In a previous post, I mentioned the Dream G.P.S. method of creating a plan for accomplishing dreams. But I was remiss in not sharing the other “P”.
About 10 years ago when I was building a podcast for a business owner, I heard one of his interviewees mention that they used a “G.P.S.” method for goal achievement. But their original GPS stood for “Goal, Plan, System”. I realized the other day that I forgot to mention this because it is a somewhat important distinction.
As you might recall, I have the P stand for “Process” instead of “Plan”. Why is that? What is the difference?
At first glance, a Plan and Process might seem fairly similar. After all, they both deal with how to accomplish a goal.
And, you could also argue that since the “S” standard for “System”, anything that isn’t covered in the “Plan” that deals with processes for accomplishing a goal would be covered within your system.
But I guess that for me, a Process is just a bit more focused on the how and method of achieving a goal than a Plan is. A plan is for some, just a slightly more detailed goal. It can carry as little weight as a casual intention might.
“I plan to be better” is almost as vague as “I dream of being better”.
But with Process, you are focused on HOW you are going to be “better”. It isn’t just an intention, but it is the method by which your goal will be achieved.
And so, that is the main reason I changed the original acronym from Plan to Process.
But since I wanted to give fair credit to the original idea of the G.P.S., I felt it was necessary to share what it used to stand for.
And, I’ll be honest, but I don’t remember exactly who gave me that idea. The podcast was The Houseflipping HQ Podcast with Justin Williams, but I don’t recall who he interviewed that gave me that initial spark. (I don’t even know if that podcast still exists!)
So, there you have it. Next time, I’ll try to continue my original train of thought and share a bit more about the BMS(S) of my goal-setting system.