What do you do before bed? Most people are scrolling their phones or watching something on TV. And that’s fine to do sometimes–I am definitely guilty of it. I LOVE catching up on my fave TV shows, and hey–it’s research for actors, right?

But what we NEED to be doing is PLANNING OUR DAY. What do we need to accomplish tomorrow in order to reach out long-term goals?

No, I don’t mean your “To Do List” with laundry and groceries on it. You’ll do those things, too–we all have to. But what you need to work on is WHO you want to be.

See, to do that, we need to be clear on who that person is. Are you an award-winning actor? A serial entrepreneur with multiple six-figure businesses? A parent who perfectly balances meals and extra-curricular activities?

Whatever that is, you need to get clear, and precise. I know there are likely many areas in our lives that we’d love to work on, but we need to break that down to no more than THREE. I know, it’s hard! I wanna try and do everything! But if you have too many goals, it can be just as bad as having too few.

It’s as if you’re trying to hit too many parties in one night–can’t do it, or if you do, you’re just popping in to say “Hi” and spending more time on the road than actually having fun. That’s where many of us actually get stuck. Doing too many things half-assed.

So here’s how to successfully plan your day:

1. Clarify who you want to be. Imagine yourself in 3-5 years, if nothing was in your way, what would your life look like? Who are you surrounded by? How are you sustaining a living? What sort of activities do you do?
   
2. Set three main priorities. Of that future, what is most important? Money? Career? Family? Health? Pick THREE.
   
3. Set specific quantifiable goals. That means something you can actually measure. Vague statements like “I want to be successful” doesn’t really help. “I want to be running a six-figure business.” is better, because you can do the math to see if you’ve reached it. More importantly, you can also break that down to “Since my goal is six-figure business within 3-5 years, what do I need to do this year to get there?”

Once you’ve set those goals, you can now break it down to smaller chunks. Quarterly, monthly, weekly, and DAILY! This requires setting time aside at those intervals to break down your goals. So once you’ve figured out your main purpose, you need to take the time to break it down into tangible, actionable items that don’t leave things to chance. Who are you going to meet? What courses do you need to take? How much money do you need to invest? It’s going to require some research and some trial and error, but it will be worth it. Because when you sit down at the end of your day, week, month, year–you get to look back and see all that you’ve achieved.

This is your fuel to your fire. This is how dreams are realized.