The 90-Day Success Plan

We’re getting ready to close out September – the end of the third quarter of the year. You might remember the quarterly time frame is an important structure for me, and I believe it should be important to you, too. If you’re intentional about living your best life, then I believe it’s important to develop accountability structures to measure your success. Quarterly planning is one of the most important tools you can use to create long-term success in your life.

I’m writing this from San Diego, where I’m investing a few days evaluating the third quarter of 2021, and planning for the fourth quarter. There are 92 days left in the year, and I want to make sure I’m not only doing everything I can to finish the year strong, but also start to think about what I want 2022 to look like.

Quarterly planning is one of my “recurring themes,” so I’ve written about it before. This time, I want to discuss the structure itself. I hope doing so will provide a basic framework for your own planning, and highlight a few key points to think about in relation to that planning.

WHEN? (& WHY?)

We’ve covered this already, but I recommend engaging in this type of planning every 90 days. Why? Because 90 days is a long enough timeframe to make significant progress toward your desired outcome, but short enough that, if for some reason you fall short, you’re able to quickly regroup and get back on track.

I’m a big believer in annual planning (which I do on January 1 every year), and monthly, weekly and daily planning, too. But quarterly planning for me has had the greatest positive impact on creating the results I want to achieve. I hope you have that same level of success with the process.

WHERE?

I’ve been doing quarterly planning a long time, and I first discovered this process when I attended a program in San Diego. It’s ironic that I’m back in San Diego this quarter, writing about “place.”

The important aspect of place is that you are conducting this planning free of distraction. Because I started out traveling to a “destination,” I continue to do that today. Personally, I’ve found that a remote location helps me to focus my time on planning. In addition, this serves as a mini-vacation, free from the challenges and responsibilities of everyday life.

Depending on the location, I also build in recreation, sightseeing, and visiting friends and relatives. The challenge here is to make sure you stay focused on the main reason you’re there. If you’re at Disney World for an entire day instead of engaging in planning, then it’s really a vacation, not a quarterly planning retreat.

I realize that it would be far more cost-effective to do this closer to home, or even at home. If you have the discipline to focus on planning for a couple days, and can free yourself of distractions during that time, then this planning can certainly be done at home, at a local library, or even a coffee shop in your area.

WHAT?

The format of your review and planning can also vary. For example, I’ve been working the past few months on a specific program that will launch in the next month or so. Because of this, my focus on this particular quarterly review will be on what my desired outcomes will be in the next 90 (well, 92, to be exact) days, and what I need to do to achieve those outcomes. You might have something you’d like to achieve by the end of the year, so your planning for the fourth quarter could be oriented around that.

Your planning for the fourth quarter could also be related to preparing for next year. As you begin thinking about 2022, are there things that need to happen in the next three months to prepare yourself for a great start to the year? Maybe you need to hire someone to fill a specific need in your company. Or perhaps there’s a particular piece of software or equipment you need to prepare for success in 2022. Maybe there are some structural changes that need to take place in your organization.

This “future planning” isn’t just for your business. What has to happen in your personal life to prepare for 2022? What changes can you make over the next 2-3 months to make sure you’re on solid ground going into the new year? What else is showing up for you as you think about the “what?”

HOW?

The most important thing to say here is “Get it on the calendar!” Like many aspects of our lives that are important but not urgent, if you don’t schedule it, then it won’t get done.

Take out your calendar, and pick five weekends (or whatever 1-2 day timeframe works best for you) in the next 15 months to engage in quarterly planning. You can move the dates around a bit later, if needed. But at least you’ll have the framework mapped out. Add your location(s) in, too, if you’d like. 

I hope you’ll develop this 90-day structure as one of your tools, and that it will support you in achieving success – however you define it. Please email me, or share your success in the comments below. I’d love to hear how this tool has impacted you!