Let’s talk about something that’s absolutely crucial for your success – whether that’s in business, your career, or your personal life. And that’s having a proper action plan.
Now, I know what you’re thinking, Connor, that sounds basic, tell me something I don’t already know, but tell me when was the last time you ticked off your to-do list? And when did you get through a task fully before you were interrupted by your team or clients, or a million other things?
Every minute, every hour and every day there will be distractions, challenges and opportunities that stop you from achieving what you set out to do. It’s easy to get side-tracked, because it feels right to solve a problem immediately or follow that dopamine rush when you explore something new.
Often these are the easiest paths to being “busy”, getting your day in, but when you look back 10 years from now will these distractions take you further away from your goals or towards them?
I think we both know the answer.
You see, I know what it feels like because I too was in your shoes. I thought I was building the business of my dreams but I was doing so without a plan. I was stressed out working 100 hour weeks and at the end of it, I’d barely moved the agency forward.
In this article, I’m diving deep into practical steps that you can put into action right away to move your business and personal ambitions forward. We’re talking about moving from stressed-out, working yourself into oblivion, to strategic success. Sound good?
I’m going to walk you through my proven 8-step framework that covers everything from defining crystal-clear goals to daily execution. These are the exact steps I used to build my agency and achieve early retirement.
Step 1: Define Exactly What You Want
Let me ask you something: have you ever felt completely overwhelmed by the massive scale of what you want your business to become? Join the club. So many agency owners get stuck here. The key? Clarity. Without it, you’re like a ship without a compass, drifting aimlessly.
This reminds me of a Sunday afternoon back in 2009. I was sitting in this very room, laptop open, just staring blankly. I had this vague dream of making a six-figure income, but it felt a bit silly thinking about this when I hadn’t made my first pound yet. In short this goal felt too far away. Saying “I want to earn more money” was just not specific enough. So, I took a different approach. I asked myself exact questions. How many clients? What revenue target? What else in life mattered? Health, personal growth? That clarity lit a fire under me. And it stuck with me ever since.
Take a moment right now and think about your goals. I challenge you! Grab a pen and write down three clear, specific goals across different parts of your life. Trust me, clarity isn’t just a buzzword; it’s the difference between dreaming and doing.
And I’ll share mine with you now also
My first goal is family. I didn’t get the work-life balance correct when I was running my business. Today it’s flipped a full 180. I take my daughter to school, travel extensively and we spend time together as a family. Sounds pretty basic, but these are the things I cherish most. By the age of 18, your children will have spent 90% of the time with you that they ever will. And you’re building your own dream, so where do your parents come into this? Rarely is the answer.
My second goal is fitness. I used to be fit. After 15 years of agency life, I was markedly less so. Over the past year, I have focused on consistency of fitness training. Gym 3-4 times a week, 10k steps as often as possible. I make this part of my routine and if anyone wants a meeting with me, the sure fire way is to say we’ll get out steps in.
Finally, my third goal is financial. If you follow me on socials you’ll know that this business is set up to afford the first two goals first and foremost, but I also want to achieve more financially. In short, I want to buy a villa in Spain. I have a very specific target in mind and my current financial goal is to save and invest enough to buy this in a few years time. I know exactly the value I have and the value I need to earn to be comfortable with that purchase.
Are you specific with your goals? If not, it’s time to be. And remember life changes. Your goals today may not be tomorrow’s, but the real power in our effort comes with constant focus over years not days.
Step 2: Write Down Your Goals
Now, here’s a stunning stat for you! Only 3% of adults actually write their goals down. I understand it, because so few of us are goals setters and even fewer are active in their approach to achieving them. But even still, I find that a little bit mental.
But if you think about it, you’re reading this article because you’re ambitious. Most people have dreams, but they may not have the will or drive to make them happen. You’re not them.
When I first started my business, I thought writing down a big goal like being able to retire at 40 made me vulnerable, almost like putting a target on my back. I told my friends and my family this is what I set out to achieve. There was a lot of vocal concern and I’m sure many people doubted it would ever happen. But for me, the opposite happened.
The moment I committed my goals to paper, they became real and tangible. I could see myself hitting that mark, standing in my office, patting myself on the back. This mental visualisation created a subconscious magnet drawing the right opportunities and people to me.
And when I hit this goal many of those I originally spoke to acknowledged I did the thing I set out to do.
But please don’t let me fool you into believing I had it all figured out. I didn’t and I still don’t. I’ve made many mistakes and learned from them. And I see many people making the same mistakes daily.
But by far, the biggest mistake most people make is that they keep their goals floating around in their head or stuck in vague thoughts. A goal without a plan is just a dream. But that’s not entirely your fault. What I often see business owners do is get lost in daily chaos without this crucial step completed and they just never get round to doing it.
I can see you nodding along and saying, “Yes, I’ve been there, or I’m there right now!” It helps to know we’re all on this journey together, and even I who’s walked the journey just a few steps in front of you often feel like that now.
I talk about planning a lot and planning is the key to achieving your goals. Because if you often create a plan in a moment of calm or focus, then when chaos strikes, you have a document you can revert back to. And I can tell you there will always be a curveball or another challenge around the corner. Having a plan and reviewing it when needed helps a lot.
So I urge you. If you do nothing more than commit your goals to paper after reading this article, this will be the biggest change you can make.
Step 3: Set Deadlines
Alright, now let’s talk accountability. If you’re serious about smashing your goals, you need deadlines. But… and this is important! Don’t beat yourself up if timelines need adjusting. Deadlines are guides, not handcuffs.
