At this point everyone will have their own unique Planning List. This means that when you make your plan, it will be only for you. It is

impossible to write here the detail of every possible Planning List. But, there are some guidelines that you can apply to help you make a

detailed plan of action.

STEP 1.

Make a plan of action - this doesn’t mean that you start all the actions on your Planning List at the same time. Sometimes there are

other factors that influence when you start some actions (see below), sometimes you will not have the energy or time to start all the

actions at once and also it is not always necessary to have completed an action before you feel happier about life (the very action of

starting a class to learn a new skill can increase life happiness just by knowing you are doing something about it!). So:

                                     - Think about how long things might take. There are times when your action needs to be immediate (moving

                                        away from an abusive relationship, for example), but there are many actions where a finite time is necessary

                                        (if one action on your Planning List is to learn a new trade or to gain some qualifications, for example, then

                                        allow the time it takes to gain the qualification to be part of your plan of action).

                                     - Plan when you are going to decide to check if you are happier or not. Once you have started taking action, it

                                       is worth reviewing your Life List after a few weeks to see if you feel any different about your Key Target. There

                                       is no suggestion that it should have been fully addressed (brilliant if it has!!), but has the action you have taken

                                       so far in any way decreased the issue? This is a check that you are doing the right thing and making a difference

                                       already!

                                     - Take expert advice where you can. While all of the actions on your  Planning List are within your capability,

                                        where there is access to free  advice and guidance from experts, it is always worth taking advantage of this.

                                        There are online sites to get advice for most aspects of life (BUT, please do not seek advice from social

                                        media  sites which will generally offer varied advice on any one topic from people who may or may not be

                                        experts - and it can be difficult to tell the difference!). Many legal firms will give a free initial consultation.  

                                        Doctors can give you free health advice. Banks offer free interviews. Citizen’s Advice Bureau will give advice

                                         and can also point you to  where you can get expert advice on particular subjects too. Where you think you

                                         don’t know enough about a subject to make your action take place, seek out this expert advice. Taking expert

                                         advice may have a delaying impact on when you can start to take action BUT it will ensure that when you take

                                         action, you are doing it armed with expert advice (it is likely to be done better!).

The points above, when considered with your Planning List, will start to show you a number of things:

                                       - Firstly it will show you the full scope of all the actions you have identified in your Planning List (how long they 

                                          take, how much you  may need to call on experts, when you may need to check the effect on your happiness

                                          that taking each action has, and, how much effort you may need to put into taking these actions)

                                       - Secondly, it will show you that, probably, it is not possible to start (or do) all of these actions at the same time.

                                       - Thirdly - it may identify where there is a financial cost involved in carrying out your all your actions. Where this

                                          is the case, you must consider your possible financial outlay. If the financial cost is currently outside your

                                          ability to meet, you may need park this activity for the time being and create another entry on your action list

                                          concerned with generating the funds needed.

Each action on your Planning List should have:

                                        - The action

                                        - The detail of how you are going to do it

                                         - How long the action will take

                                         - Any costs involved

                                         - When and how you are going to check on your progress

                                         - The other people the action might impact

                                         - The measures you are going to take to minimise that impact

Together, all these aspects in your Planning List will start to shape your Plan.

NOTE: Please, don’t be put off or concerned about making a plan - no-one is expecting you to be a project manager or a professional

planner! A plan, in its simplest form, is a list of things to do - when - with what, and some way for you to check that the effect of doing

these things is what you want. That’s all a plan is, and it is something you CAN do!

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STEP 2.

This step is about turning the details in your Planning List into a Plan that you can start to carry out. This is where you put real dates,

real costs and real effort! But, at the end of the day, it is still really just a list of things you are going to do. Starting with the top action

(the one that will improve your happiness the most), and then for all the other actions, in order, add the real details to the Planning List:

                                           - The action (what you are going to do)

                                           - The detail of how you are going to do it (will you go to an expert for advice before starting?)

                                           - Are there options for how to do it?

