Periodization

Have you ever wondered how Olympic and professional athletes are able to make enormous gains in performance in a short period of time? Or, maybe how some people seem to be able to do more than you could imagine doing in a short period of time? Many of them use a principle called periodization and it can be a game changer for you and your business.

Put simply, periodization is a shortening of the time it takes you to reach a goal by identifying and focusing on the key tasks necessary to achieve your goal.

For example, let's say you have a goal of doing 2 transaction sides a month for a total of 24 transaction sides this year. In a periodization plan, you would shrink that year to, say, a quarter. That means you would do 2 transaction sides a week instead of a month! Now, you might be saying to yourself that it isn't possible. However, you might be surprised how easy it is. Oh, and let's just say you miss it by a couple of sides and only reach 22 in a particular quarter. Are you complaining? Of course not.

So, how do you implement your plan? There are three major steps to start the process. First, you have to identify the activities and tasks that will get you to your goal. These may be things that you are currently doing that need to be stepped up or things that you know you need to do but haven't yet for one reason or another. Second, you have to identify the things that are distracting you from doing the important tasks and eliminate them. Finally, you have to identify the things that you still need to do on a regular basis and delegate them. These could be things like marketing activities or accounting.

Once you have accomplished those three items, take the steps to eliminate and delegate the things that aren't driving you towards your goal. Then take your key activities and schedule the time to complete them. I recommend time blocking, which you can learn more about here, but you can figure that out. What I recommend is setting your period a little longer at first and then, once you are up and running, begin to shorten the periods to 12 week periods. That will give you 48 weeks planned each year. The bonus to 12 week periods is that if you make your goal, you can take a week off! If not, you have an extra week to try.

Periodization is not for the timid, but if your goals are to grow your business exponentially, I don't know a better way to get there. Focus on the key activities, eliminate distractions, delegate second tier activities and set big goals. You can do this!