The Checklist of Conceptual Tools Needed for Your Personal Action Plan
Have you got everything you need for your journey? What are the essential conceptual tools that you need to succeed? Do you have a checklist of everything you need?
Having gone through all seven questions in The Right Questions Framework we can now review all the tools. This acts as a checklist, ensuring that we have considered each tool and have the answers we need to proceed.
The Packing Checklist Tool: ensuring we have the kit we need for the journey
This is also why we have tools within the framework. On our journey, we can bring out the tools we need at any point to help us and update our plans. So, we can think of this stage as a bit like packing our bags ready for the journey.
” Be Prepared” – the Scouting Motto
Every time I set out on a journey, I carefully pack beforehand. To aid me in this I employ a kit list and check off each item as I go. The first time I was required to use a kit list was as a Scout. We were given a list of equipment and then we had to lay out each item smartly in front of us, ready for inspection.
The lesson I learnt in Scouts was reinforced in my military service and employed on my various adventures. I have found checklists so useful that I even create checklists for my family when we go on holiday. It might sound excessive, but it does work!
So now we are going to do something similar. We will follow a checklist of The Right Questions framework to ensure we have answered all the questions, to remind ourselves of the tools, and to reflect upon our answers. This will then allow us to bring everything together into one place and develop our action plan.
In summary, the questions and sections are:
- Why – passions, priorities, personal stories and principles
- Where – where from, now, going to, and the whole journey
- What – mission, purpose, goal and success
- Which – option, risk, fear, course of action
- How – tasks, steps, resources
- When – time, practice, prioritising
- Who – self, network, guide and junto
So now let’s review each section and the related tool used to explore our answers.
Master the Tool:
- Make sure you have your workbook or notes to hand
- Follow through the list below and click on the hyperlinks to the tools if you want to refresh yourself on how to use the tool
- Review your previous answers for each tool. Edit, amend or supplement your work as you go as this iteration of thinking prompts deeper and layered insights.
The Right Questions Framework Checklist
The Right Questions
The first tool is actually the framework itself that acts like a backpack that encompasses all the other tools.
Why?
Passions
What are your passions? The Spark Tool helped us look at the idea of vocation. To identify our vocation, we look for the overlap between what we love to do, what people need help with and what we can get paid for.
Priorities
To understand our priorities, we use The Magnifying Glass Tool and analyse how we spend our time and money.
Personal story
Our personal stories give us insights into what shapes and motivates us. We examine our past using The Hero’s Journey Tool and think about:
- Departure. What were we like when we started?
- Initiation. What adversity did we overcome and how did it shape us?
- Return. How did we learn and grow through our experience?
Principles
We look at principles to identify that core values that inform our decisions. To do this we use The Moral Compass Tool. This tool helps us consider common principles and then work out our top 3-5 personal values.
Where?
From
When considering our situation the first question we ask is where have we come from? We do this using The Logbook Tool. By using our CV or resume we identify the key milestones in our life and work.
Now
To consider our present situation we use The GPS Tool and conduct a personal SWOT analysis. We identify our strengths and weaknesses and reflect upon the opportunities and threats that we face.
Going
To think about the future and where we are going we use The Picture Photo Tool to create a vision statement. To do this look at a snapshot of 1 day, 1 year and 1 life.
The big picture
We then assemble all the aspects of ‘where’ with The Map Tool, to capture our journey’s past, present and future.
What?
Mission
To create our personal mission statement we use The Binoculars Tool and craft something memorable and measurable.
Purpose
To think about our life purpose, we use The T-Shirt Tool to come up with a slogan that summarises what we are about.
Target/goal
To explore and decide upon our life goals we use The Torch Tool, asking illuminating questions to focus on what is important.
Success
Success is about achieving the right balance and to do this we use The Activity Monitor Tool to manage our heart, mind, body and soul.
Which?
Options
To consider the different possible options available to achieve our goals we use The Multi-Tool to help us brainstorm ideas.
Risk
To think about risk we use the Emergency Spare and Repairs Kit Tool and identify the critical risks and how we mitigate them.
Worst case/fear
To address our fears, we use The First Aid Kit Tool to consider what a worst-case scenario could be and remember to breathe, think and do.
Courses of Action (CoA)
Next, pulling all the facets of the ‘which’ question together, we use The Guidebook Tool and develop our best courses of action (CoAs).
How?
Tasks
The next step is to develop our outline course of action into a plan and we start doing this by using The Route Card Tool to identify the milestones, tasks and activities needed to achieve our goal.
Steps
We break down the plan even further to make it actionable. To do this we identify the next small but important action using The STEP Tool.
Resources
Now we can go back to The Route Card Tool and consider the resources needed for each task and activity. This gives us an idea of the money, muscle and material needed to succeed.
When?
Time
To think about when we act, we use The Watch Tool and start to turn actions into habits. This ensures that we make steady progress towards our goal.
Practice
Then we use The Sunglasses Tool to help us elevate our habits into deliberate practice and maximise the effectiveness of our time.
Schedule/programme
We can now use The Calendar Tool to prioritise our tasks, assess how much time they will take and schedule them into our diary or calendar.
Who?
Self
The passport or ID Card Tool helps us to understand ourselves better by utilising personal reflection, input from people who know us and personality tests.
Network
The Team List Tool highlights the key roles that a high-performing team needs and helps us consider who in our network can fulfil these functions.
Guide
The Guide is one of the most important roles to consider. They act as a life coach, directly supporting us in achieving our goals, and the 4Cs help us to select the right person.
Junto
The Junto is a group of people who provide mutual support as they strive to develop themselves and their situations. Having a Junto can further accelerate your progress and improve your chances of success.
The Action Plan Checklist: The Complete Workbook
Having listed all the tools and the related answers in a workbook, we have created an action plan. This plan gives us the big picture and the immediate details. It has the vision of what we want to achieve and the steps we need to take.
Mastering the tool: reviewing your answers to The Right Questions
Remember, the action plan does not have to be fixed. The Right Questions approach is designed to be cyclical and iterative. In other words, we periodically review, amend and update our answers, taking into account changes in the situation or more information as it comes to light.
Therefore, the best thing to do now is to plan a 30 and 90 day review into your diary. Put aside at least an hour (and longer if you can manage it) when you can take some proper time out, without distractions, to reflect on your answers, your plan and your progress.
But before we don’t want to procrastinate and endlessly plan. We want action. And that is why it is time to take your next step forward. So, what are you waiting for? You know what you need to do; seize the day!
Good luck with your adventure! You can do it!
“You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – Winnie the Pooh (A. A. Milne)
If you have any subsequent questions, or would like any further support, please do contact me via the contact page.