A Planning System
My mother used to tell me about mind over matter. She used to say our minds are stronger than matter. Now I tell her it means I don't mind, you don't matter. Just wanting something is not enough, there has to be a way of getting it. What my mother was trying to tell me is that if you have a plan and are determined you will achieve your plan.
The Lotto and poker machines - gambling - is a tax on those who are poor at mathematics and planning. Just wishing for something is not enough and spending money on things that have a negative return, like gambling, is a recipe for failure and poverty.
Plans must obey the laws of nature - The framework of Reality.
The world we live in, our reality, is highly structured and processes change this structure. This means that there are only two types of knowledge, the knowledge of structures and the knowledge of processes. Trying to understand a process as though it is a structure creates nonsense results. Understanding how things are and how things change is the complete picture - there is not anything else. A good plan defines what outcome is desired and how to achieve that outcome. The implementation of a plan requires that activities are performed which implement the plan.
In nature activities fall into four categories. These are undoable, doable, doing and done.
Undoable
Working at doing an undoable task is a waste of time and effort. If it is undoable and it is also important then a plan is required that makes the undoable task doable. If this task is not achievable or too expensive then give it up.
Doable
Some things are worth doing and some things are not. tasks are:-
Where people go wrong is that they do the urgent tasks first and the important ones get left and are often not done.
Doing
The now is where things happen, they do not happen in the past or future, they happen now. Now is the most important time and is when those tasks that are doable should be done. This is where time management and efficiencies are required to maximise achievement.
Done
When something is done that is it. The only thing we can do about it is learn from it and collect a profit from it by invoicing for it. In business the job is not done till the paper work is finished. Being upset by things that went wrong is wasting our negative emotions. Carrying the past forward where it punishes us is not wise. We should be focused on what should be done next and how we can learn from the past and profit in the future.
A plan:
The outcome. The goal. How things are to change.
This is what the plan aims to achieve. This is a well defined statement of what we want. The outcome has to be well defined and realistic.
The Process. How we get there. How the plan is achieved.
This process of planning requires a lot of thought experiment and implementation modeling. We should be trying to identify all possible ways of achieving our desired outcomes.
Brainstorming is a process of writing down every idea, even silly ones. It helps to have other people working with you because this is an effort of coming up with all possible ways of achieving the outcome.
Then, after the brainstorming process is an evaluation including a blending of ideas to achieve an implementation plan.
A plan needs performance constant monitoring and updating. It is important to set time lines and achievement targets with regular evaluations of the performance and modification of the plan.
Expect the unexpected - our world is chaotic.
The process nature of the world is not smooth and totally predictable. Unexpected things can happen. We live in a far from equilibrium environment and in an environment like this strange things can come into existence where the energy gradient is very high. Storms exist where the atmospheric energy gradient is highest and "live" off this energy gradient. The weather is chaotic and for more information research chaos theory. The path a storm travels follows the highest available atmospheric energy gradient. Eddy currents around boats exist where the water energy gradient exceeds a smooth flow limit. In high energy gradients new entities come into existence and this applies to life on this earth also.
Our stock market is chaotic. A wave of fear can spread through the market and cause share prices to drop rapidly. The further away from equilibrium something moves the more dramatic can be the event that restores equilibrium. A company that is highly leveraged with debt only requires a small incident to bring on itself financial chaos. All it takes is for the finance company to fear that they have been lied to about the financials for them to decide to take back their loaned funds. A malicious comment by staff with ill intent can do it. The Sub Prime problem in the US has driven the financial system there far from equilibrium with billions of dollars of loans not supported by assets and income. As the system restores its equilibrium economic chaos occurs, the financial storm will cause economic fear that reduces economic demand for goods and services decreasing sales and causing recession. Companies that are highly leveraged with debt are the most likely to fail.
A good plan aims to stay close to equilibrium where existence is more stable.