivity analysis)

▪Develops countermeasures for "killer" risks

▪Consideration of risk involved will win the confidence of a potential investor

Opportunities and risks – Key questions

Rough business plan

▪What basic risks (market, competition, technology) does your business venture face?

▪What measures will you take to counter these risks?

▪What extraordinary opportunities/business possibilities do you see for your company?

▪How could an expansion of your capital base help? 

Plano de negócios - Como fazer? Plano Financeiro

Encaminhando para o final, o plano financeiro vai dar a consistência ao que foi elaborado anteriormente. Certamente que durante a construção desse momento, muita revisões nos tópicos anteriores serão feitas e alguns levantamentos vão ser necessários para embasar números que serão colocados nas planilhas dessa parte do Plano de Negócios. 

Com a estrutura e estratégias de marketing pensadas para alcançar o mercado alvo, agora devemos somar os gastos dos investimentos e todos os recursos que serão demandados para que, ao ser aprovado o Plano de Negócios, o empreendedor execute de forma objetiva os passos para iniciar o negócio. Muitas vezes o empreendedor não possui recursos próprios suficientes para arcar com estes gastos, havendo, assim,  necessidade de financiamento. O Plano de Negócios ajuda a mostrar a um provável investidor ou banco quais as característica do futuro negócio e apresenta argumentos para que, ao investir, o investidor tenha segurança que vai receber o seu dinheiro de volta.

No mínimo o Plano de Negócios deve conter:

• Investimento Inicial
• Receitas
• Custos e Despesas
• Fluxo de caixa
• Demonstrativo de Resultados
• Rentabilidade, projeções financeiras e indicadores - controla a solvência do negócio e estipulam margens de manobra para que o empreendedor possa atuar e possa se adaptar com as mudanças constantes do mercado. Avalia o desempenho e grau de eficiência da empresa ou empreendimento recém criado.

Se puder acrescente-se, segundo orientação de alguns autores:

• Definição do modelo financeiro, premissas de preço;
• Primeiro ano com projeções mensais e próximos quatro anos com projeções anuais;
• Indicação do valor do negócio ao final de cinco anos como estratégia de saída.

Com essas poucas informações contidas em 5 posts como roteiro e pesquisas na internet sobre o assunto, qualquer pessoa pode elaborar seu Plano de negócio e colocar em prática sua ideia de negócio. 

Alerto para alguns pontos: 

• O apoio de outras pessoas, sejam elas profissionais especializados ou amigos, sempre é importante para que a visão final do negócio não tenha um viés que distorça o produto final. Entre os vieses se destacam: otimismo exagerado, superficialidade do PN, dados distorcidos etc.
• Quanto melhor o Plano de Negócio, maior o potencial de sucesso do negócio.
• Inclua o investimento da construção do Plano na planilha de investimento e recupere esse investimento com o sucesso do negócio.
• Quando eu lembrar de outros alertas, faço novo post.

Fonte: Leopoldo Nunes

Plano de negócios - Como fazer? Plano de marketing

Para quem não leu os outros posts: resolvi fazer um breve roteiro, simplificado, para construção de Planos de negócios (PN). Essa iniciativa não pretende ser um guia para profissionais, mas um apoio para o leigo que quer preparar o Plano com base numa ideia de negócio. Independente da simplicidade do que se pretende, sempre sugiro convidar para essa construção algumas pessoas do seu círculo de amizade de forma a obter outras visões críticas do futuro negócio.

A continuidade do Plano de Negócio não exige que haja uma linearidade de passos. As pesquisas, levantamento de informações, elaboração de estratégias etc correm em paralelo ao longo do trabalho. Importante sim, é anotar tudo o que está sendo levantado e registrar de forma organizada para que o material seja devidamente consolidado no momento certo.

A fim de organizar a ideia geral, vamos tratar do Plano de marketing que pode ser focado nesse momento. Trata-se, em resumo, de preparar a empresa para alcançar seu cliente. Como diz Kotler, um bom marketing reduz a necessidade da venda. Por essa razão, tomei emprestado uma figura (acima) com 8Ps. Serve para chamar a atenção... 

Apesar de considerar que o marketing mix tradicional já está de bom tamanho, é sempre bom ter à mão perguntas que o leve aos detalhes acerca do que é necessário no marketing para atingir o mercado. Os 4Ps - produto, preço, promoção, praça - já trazem para o PN uma gama de questionamentos bem ampla.

Antes de pensar no composto de marketing, é claro que precisa ser feita uma análise do ambiente de negócios. Essa ação demandará pesquisas, levantamentos e informações que o empreendedor precisará para os próximos tópicos. Esses tópicos incluem, de forma geral, a elaboração do posicionamento, dos objetivos e metas, e das estratégias de marketing para alcançar os objetivos traçados. 

