How to make a 90-day plan

Having a plan is one thing but having a plan you can actively follow in order to achieve your goal is another. The beauty of a 90-day plan is you can start it at any time. You don’t have to wait until the beginning of the month or the new year to become focused on achieving specific results.

So, regardless of whether you’re a business owner, an employee, or simply looking to achieve a wider goal in your spare time, here is how to make a 90-day plan that you can stick to.

1. Begin with the end in mind

Start by thinking about what you want to achieve at the end of the 3 months, and more importantly, what this looks like: 

• Win more customers – how many more?
• Make more profit – how much more?
• Make time for yourself – how much time per week or month do you need?
• Write a book – about what? 

The most important factor is clarity. You need to have a clear goal in mind so you can be specific with your subsequent actions. You do not want a 90-day ‘to do’ list, as this will cause you overwhelm. If that happens, then it is unlikely you will make it to the end of your plan.

2. Break it down

Now that you have a clear and specific goal in mind, you can think about how to break it down into monthly, weekly and daily steps. 

For example, if you know you want to find 21 new customers over the 3 months, then that equates to 7 more each month which is around 2 each week. By breaking it down this way, the overall goal is far more manageable and achievable which in turn helps to create a positive mindset, ready for success.

3. Visualise your targets

Make your targets visible – this is the best way to keep yourself engaged and working towards your overall goal with the same amount of enthusiasm and energy each day. Having a vision board can be powerful as it will remind you what you are working towards. 

So, if you want to make more time for yourself at the end of the 90 days, pin up a picture of you doing what you most love in your spare time. If you want to make more profit, then find an image of what you would spend that extra money on. 

Making these goals visible will mean you are more likely to follow them. You could also share these goals with other people, be it friends, family or co-workers. They can keep you focused the same way a vision board would. Better still, they can also make you accountable.

4. Make your action plan

What actions do you need to carry out in order to make your goal a reality? It will not just happen out of thin air. So, does your plan require: 

• Phone calls? If so, how many per day/week?
• An email or direct mail campaign? If so, what are you going to write and send?
• Social media campaign? If so, what are you going to write? What pictures do you need? Are you going to record any videos?
• Do you need to update your website? If so, which sections need updating and who can help you? 

All of the above are actions that will need to go into the plan and most likely will need breaking down further. 

To reach your main goal, you will need to achieve all of these smaller actions first, which is why they have to go into the plan. This is also why having more than one goal would quickly lead to overwhelm. 

However, if you find you are completing a lot of your actions quickly and are therefore close to reaching your goal within the first month, then of course you can re-evaluate. 

The most important thing to remember in all of this, is are your actions helping to ‘make your boat go faster’? If they are, then you will be achieving your goals in no time at all.