How To Break Down a Very Large Project or Vision into Doable, Bite-Sized Pieces

[@Mrdefa1]

How to break goals down into small pieces 1. Block off a couple of hours to set your goals. 2. Get some index card and use them in portrait orientation. 3. Start asking yourself ‘what do you want again and again. Place each of your wants on an individual card. 4. Once all your cards have a What on them, give each card a priority designation using a system of your choice. Place this priority designation in the top right-hand corner of your card. 5. Group all your cards into their respective priority groups. 6. On the top left of your card, place a time frame for how long it will take you to complete this task/goal. 7. On the bottom right of your card, place the team you will need to complete this goal. 8. On the lower-left corner, place a category for the task/goal. For example, a category can be family, career, health. Next 1. For each of those cards that have a what on them, ask how you will complete this task. Write those hows onto a card of their own. Each of those new how-cards now becomes a what-card of their own, with its own four corners. 2. Repeat this process until your what-cards are specific actions you can do. Optional 1. Add context to your card. For example, group all the cards that involve making a phone call into a batch so you can complete these task at once.

[@stasikmail]

This is the most effective technique I've learned for any Project Management business or personal goal

[@AlanRafaelSeid]

🙏

[@tinaking1945]

I came across this video while in my Professional Development class. I just wanted to hop on here and say that I really enjoyed the material and the way that you present it. What a fantastic way to set yourself up for success. I will certainly refer back to this structure regularly. Thanks Alan!

[@ThisEvilBunny]

This is life-changing! I've scheduled with myself to go through the steps this weekend. Thank you!

[@AlanRafaelSeid]

Hey This Evil Bunny! How'd it go?

[@chandrasekardavey3328]

This video changed my life. Thank you, Mr. Seid.

[@AlanRafaelSeid]

Dear S D: Thank you for letting me know. I feel delighted. Keep on keeping on! ~Alan

[@SiddhantPatil]

A very interesting approach to break down goals and have more clarity. Thank you Alan for sharing it!

[@IvanoSimac]

great technique and explanation

[@aventurese2]

Your video blew my mind. Thank you for sharing this framework! I love how you show the relationship between How-What-Why. Simon Sinek should contact you! I am very curious what about permaculture and where you were at at the time led you to reprioritize your farming experience? Thanks again for sharing your wisdom with the masses!

[@AlanRafaelSeid]

Thank you for your comment. As far as your question: ...the state of the world, a desire to move toward greater resiliency as well as connection with nature; and it was part of my lifelong path of learning high-caliber tools and modalities. Thank you again! 🙏

[@gracegraham4147]

Hi Alan, I really like how you break down exactly how to break down some larger goals, specifically with continuously asking yourself the questions like what do I want and how. This is really good advice as to creating milestones for a larger goal.

[@bamidelebashir200]

Awesome idea, I will use this to put my life on track again. Too much noise and distractions everywhere, thanks Alan.

[@shambhaviyamgar6811]

This is amazing !!!!!!!!! I definitely needed this !!!!! Great!!!!!! Thank you sooo much!!!!!!!

[@AlanRafaelSeid]

You are VERY welcome! :-)

[@williamlindberg3731]

Thank you Alan, I needed a good way to visualize the breakdown of my goals, thank you for showing the card method! It's very intuitive works like a charm

[@AlanRafaelSeid]

Woo hoo!! 🤗

[@AlanRafaelSeid]

@ Kim Reddington: I appreciate your feedback!! And thank you for your question: The project/category _could_ be it's own "What." As you ask "How?" you start to break it down into successive layers of detail (creating more "What's"). More importantly, the category/project corner is just another "tag" I can organize my cards (or my list) around. Technically, I guess, asking "how" could create new sub-projects until you get to actionable single items (like a specific phone call). The usefulness of the "category" (or project) - besides reminding me of the context for a specific action - is that if I want to focus on a specific project, I can just pull cards from that category (or sort my spreadsheet so I have the items from that category together). I prefer analog for this system, though some will prefer digital. Here's an example: On my land I have a small micro-hydroelectric generator system (water flow turns a turbine and generates electricity for us, but it's micro - there's no dam or anything like that). "Complete Micro-hydro" could be a project/category, but it's also a "What." As I ask "How" ("how do I complete it?") - I get cards like "Sound Insulate Box Cover" (it's noisy), "Fix Water Intake", etc. (Now I have two new "What's" - there are more but I'll stop there for the example.) Then I can turn to "Fix Water Intake" and ask "How?" and one of the items (new What's) under that is "Build a new screen to keep leaves out" (a brand new What). If I ask "How" for that one, one item is "Identify What I need for my new screen" if I ask How for that, I come up with "Make list and add items to Hardware Store list." I can go back up to "Sound Insulate Box Cover" and break that down by asking, How, How, How. (One of those items will be calling my buddy, Cody, to see if he can help me b/c it's a 2-person job, for example.) ALL of these new cards have the same category/project - which is "Complete Micro-Hydro" - and if I want to focus on that project I can pull all the cards just for that category. What makes this system work is hanging out with your cards, touching them, seeing them, moving them around, creating new ones as needed, etc. In a way, that project/category corner is just another way to look at your cards and/or help you keep your items organized. Does that help? Did I understand your question correctly?