Perguntas fundamentais nesse aspecto: qual a proposta de valor do negócio e para qual público alvo. Sem a decisão e foco no público desejado, a empresa nascente ou projeto inicial corre o risco de desperdiçar esforços e recursos em clientes ou consumidores com baixo retorno sobre o investimento, drenando energias importantes principalmente no começo.

Observe que ao após pensar na estrutura e em como levar o negócio ao conhecimento do cliente, sua visão do negócio já estará bem próxima de uma realidade que levará a preocupação de quanto tudo isso custará e que receita poderá ser apurada. Esse será o nosso próximo tema.

Vamos em frente!!!

Fonte: Leopoldo Nunes

Plano de negócios - Como fazer? Estrutura

Após o desenvolvimento inicial da ideia, e considerando que sua análise dos primeiros aspectos do negócio lhe deram segurança para seguir em frente, o Plano de Negócio passa a ter sentido tendo em vista que a ideia selecionada precisa ser transformada em algo mais palpável antes de que sejam aplicados recursos financeiros.

Para preparar um Plano de Negócio básico é importante que ele contenha pelo menos três grandes capítulos (lembre-se que estamos preparando um PN básico!!!): estrutura, marketing e financeiro. Os níveis de aprofundamento nesses três capítulos vão dar consistência à ideia e lhe assegurar um nível de conforto para seguir até a montagem do negócio efetivamente, daí a importância da elaboração do PN.

A escolha da Estrutura como parte inicial de preparação do PN se dá pela necessidade de entender o que será necessário para que o produto ou serviço final passe a existir. Por exemplo, se a ideia final foi montar um negócio de venda de pipoca, faz-se necessário saber que vamos precisar de um carrinho, do milho, do óleo, de material de limpeza, do local onde será vendida a pipoca etc. Caso a ideia seja industrializar pipoca, então será necessário que se estude a indústria para que sejam conhecidas as máquinas e equipamentos para fabricação, embalagem, estoque além dos processos e canais de comercialização para que o saco de pipoca industrializado, digamos que seja o produto final, chegue nas mãos do consumidor.

Ao levantar o que será necessário, o empreendedor deverá levantar também o investimento a ser aplicado para que a estrutura imaginada venha a ser montada. Os valores levantados vão ser úteis no capítulo financeiro e os dados levantados na pesquisa de campo para se chegar ao que é necessário vão ser utilizados no capitulo de marketing.

Na construção da Estrutura, o Plano ajuda o empreendedor a prévisualizar como será seu negócio e a aprimorar sua proposta de valor, público e demais aspectos do marketing que serão detalhados posteriormente. Observe também que os quadros da modelagem feita anteriormente estão sendo úteis como subsídio do que poderá ser real, ou do que foi apenas uma tentativa de ser tudo para todos. Por que? Pela limitação financeira em primeiro lugar, porque é rapidamente perceptível tendo em vista a limitação de recursos, e porque a falta de foco vai impactar em desperdício de recursos de marketing.

Agora, mão à obra!!! Vamos em frente!

Fonte: Leopoldo Nunes

Creating A Personal Masterplan

“Know how to choose. Most things in life depend on it. You need good taste and an upright judgement; intelligence and application are not enough. There is no perfection without discernment and selection.”

Baltasar Gracian, philosopher and aphorist

To achieve what you want in life, you generally need to do three things:

1.     Identify what you really want. (Not what others want or what you think you should want.)

2.     Decide what’s most important, so you can start working on it.

3.     Act to make progress on your most important priorities.

Creating a “Personal Masterplan” is the best way I’ve found to stop dreaming about what you want and start making progress.

What Is A Personal Masterplan?

A “Personal Masterplan” is a short planning document that captures what you want to achieve most within the next three years, then systematically breaks down those goals into the most important actions you need to take this week in order to achieve them.

Once you’ve created your Masterplan, planning your day is a simple matter of choosing 2-3 things to accomplish today from your weekly list (your Most Important Tasks), then doing them before you do anything else that day. Why the three-year time horizon? Simple: it’s short enough to be able to visualize clearly, but long enough for you to be able to make drastic changes and accomplish major goals. It’s a good rough estimate for the “foreseeable future,” which makes it useful for this type of planning exercise. Writing down your goals and having a clear plan of action is critical if you want to make the best use of your finite time and energy. This process is the most effective means I’ve found to identify what I really want and focus on what really matters. After creating your Masterplan, you’ll be amazed at how clearly you’ll be able to visualize what you want to achieve and what you need to do right now to move forward.

