Table of Contents:
1. Introduction
2. What is a playbook?
3. What is the purpose of a playbook?
4. How do you construct a playbook?
5. Final thoughts
Introduction
2024 is moving fast and a lot of you may think you are behind the game in terms of what you want to accomplish in 2024. Don't worry, you are not alone. The good news is that there is still plenty of time for you to make your mark in this new year and accomplish great things. But, to do so, you will need a personal growth plan! What you need is a personal playbook to help you map everything out. When you think of playbooks, you probably think that they are only for sports. Yes, they are often associated with sports, but the way in which they function can also be used for personal growth and accomplishment. So what are they precisely? How can you develop a personal playbook? How can they help you define goal setting? How can they help you achieve your goals in 2024? All of these questions and more will be covered in this post. This is a personal development and growth tool that you should not miss out on if you want to be successful this year.
What is a playbook?
Before we show you how to create your personal playbook for 2024, it is important to first understand what a playbook is in the first place. If you are not familiar with sports, you might not even have heard of a playbook before. Or maybe you have only heard of a playbook as it relates to sports. Although used often in sports, they have several applications and are also commonly used in the business world. A business might use them for example to define their customer service policies or their strategy for growth. According to the Cambridge dictionary, a playbook is "a book containing a team's plans for the game." If we adjust this definition to apply to you personally, your playbook can be defined as a book containing your plan for 2024 or even your life. A personal playbook is a personal growth and strategic weapon for your life.
What is the purpose of a playbook?
Now that we have defined what a playbook is, it is also important to understand why you need one. What is the purpose of having one? Here are 4 reasons why?
1. Provide guidance
A playbook by nature is a strategic book or plan and as such can serve to provide you guidance in your life. It can become your go to book for what you should be doing next. Documenting what things you should do to help you stay on track. They guide you through a well thought out process allowing you to stay on track. They guide you through a self development and personal growth journey that is often times invaluable.
2. Saves you time
When you create a personal playbook, it will save you time when implementing your personal growth plan year after year because you don't have to spend time creating new processes. You can use what you create in your personal playbook this year to help you with your personal growth for years to come. You can use your playbook to avoid making the same mistakes you have made before. Thus saving you time in the long run.
3. Create better success
Having a guide book or playbook can be pivotal to helping you create better success. If you follow what you have created in your book and stick to the procedural nature of them, you will see that you become more productive in meeting your 2024 goals and beyond. Use your playbook to also replicate success in different areas of your life. For example, if you one of the goals in your playbook is to lose weight. Your playbook might help you to break down your goal to include rituals such as length of exercise or foods to consume. Once you master these rituals, you can also use the same plan or setup you created for this goal toward other goals. Playbooks promote benchmarks that you can use to set yourself up for success.
4. Keep you accountable
If you are following your playbook, then it will be easier to see where you fall short. What sorts of things are in your playbook that you are not doing? It can also serve as a checks and balances allowing you to stay on track and stay the course. If your playbook says that you want to do 100 pushups per day as part of your weight loss goals and you find yourself only doing half that, then you are not sticking to your playbook. Time to hold yourself accountable and re-evaluate and make adjustments if necessary. Here is a simple digital download accountability contract that you can use to hold yourself accountable-click here.
How do you construct a playbook?
There are several elements to constructing your personal playbook. They are personal, so adjusting these elements to match who you are as a person and what your goals are is really important. So no one size fits all but if you incorporate these 8 elements in creating your personal playbook, then you should do very well. How you construct your playbook will be based on your self growth plan not someone else's.
A. Vision Statement Definition
In this section of your personal playbook, you would ask yourself the following questions to help you define your vision statement:
- What do you want to happen?
- What does it look like?
- What skills do I have to help me accomplish this vision?
- Who else might benefit from what I am doing?
- How will my vision impact others- Months/Years into the future
Why is a personal vision statement important?
