Most executives have a good sense of how to create strategic and operational plans. And they often have the talent to deliver on a good part of their plans in spite of the unpredictable events arising from their environment. However, when I askexecutives about their own business plan, they often answer: What do you mean? A personal business plan? For what? 

I ask them 3 types of thought-provoking questions:

• Your standards—are you good at just surviving, are you merely better than your competitor, or are you truly reaching to fully express your potential?

• Your vision for yourself—if everything worked well for you, where would you be in 3 to 5 years?

• Your plan to get there—what do you need to get to the next level in a minimal amount of time? What bad habits increase your chances to derail, sooner or later? What talents do you need to amplify? Who will help you to identify your blind spots? What actions become priorities on a daily basis?

 Sofia Macias, who now heads a successful financial venture in Mexico, wrote: I learnt to do a Personal Business Plan in Hervé Da Costa´s seminar at ESC Rennes Business School, in France, which has been one of the most valuable tools I got in my MBA. I did a very ambitious plan, but even that plan has been overachieved in 4 months and it has to do not just with the deep analysis, structured methodology, and motivation but also the work on the “soft” skills that were covered in the seminar. I fully recommend anyone who wishes to boost his/her career, and combine it successfully with a satisfactory personal life, to use his method.

I recommend to you to create your personal business plan as if you were a promising company, product, or service. Reach for the sky. The starting point of this process is available right now, in this short post. Download the “Creating your Personal Business Plan” article that I have successfully used for years with thousands of promising professionals—no strings attached. It is hard work. But it does work, and it can be a lot of fun.