The 7 steps framework for your Personal Transformation

Millions of individuals all over the world set resolutions every year in January. Only a small percentage of people follow through on their plans and achieve their objectives. Why? The majority of the time, the goals are either too big or they are working on too many at once. When you don’t see results after a few weeks, your motivation wanes, and you quit your ambitions. The key to reaching your objectives is to adhere to them in a well-structured and planned manner.

“First?comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination.”?~ Napoleon Hill

What if I told you that there is a pragmatic, simple, and effective way to organize and attain your goals?

The approach I recommend is based on Agile values and principles and you don’t need any fancy tools or Apps to do it. All you need is maybe an hour to set up, some basic organization, strong commitment, and personal accountability. In this article, I will walk you through everything you need to create an approach that is?guaranteed to work! This approach is called Personal Kanban.

What is Personal Kanban?

It’s a simplified time and productivity system that enables you to see tasks and events on the board. It is built on three practical foundations — continuous improvement, visualizing the job, and proactive management of work-in-progress (WIP). Personal Kanban is fairly easy to use and can improve your focus, efficiency, and personal productivity. (See example in reference)

How Personal Kanban can help you…

There is no magic in Personal Kanban. It is a very simple system that helps you achieve more. The foundation is three simple guardrails — Visualize your work, Limit your work in progress (WIP), and focus on continuous improvement. That’s it! The visualization helps you to see our journey clearly. We already know that multitasking doesn’t work. Take 1 or 2 items, work on them till they are complete, and then add another! Like the mirror, your board won’t lie. The reality check helps you make adjustments based on what you see. Limiting WIP helps you focus on what is important and reduces distractions. Continuous improvement helps you overcome any bumps on the road and enhance your journey.

Are you ready to roll?

Let’s do it! All you need to do is follow the seven easy steps to start making progress on your personal transformation journey. The biggest challenge faced by a majority of people is the fear of change. The struggle is real, but you have to start somewhere. Focus on the positive outcomes, and make your mind ready to not just start the journey, but make a deep commitment to staying the course and putting a fight, and achieve success.

The 7 Pragmatic steps-

Step 1: Start with the vision -Take a step back and start with a holistic vision. Look at the wide spectrum of everything that defines your being. It is easy to overlook the most important aspects of your life. Look through the lens of Family, Career, Financial, Personal relationships, Health, Spiritual and other aspects. You may not need to work on all but assessing where you stand in these areas can help you make balanced goals. Identify what is important to you.

Step 2: Create a backlog of goals! -From the areas you identified, think about what you want to work on. Think about why it is important to you. Start writing them down in no particular order. It helps if you can make them measurable. Even better if you can write them as SMART goals!?(Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound). Don’t filter your thoughts too much at this point, you are just creating a list. Thinking of barriers and impediments in advance is really helpful. The ‘Definition of Done' is very important! Don't skip that.

Step 2: Prioritize your backlog. -Now that you’ve made a list, it’s time to figure out what really matters. There are various methods for prioritizing, but the most straightforward is to use an Urgent vs. Important grid (aka Eisenhower Decision Matrix). It is critical to assess your priorities carefully; it is all too easy to fall into the trap of scoring everything high!

For prioritization do consider other parameters too... Are there any backlog items that may require assistance or have dependencies, for example? Do certain actions necessitate the completion of others? Consider what will make you happy and give you a sense of accomplishment.

Step 3: Identify the action steps for each goal. -After you’ve prioritized your goals, think about how you’ll achieve them. What are the processes and tasks that must be completed to achieve each goal? It helps if you also timebox your activities. Make sure they’re doable in a reasonable length of time. If a task will take you more than a week to complete, think about how you can split it down even further. Otherwise, you may be impacted by Parkinson’s law?“work expands so as to fill the time which is available for its completion”

Step 4: Put them on your board. -Determine the tool you prefer to use for your own Kanban board in order to accomplish this. Physical tools like a simple board made on the wall with painter's tape, or a whiteboard are popular. Many people use boards on digital devices that facilitate online interaction. This can be a spreadsheet, a smartphone app, OneNote, or an online Kanban board such as Trello.

There are really nice physical Kanban Boards available to buy as well. (See reference). Start writing your activities on cards and placing them on your board when you’ve determined your tool of choice. Make sure you adhere to the priority and sequence you had set out for yourself ahead of time.

Step 5: Start pulling tasks from your board. -You can now begin moving work items (activities) jobs across the columns of your personal Kanban board! Make sure you don’t take on too many activities at once. Focusing on one activity before moving on to the next is a smart technique. This helps you develop the discipline you’ll need to succeed with your Kanban system. Agilists often say?‘Start finishing and Stop starting’. This approach will assist you in finishing your activities efficiently.

