It’s been said that if you fail to plan you might as well plan to fail. That sounds pretty harsh, but I think it’s on target.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve talked about the importance (and the timeliness) of planning. We’re in the final quarter of this year. You should be assessing where you stand in terms of this year’s plan and also looking ahead and making plans for next year and the next and even the one after that.

I cannot stress enough the importance of planning. Now, I know, I know ... planning is like, say, flossing; it’s something we know we should do, but sometimes we tend to let it slide. Oh, sure, we’ll brush twice a day or more. And we’ll work hard and smart at the office, but sometimes neither of these will get the job done.

If you want to model the habits of many of our most successful rainmakers then the time to begin planning for next year is right now. Your progress three quarters of the way into this year should give you a pretty good idea of what you need to do next year.

Now you might wonder: Why should you start planning now when just two weeks ago I encouraged you to focus on the rest of this year? Well, it’s simply not an “either-or” type of thing; it’s a “both-and” kind of situation. I believe it was John Lennon who said, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” It’s true. Time doesn’t stand still, and life won’t wait for you to catch up. Being successful is about considering both what’s happening right now and what’s to come.

Our coaching experience shows that the planning process is easiest and most rewarding when it isn’t urgent. That time is now in terms of next year’s plan. Planning ahead will allow you to be more creative and clear about what needs to be done next year and the next.

You can have a workable plan (or at least the strong beginnings of one) within one workweek if you do this:

1. Consider where you are today and what you need to do to reach the goals you’ve already set.
2. The next day, write out your goals for next year.
3. The day after this, write down what you need to do to complete these new goals.
4. The day after that, look at a current report of your top clients. Are they going to be top clients next year? What do you need to do to keep it this way?
5. On the fifth day, identify your top 10 opportunities for next year, and apply your goals and actions to them.

Before you know it, you’ll be deep in the process of planning. Keep it up! It’s how you do what you do better. If you start this week, you’ll not only have a real plan in process, but you’ll also have some 73 days left to make the most of this year.


There’s no better time to start planning for next year than right now, today. Our rainmakers do it, and so should you. Embrace the process of planning; make it part of how you work. You’ll be amazed where you can go when you know how to get there.