Unlock Your Career Potential With a 90 Day Plan

A new year is the perfect time to assess your priorities and aspirations. And I wonder… do you have a clear and specific plan in place to support you to take your career from where you are, to where you want to be?

A document that articulates your key priorities, and that you can use to guide your decisions and actions so you stay focused and on track?

If not, you are not alone … many of the mid-level professional women I meet and work with don’t have a plan for their success. More often than not, they can clearly tell me what they don’t want – but they can’t articulate (for themselves or others) what they do want.

Which is usually why they can’t seem to get where they want to be in their career…

Why 90 day plans are essential

Without a clear vision and plan, it’s easy to fall into the trap of doing bits and pieces of everything – without intention or direction. While this keeps us busy, it is rarely making us effective. And chances are, you’re not working to your full potential, which leaves you feeling unsatisfied.

With a 90 day plan, you are clear about what matters, and where you want to be adding value in your workplace (or not).

Instead of being the Go to Girl who tries to juggle it all, your plan helps you stay focused on the right things, in your lane and moving towards the growth, impact and recognition you crave (and are more than capable of!).

90 day plans can be the stepping stone to your success – I’ve seen it happen time and time again!

How to create your 90 day plan

1 – Start with the end in mind

To get to where you want to be, you first need to know where you want to go!

Think about this: in three months’ time, what would you like to be working on or have experienced in your workplace?

Be aspirational, but also be realistic – there is only so much you can do in 90 days!

Is there a key project you want to get off the ground? Can you introduce a new strategic direction for the organisation? Do you want to show up in a new way for your team?

2 – Let go of the less important

It’s very common to waste hours (yes, hours) in our week doing things that don’t ultimately support us to move forward in our careers. Micro-managing, being always available, saying yes to things outside your remit… the list goes on.

Get really present to everything standing between you and where you want to be in your career so you can recognise those things when they arise, and choose a different path for yourself.

3 – Create an environment for success

Now that you’re clear on the things that are standing between you and where you want to be, you can create an environment for success.

This might include external things like leaving the office to get into deep work mode, being more intentional with your contributions in meetings, or encouraging your team to independently problem solve before they come to you.

You might also identify some internal things like seeking out professional coaching, working on your self belief and confidence, or finding a community of like-minded women who understand you and the unique challenges you face in your workplace (my free community is a great place to start!).

4 – Document it

Ambition is fruitless without a plan. So once you have done all the dreaming and thinking, and you have determined where you want to focus your time and energy, it’s time to capture it.

Write down your clear, specific, and actionable goals, schedule in time to work on them, and then commit!

5 – Review and Celebrate

This key step is often overlooked – which is robbing yourself of a great opportunity to celebrate!

At the end of 90 days, set time aside to review your progress against the plan you created. What worked? What challenged you? What didn’t work? Perhaps you’ll identify:

Where you could’ve shared the load

What tempted you to go off track and fall back into your old ways

If you’re trying to do too much, too quickly

How you leveraged your strengths to create greater impact – without working harder

The foundations you created to support continued growth in the next 90 days.

And don’t beat yourself up if you don’t get all your goals ticked off… because this gives you something to learn from.

Finally, celebrate your wins, big and small! Did you get that project off the ground? Fantastic! Did you say no to something you’d normally just say yes to? Incredible! Did you protect the white space for deep work appointments in your calendar? Amazing!

Goal setting quickly becomes a chore if you don’t remember to celebrate all the progress you make along the way, which is why reflecting on the wins is an important part of this process.

Then, take your lessons and wins and use them to develop your next 90 day plan. You’ll be amazed by what you can achieve when you have a plan to follow!

Like some help to create your 90 day plan to kick the year off on the right note? Join us Tuesday 23rd January  at 8pm AEDT where I’ll be working with other mid career women to create their Transformational Year in a free online workshop. Click here to register.