Phase #1: Dreaming on Paper

First, you’ll need to spend some time thinking of all of the things you’d like to accomplish. The best way to do that is to write down everythingyou think you’d ever (even remotely) like to do, without editing or censoring yourself in any way.

It’s easier to prune your list of active projects than to feel vaguely uncertain if you’ve captured everything, so err on the side of completeness.

Also err on the side of being completely honest with yourself about what you want: if your lists contain things you’d be embarrassed about if someone else reads it, you can always destroy your notes when you’re done.

1.1: Gather Materials

For this exercise, you’ll need at least 5 sheets of paper, your favorite writing instrument, and at least an hour of uninterrupted personal time. (Depending on how deep you go in this process, it can take longer: 2-3 hours is typical. It’s a great process to go through over the course of a long lunch break or similar block of time alone.)

Label each piece of paper paper as follows:

·         Health / Fitness

·         Relationships

·         Skills / Personal Growth

·         Wealth / Career

·         Enjoyment

Resist the temptation to do this on your computer: there’s too much potential for distraction, and writing longhand will help you think in a more relaxed way.

1.2: Brain Dump

Pick up one of the papers, consider the topic area, and ask yourself the following question:

“What are all of the things I might want to accomplish in this area within the next three years?”

Write down everything that comes to mind - avoid self-editing as much as possible. Think and write as fast as you can, and fill all five pieces of paper with as many ideas as you can muster.

1.3: Apply the “Five-Fold Why”

Once you’re done, go back and read over one of your lists. Look at each desire you’ve recorded and ask yourself:

“Why do I really want this?”

When you think of an answer, ask yourself the question again. You should ask yourself this question at least five times or until you absolutely can’t come up with another answer. (That usually comes in the form of a reply like “because I want to.”)

When you’ve reached this point, ask yourself:

“Is the original wording of this goal the best way to capture the essence of what I actually want?”

The point of this step is to help you question your assumptions and focus on the true intent of each of your goals instead of getting caught up in arbitrary specifics or social conditioning.

For example, many people have the goal of earning an arbitrary large sum of money. (Let’s say $10 million.) After asking themselves why, they often find that it’s freedom or security they really want, and they don’t need need $10 million to achieve their true objective, making their desire attainable in a much shorter period of time. A better goal might be to find a reliable way to earn enough income to meet their financial needs using a minimum of time and energy, thereby giving themselves the freedom to invest their time as they see fit.  Once you know the root of your desires, you can go about pursuing them in a more effective manner.

1.4: Is it Positive, Immediate, Concrete, and Specific? (PICS)

To ensure your goals are well-formed and clear, ask yourself:

“Is this desire Positive, Immediate, Concrete, and Specific?”

Positive is something you can pursue vs. something you want to avoid. “I want to exercise every day” is positive. “I want to stop sitting on the couch all day” is not.

Immediate is something that you can pursue now vs. something that might happen in the future if other things happen first. “I want to land a lead role in a movie” is immediate. “I want to become a famous actor” is not.

Concrete is something that can be defined in objective terms. “I want to visit Russia this year” is concrete. “I want to travel the world” is not.

Specific is something that has defined parameters. “I want to earn at least $8,000 each month” is specific. “I want to make a lot of money” is not.

Rewrite your desires in Positive, Immediate, Concrete, and Specific language. If you can’t, discard that desire for now by crossing it off.

1.5: Is it Ambitious, Meaningful, and Exciting? (AME)

This step ensures you’re stretching yourself and engaging your emotions appropriately in forming your goals. Ask yourself:

“Is this goal Ambitious, Meaningful, and Exciting?”

Most of us are far too conservative when it comes to planning for the future. If your desire doesn’t push your limits and give you a strong sense of anticipation, reword it until it does.

Here’s an example of a well-formed goal:

Within the next three years, I want to write a book about {TOPIC} and sell 20,000 copies worldwide.

Phase #2: Focusing Your Efforts

2.1: Pruning Your Lists

As tempting as it is to try to accomplish everything on your lists all at once, it’s far more productive to consciously restrain yourself so that you can focus your time, energy, and attention on just a few important things at a time.

When you divide your efforts and attention across several projects, it’s difficult to achieve the critical mass of thought and action necessary to accomplish what you set out to achieve.

By temporarily eliminating non-critical projects, you’re freeing yourself to focus on the small core of projects that are most important to you right now, allowing you to accomplish more with less effort.

The goal of this phase of the Masterplanning process is to reduce your list of active goals to five:

1.     One health / fitness goal

2.     One relationship goal

3.     One skill acquisition / personal growth goal

4.     One wealth / career goal

5.     One enjoyment goal

By focusing on these five goals, you’ll enjoy the benefits of a productive, sustainable, and balanced life.