                                           - If there are costs involved, how much are they and are they in place?

                                           - The start date and the finish date of the action (is it in phases?)

                                           - How many hours a week will it need from you?

                                           - The date should you check that the action is having a positive effect on your life.

                                              (if this needs to be done more than once, put in the dates for each check)

                                           - Who the people are who are affected by your action and for each  person affected, and

                                           - What are you going to do to minimise the impact on them and when and how.

So now you have a complete plan of everything you need to do. The final check to give you the best chance of finishing is to look at:

                                           - Dates and effort - Although you will want to do  everything as soon as possible, if you can’t put all the hours

                                             into taking the actions that the plan needs, then STARTING AT THE LAST ACTION (the one at the bottom of

                                              your list), delay starting that action. If by delaying that action, it still doesn’t give you enough available hours

                                              to put your plan into action, then delay the next action from the bottom. Do this until you feel you have a plan

                                              that is manageable in terms of the hours’ effort you need to put in.

                                           - Costs - Similar to the previous point, if you don’t have the available funds to do all actions now, then

                                             STARTING AT THE LAST ACTION,  delay that action. If by delaying that action, it still doesn’t give you

                                             enough available funds to put your plan into action, then delay the  next action from the bottom. Do this

                                             until you feel you have a plan that is manageable in terms of the funds you need to make your plan work.

 

You now have your workable Plan. (Well done!)

If you feel comfortable keeping your plan as a list, then that is absolutely fine. There are those who transfer their plan onto a wall

planner so that they can see easily which things need to be done when. This is a great way to show your plan visually (and you can

always take key dates from you plan and put reminders into your mobile phone calendar too!). The other bonus from using a visual

planner is that you can plot your progress as you go along (with a tick or a note or whatever makes it clear to you). However you

keep your Plan, make sure you can understand it easily and keep it updated simply.

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STEP 3.

Carry out your Plan. Work your way through the actions in your plan, keeping an eye on: the cost, the time things take to do and your

ability to put in the effort needed. If any of these aspects become a problem, then refine the plan (Part 4 - Step 2) and carry on with

your revised plan.

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STEP 4.

Make sure to carry out checks that you have built into your Plan (checking if you are addressing the issue in your Key Target and are

happier):

                                                - If ‘yes’ you are happier, then carry on with the Plan, then you are doing the right things. If at any time, when

                                                  you are carrying out your checks (and you are getting a ‘yes’ response), you feel that you  have scope to do

                                                  more, then look at your Plan to see if you can do  some of the actions earlier.

                                                                              - - If you can, then adjust your Plan to do more now. 

                                                                              - - If you can’t (in other words, you are doing everything you can in your Plan already), then

                                                                                  carry on undertaking your Plan (it is important that you don’t stop working through your

                                                                                  Plan!!), but you can also start right at the beginning (Part 1 - STEP 1) and generate a

                                                                                   new Life List (which will be different to your original list) and carry out all the Parts and

                                                                                   Steps of this process to create a second Plan. You can use whatever resources you have

                                                                                   spare (time, cost, effort) to start work on this second Plan. This can get complicated when

                                                                                   you are trying to compare the relative importance to yourself of elements from two 

                                                                                   different plans. if you find it too complicated,  then don’t create a second Plan - allow yourself

                                                                                   the free time while  you are working on your original Plan. Remember work at YOUR pace. 

                                                - If ‘no’ you are not happier, wait until the next check and if the response is still ‘no’ then stop doing the top

                                                   action in your plan. If  your next check also is “‘no’ then go back to Part 2 -STEP 1 and rebuild your Plan,

                                                   but do not include the top action (that you have just stopped doing) in your new list of possible actions.

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When you have finished your original Plan, first give yourself a huge pat on the back. You have accomplished something brilliant - you have

Improved Your Life! Congratulations!!

Now, but only if you need to, start right at the beginning (Part 1 - STEP 1) and generate a new Life List (which will be different to your original

list) and carry out all the Parts and Steps of this process to create a new Plan.