I set a business plan in 2015 for the next phase of our business. We called it project 2020 and it was a 5 year plan to remove myself from the business and to elevate the position of key team members to support our goal. It was just a few pages long, but it identified what needed to happen for this to be done and what this looked like for me.
Looking back now, we achieved everything set out in the document, but it was not a straight line to success. It was anything but. And yet when we had challenges or opportunities in front of us, we weighed them up against the plan. Will these take us closer or further away from the goal and how do we change this to suit us more.
I can’t count the number of times agency owners have told me they set impossible deadlines and then got discouraged. I told everyone at school I was going to be a millionaire by the age of 30. I missed that deadline, but it taught me a huge lesson. I took that big goal of £1,000,000 and broke it down. “How much per year? Per month? Day?” It’s the same in business. Whether your goal is to replace your salary, to make 6 figures or to hit 5 million. Breaking it down makes everything feel manageable and gives you laser-focused motivation. And the secret? Readjust this as needed. Because life happens, and your destination is just a part of the journey.
Which actually brings me to my next point
Step 4: Enjoy The Journey
The biggest mistake I made in my quest for business growth and my own goals was not enjoying the journey enough. I did a lot of things and bought many nice things along the way, but the truth is my attention was laser-focused on business and to the detriment of many other things. Primarily, my fitness. Today I’ve totally flipped that around. I’m the first to tell you you need to work hard, but also to take time away from the business, doing the things you love.
The goal will always be at the same place, so the length of time it takes to get there doesn’t really matter.
Step 5: Build Your Success Checklist
Now it’s time to get detailed with a list of everything you need to hit your goals. When I set my sights on our first milestone, which was £100k, I first underestimated the amount of work it would take to get there. But as I wrote down every task, resource, and skill, things got clearer.
I used to come back from holidays with mind-maps drawn out that must have looked a little bit crazy to anyone else, but to me they provided clarity.
Because it’s eye-opening to see your obstacles and opportunities mapped out and the inter dependencies in your business identified.
It helps you understand what tasks are needed and how to prioritise them to maximise efficiency.
Here’s a pro tip: prioritise using the 80/20 rule, because 80% of your results will come from just 20% of your tasks. Focus on those high-impact activities first. But I appreciate it takes time, trial and error to understand these, so as you progress along your journey try to understand those activities that drive value in your business far greater than your input.
And I’ll admit, this tip is as much a reminder for me as it is for you. Up until very recently, I edited all of my own videos. It’s something I enjoy, but I’m not the best editor and it takes me hours to work through every one. My time is best spent speaking to clients and supporting them. If I were advising a client, I’d make a strong suggestion that they outsource this work.
I may still edit this video, but in doing so, am I missing tasks that would get me to my goals quicker? The answer is yes.
What I want you to do now is to jot down the top five things that will get you closer to your goals starting today!
Step 6: Create An Actionable Plan
Okay, you’ve got your basic list, now let’s turn those tasks into an actionable plan. Organise it by priority and sequence. Trust me, spending time planning upfront saves you ten times the effort later on.
Here’s my system: plan monthly, weekly, and daily. At the start of the month, I lay out my big targets. Each weekend, I map my week. Every evening, I write down my top priorities for the next day. I add the tasks to Apple Notes and prioritise these daily. They are my non-negotiables, and when I started this in 2009, and I wouldn’t say my productivity skyrocketed, but it was 100 times more consistent, and that’s what matters. Every day I made progress. Sometimes it was to plan, others not, but one step forward is better than none. And that brings us to the most critical step of all…
Step 7: Daily Execution
Each day, you have to engage with your plan. When you sit down to set priorities, ask yourself: “If I can do only one thing today, what’s the most important?” This focus question is something I ask myself every day. Sometimes I’ll lie to myself, but on reflection I know what moves my business forward.
And it doesn’t matter what stage of your journey you’re at, distractions will be a major issue. But by being able to identify one or two tasks that must happen and holding yourself accountable to doing them, your progress will compound. I’m a bit of a nerd, and I tracked progress and checked off tasks on a regular basis. I even had a little net worth spreadsheet from 2009 to now with my exact progress from then to now.
The important thing in all of this is to stay flexible and shift when needed. It’s not about perfection, it’s about persistence.
So here’s my challenge: starting tomorrow morning, before you check your phone or emails, write down your ONE most important task for the day. Do this for seven days straight and track your progress. Then let me know in the comments – what was your “one thing” on day one, and how did it feel to tackle it first?
Step 8: Bring It All Together
So there you have it – my complete 8-step framework for mastering your action plan. Let me quickly recap what we’ve covered so you can start implementing this right away:
- Define exactly what you want – clarity leads to achievement
- Write down your goals – join the elite 3%
- Set deadlines – but stay flexible with your timelines
- Enjoy the journey – none of us gets out of here alive
- Build your success checklist – use the 80/20 rule to prioritise
- Create an actionable plan – schedule monthly, weekly, and daily
- Daily execution – focus on your highest-impact task each day
- Bring it all together – review and adjust as needed
Your Next Steps
Now here’s what I want you to do right now. Take a moment to reflect on your goals. From your list, write down your top priorities, set a deadline, and list the ONE main task you’ll tackle tomorrow that moves you closer to achieving it.
If this 8-step framework resonated with you, I want to see you put it into action. Leave a comment below telling me which step you’re going to tackle first and share this article with someone who could benefit from a clearer action plan.
Remember, having a plan isn’t enough – execution is everything.
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