2.2: Choosing What’s Most Important

Pick up one of your lists and ask yourself the following question:

“If I could only accomplish half of these things in the next three years, which ones would I choose to accomplish?”

Cross out the goals that don’t make the cut.

2.3: Recursive Elimination

Apply the same selection process to your remaining goals:

“If I could only accomplish half of these things in the next three years, which would I choose?”

Again, cross out all of the goals that don’t make the cut. Continue asking this question until you have one goal remaining, hen move on to the next list.

2.4: Build Your “Someday / Maybe” List

Don’t completely discard the goals you decide aren’t important enough to focus on right now: they’re still useful, since they represent things you’d like to do at some point in your life. Place your items on a “Someday / Maybe” List so you can easily refer to them at a later date. (For more on “Someday / Maybe” lists, read Getting Things Done by David Allen.)

2.5: Finalize Your Most Important Goals

At the end of this phase, you’ll have five goals you’ve identified as the accomplishment that will make the largest positive difference in your life. These goals will form the basis for the next phase in the process: creating an action plan that will help you achieve them quickly.

2.6: Self-Check - How Do You Feel?

After making these edits, check your current emotional state - how do you feel? If you’re excited, happy, and relaxed, you’re on the right track, and the goals you have are well-formed. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, depressed, anxious, or apathetic, re-examine your choices before moving onto the next phase.

Phase #3: What Can I Do Right Now?

Now that you’ve identified your single most important goal in each of the five areas, it’s time to use them to build an action plan you can use to decide what to spend time doing right now. The process is simple: we’re going to break down your long-term goals into manageable steps you can accomplish immediately.

3.1: Define Objectives For This Year

For each of the five objectives, create a single goal that expresses the most important thing you can do to move yourself towards the accomplishment of the three-year goal in the coming year.

Example Three-Year Goal: “Within the next three years, I want to create a cash-flow positive business that allows me to earn at least $10,000 each month.”

Example One-Year Goal: “I want to launch my online waffle iron store and generate at least $3,000 in profit per month before January 1 of the coming year.”

3.2: Define Objectives For This Month

Once you know what you need to accomplish this year, define what you need to accomplish this month to keep you on track:

Example One-Year Objective: “I want to launch my online waffle iron store and generate at least $3,000 in profit per month before January 1 of the coming year.”

Example Monthly Objective: “I will launch the new WaffleMaster 5000 via an online and direct marketing campaign by the end of this month.”

3.3: Define Objectives For This Week

Once you know what you need to accomplish this month, define what you need to accomplish this week:

Example Monthly Objectives: “ I will launch the new WaffleMaster 5000 via an online direct marketing campaign by the end of this month.”

Example Weekly Objective: “This week, I will develop three drafts of sales copy for the WaffleMaster 5000 and pre-test response rates using pay-per-click advertising.”

3.4: Test Your Objectives

Examine your yearly, monthly, and weekly goals to ensure they pass the Five-Fold Why, PICS, and AME tests. Once all of your goals have passed, review the entire list and check your emotional state. Are you excited to get started? If not, re-examine your intermediate goals and adjust as necessary until you find yourself itching stop writing and start making progress.

Phase #4: Getting the Most From Your Master Plan

Your Masterplan is only valuable if you use it. Here are a few tips that will help:

4.1: Morning Routine

Make reviewing your Personal Master Plan a part of your daily routine. I review my plan every day, immediately after exercising, showering, and eating breakfast. By reviewing your plan every day, you’ll strongly reinforce what you want to accomplish, making it easier to stay motivated and on track. Establishing this habit is critical.

4.2: Most Important Tasks

Immediately after reviewing your Masterplan in the morning, write out the two or three most important tasks for you to accomplish that day, then commit to completing them by 11:00 am, before checking e-mail or working on less important tasks. To plan your day, I highly recommend using David Seah’s free “Emergent Task Planner” worksheet. Filling out an ETP each morning is a great way to plan your day’s tasks and visualize how your time will be invested.

4.3: Weekly Review

In Getting Things Done, David Allen recommends setting aside a few hours every week to do a thorough review of all of your outstanding commitments. A few minutes of review every week will help you keep yourself clear, calm, and focused. Using this time to review your Masterplan and make updates as necessary is an excellent way to ensure your immediate actions are leading to the fulfillment of your long-range goals. You can also use this time to update your “Someday / Maybe” list as necessary.

Create Your Personal Masterplan Now

Creating a Personal Masterplan takes a few hours, but they’ll be some of the most productive hours you spend this year.

Happy planning, and good luck.

Josh Kaufman