Step 6: Take action! -You just have one or two things to work on.?Start working on them. Anything you do to make progress counts.?This is where the magic happens! Small steps lead to huge changes. Remember to timebox these actions and finish them in short cycles. Once you are done, update your board, pull in a new card. And don’t forget to celebrate your mini success!

Seven tips to enhance your chances of success

Change is hard. But if you plan well and work smartly, then success will be yours. These seven tips can really improve your journey, and help you achieve your goals efficiently.

1. Prioritization is vital. If everything is a priority, nothing is a priority. Choosing your goals and limiting them to just a few catalyzes success. Evaluate your options, and carefully identify what is most important to you, your family, finances, career, etc.
2. A goal without accountability and action is just a wish. Let’s face it: nobody can, or will achieve your goals for you other than you. The buck stops with you. There is no point in creating goals if you are not going to put in the effort. Think about what can get in the way of attaining your goals or what support you may need along the way.
3. You need a definition of DONE!?Creating nebulous, vague, open-ended goals is useless. They should be specific, measurable, and realistic. Agile methods use something called ‘Definition of Done’ (DOD)- It is the criteria to determine whether you actually finished the job. For example: If your goal is to lose weight. The DOD could be A. Lose 15 lbs B. Go down 2 dress sizes 3. Fit in the Jeans from 2018 etc.
4. Visualizing your goals helps!?Human minds work in strange ways. A goal written in your diary doesn’t do much to drive you. Imagine you had a Visual board with your goals, journey, current actions, and accomplishments! Will that help you?
5. Break down your goals into smaller chunks. Big lofty goals don’t get started, but small activities do. When you finish these small activities, you will not only feel great, but it will motivate you to tackle the next activities! Celebrate along the way.
6. Take proactive actions (vs. procrastinating)?Don’t wait for that perfect day to start. Don’t be a victim of ‘student syndrome’! Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Start today! What’s stopping you? Start with a small activity, and don’t stop till you finish it.
7. Retrospect regularly.?While the destination is important, the journey is equally important. Take the time to pause and reflect to see what went well and what did not. Doing this will help you learn more about yourself and may reveal some blind spots for you.

Every journey starts with the first step!

“If nothing changes, nothing changes. If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’re going to keep getting what you’re getting. You want change, make some.”

― Courtney C. Stevens

Take yours! Your personal Transformation journey does not have to be complicated or tough. The integration of Personal Kanban and the prioritization approach can help you focus where it matters the most and will help you succeed with positive changes in your personal, social, and professional life.

Meeting your objectives is an exciting and gratifying adventure that you can embark on right now if you have the correct mindset, dedication, and a trustworthy method like Personal Kanban.

Are you ready to take the first step??It definitely becomes easier after the first step! There is no right or wrong time to start your personal transformation journey! Whenever you start it is the right time. We hope that in 2022 and the years ahead, you will be able to shake things up and achieve whatever resolution or goal you set for yourself.?Get Started Today!

I have written this step-by-step guide to help you and is easy to follow. However, if you need assistance please reach out to me! As an experienced Agile and Life coach, I can definitely help. We could plan for a professional coaching session.

About the Author:?Toby V Rao is a Washington DC-based agile leader, speaker, and community builder. He is the founder and principal consultant of TORA Solutions, a boutique Agile company. He specializes in developing the capability of individuals, teams, and organizations through coaching and consulting. He is a certified Executive Coach, Agile Coach, Emotional Intelligence Coach, and a certified NLP practitioner.

Toby helps organizations achieve their strategic goals by utilizing modern approaches to drive business agility and deliver tangible business value. He is passionate about helping people, teams, and organizations improve their capabilities through coaching, advising, training, and mentoring. See more details at?www.tobyrao.com

References:

1. Eisenhower decision matrix:?https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_91.htm

2. Student syndrome:?https://solvingprocrastination.com/student-syndrome/

3. Parkinson’s law:?https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_91.htm

4. Personal Kanban: Personal Kanban Mapping Work, Navigating Life by Jim Benson, Tonianne DeMaria Barry;https://www.amazon.com/Personal-Kanban-Mapping-Work-Navigating/dp/1453802266/

5. Kanban?https://kanbanize.com/kanban-resources/getting-started/what-is-kanban

6. Trello?https://trello.com/b/C4Awm5lK/kanban-board

7. Personal Kanban Example:?https://kanbantool.com/personal-kanban-board

8. Buy a Nomad Personal Kanban Board?https://shop.nomad8.com/collections/boards

9. Kanban Guide?https://kanbanguides.org/html-kanban-guide/

10. Personal Agility?https://www.hrdconnect.com/2020/06/02/the-importance-of-personal-agility-in-the-changing-world-of-work/