- Gives you well needed guidance
- Creates better impact over your overall goals
- They help to marry short-term and long-term goals
- They set the tone for the rest of your personal playbook
What are examples of personal vision statements?
Personal Vision Statement Example # 1
I will live each day as if it was my last day on earth. I will use my super power to connect with others and learn new things about myself and the people that I love. I will dedicate this year to learning new skills and becoming the guru in my life.
Personal Vision Statement Example # 2
I will devote more time to building a spiritual relationship with God. I will find time each day to practice daily devotion and read at least one chapter of my bible each day. I will use the principles of my Christian faith to help others and grow in fellowship with my church members.
Personal Vision Statement Example # 3
I will seek new ways to learn new things and will increase my networking circle to allow me to grow as a person. I will give more than I receive and devote myself to serving others. I will volunteer to causes that are important to me at least once per week and get involved more, allowing myself to become a change agent.
B. Identity Evaluation & Statement
Without knowing who you are as a person, executing your personal playbook will become more difficult. It will also take away from the personal vision statement that you create for yourself. Questions to ask yourself when evaluating and establishing your identity.
- Who am I?
- What kind of person do I want to be?
- Who do I need to be to get what I want this year?
- Who will I become when I get what I want?
- Who will I be if I work towards my vision each day?
C. Values and Beliefs
Having clearly defined values and beliefs will go a long way in helping you create your personal playbook. Your values and your beliefs help you to live your life with purpose and strategic intention. For this reason, they play a crucial role in everything that you do and create. Here are some key questions to ask yourself when defining your values and beliefs:
- What is really important to me when it comes to_______________?
- What am I living for?
- Do my current values represent who I am at the moment?
- Are my goals consistent with my values? Are they aligned?
- What do I want? At work? At home? In my relationships?
This section of your personal playbook takes into account everything that we have already discussed. The personal goals that you create should be based on your vision, your identity, your values, your capabilities and your ability to execute those goals. That is why creating what we call SMART goals is really important. If you follow this model of goal creation, it will help you to structure this part of your playbook and create better success. So what are SMART goals?
Grab this SMART Goals instant download worksheet to help you create your goals- Click here.
S.M.A.R.T is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely. The reason for using this model to create goals is because it forces you to become very thorough in your personal goal setting activities. A good tip when setting goals is to break them down into manageable parts. For example, if you have a goal to lose weight over 1 year. Break that goal down into daily, weekly and monthly parts. This way you are able to see and track your results better. Sum of parts is key here.
Specific- What do you want to do? What specifically do you want to do?
Measurable- How will you know you have achieved your goals? What is your measuring test?
Achievable- Is it in your power to accomplish your goals? Do you have the capability?
Realistic- Is what you are trying to do realistic? Is your goal a realistic one?
Timely- When exactly do you want to accomplish your goals?
Smart Goals Examples
H. Accountability Contract
In this section of your personal playbook, you create an accountability contract with yourself. This is where you detail how you will hold yourself accountable so that you can accomplish your goals. Key elements of an accountability contract are:
Positive affirmations- A promise to say nice things to yourself to keep things positive
Checklists- A promise to make a list of things you need to do daily, weekly, monthly to accomplish your goals
Visibility & Sharing- A promise to make your goals visible and designate someone to share your goals with. Someone trusted to keep you in check.
Celebration- A promise to celebrate your wins and give yourself some credit for doing a great job.
Reward- A promise to reward yourself for a job well done
Here is a done for you accountability contract that you can customize and hold yourself to your goals- Click here. Also here is a quick read on 5 ways to hold yourself accountable after setting goals.
Final thoughts
Having a personal playbook in 2024 will be a game changer. It is not too late to create one. They will provide you with well needed guidance and allow you to take your 2024 goals to the next level. They will also help you speed up the time in which you accomplish your 2024 goals. If you create a great personal playbook, then replicating them for years to come will be so much easier.
If you are looking for a personal playbook printable- click here.
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