Action is the main source of learning and results. Without action, your strategic planning is doomed to a more acute failure. Thus, it is not right to just have a plan, healthy ambitions, and to identify your strengths and know what constraints you can eliminate. You need to use this knowledge to good effect through action.

But we must not act in just any old way. You must ask yourself, "What actions should I take to get results consistent with the plan I have drawn?” To summarize, the essence of strategic planning is to identify what the best actions to take are, to get where you want.

Persevere No Matter What Happens

Now that you realize you need to work every day, let this not be something that discourages you. Only the most patient have been the greatest visionaries that have achieved phenomenal results in their lives. Of course, the most important thing in terms of your own achievement may not be to invent something revolutionary, but consider this in terms of your own interests and values.

When you decide to adopt good habits every day, you will indeed need to make an active effort, at least initially. But think of a rocket that soars to the stars. If it cuts off its engines during climb, it will fall back to earth.

In contrast, if the thrust of its engines goes on for long enough, the rocket can break away from the influence of gravity, and continue to move at the same speed to the stars without having to use its engines. It's the same with your life. If you persevere long enough, one day you too will get results to the extent that you can afford to reduce your pace without ever falling back to where you started from.

But perseverance doesn’t mean repeating the same mistakes. Remember to exercise your creativity, learn from your failures and pursue your vision even if you need to correct the ways in which you proceed.

Stay Lucid

You're there! You’ve developed a plan and you work on it every day! Congratulations! But don’t just sit on your laurels. Remember - those that do not stop to ask questions quickly stagnate, and lose the results they have so dearly earned. Once you know where to go to, don’t lose sight of your plan.

In closing this article, here are some questions to help you not get lost along the way:

• Is what I get consistent to my values and who I am?
• What do I want to improve in my life and the lives of others?
• If my life and my relationship were perfect, what would it look like?
• What would I do to improve my life, if I were independently wealthy?
• What would I do if I could not ever fail?
• What would I regret not having done by the end of my life?
• What would I do if I suffered from a terminal illness and had only months to live?
• What are the dimensions of my life and my work that give me the most joy and satisfaction every day?
• If I had the perfect schedule, what would my day be like everyday?

Other articles about strategic planning:

• Planning for Success
• Two Fundamental Steps to Succeed your Strategic Planning
• Strategic Planning: The Magic of Goals and Actions Lists
• Strategic Planning for a Tenfold Increase of Your Results