[@kimreddington]

Alan, That definitely answered my question. Thank you for adding in an example. It sounds like every time I ask How I may be creating a new What for a specific project. The original What and the new What may both end up in one category. I completely see the use for that corner now.

[@siddharthaneupane3721]

Namaste! Thank you for this!

[@kimreddington]

This is one of my favorite videos that I have seen of you. Instead of trying to make it extra perfect and professional, you were just being you and mostly winging it. I loved that about the video, as well as the fun tool you shared with us. I really enjoyed watching the real you. Question: What is the difference between the “category/project” corner of the card and the diving deeper into the How? Doesn’t the category/project create a new What?

[@AlanRafaelSeid]

+Kim Reddington The category/project is the "umbrella" that all the what's & how's fit into. If you want, you can think of the category/project as the highest level "What" for that group of cards on the project. Diving deeper into the How simply creates more detailed (and therefore do-able) pieces to work on. Does this clarify?

[@nickatexpressvhs9281]

Very useful, thank you

[@ninadsbhatt100]

I will try this technique and report the results in a year.

[@napoleon9176]

Very helpful thanks 😊❤

[@investedtina]

This is great! I have a few main long term goals that had me juggling on how & what to do. This methodology is clean & simple. I will try it out today. Thank you!

[@danecustance2734]

This is very helpful Alan. Thanks.

[@lessandra602]

Wonderful. Thank you eternally. Blessings!

[@DesignDesigns]

Thank you...

[@noopur19s]

Thank you for making this video and putting it out to help people who are struggling with their life goals. Very helpful information! Keep up the good work.

[@AlanRafaelSeid]

I'm glad you liked it! Thank you for taking the time to comment!

[@Okay26257]

This is very powerful information. Thank you

[@vikgambhir]

Hi , thanks for the video , i got how to break the major task... But i am finding difficult to give time frame and how much time i should give to each task.

[@pauleaton947]

Alan brilliant video, thank you so much

[@vivek6430]

This information is top dollar ...thnx mate.

[@dophuc3641]

thanks sir a lot, can you share me how to break down a specifc vision to small goals and take action, thanks

[@juliamatsai8719]

Love this video. Thank you for this ❤️

[@lollipoppp282]

Thank you for sharing!

[@sonethwickramasinghe3201]

Very Helpfull thank you

[@victoryz8063]

Hi Alan, This is the best concept i ever see, thanks for your sharing. I have a question: I am confuse about the priority definition. Take your "Complete Micro-hydro" as example. a. what's the priority in the first "what" card? b. if i can chunk this big task to bite-sized, then i can finish it by from bottom to top order, then no need priority. Thanks.

[@AlanRafaelSeid]

+Victory Z The first "what" card has whatever priority level that overall project has *compared to other projects.* If your project is simple enough or straightforward enough to complete it how you describe (especially in a short time-frame), then, yes, no need for prioritization. Does this help or clarify?

[@marivilerdo-de-tejada8247]

Great job. Very thoughtful. Any insights on weighing priority vs. urgency in staging action plans for multiple goals?

[@AlanRafaelSeid]

When you have multiple projects and goals, the process of having a big-picture view of all your to-dos allows you to work intuitively and make choices moment-to-moment. Urgency is accounted for in the "time-frame" corner, and usually urgency wins out, but not always. I tend to look at the combination of priority, time-frame, and what I'm excited to do in the moment. Having projects broken down into specific, bite-sized pieces also helps with the "doable" aspect of this. Whenever I have a vague (i.e.: not doable) "task" I tend to resist it unconsciously because it will require more thinking through of specific steps than I have done. "Re-model kitchen" is not doable. "Post on social media to ask friends for a contractor recommendation" is doable. "Spend 30 minutes online pricing faucets" is doable. So if you find yourself resisting a task, check that you've really broken it down. There's no formula - it's more a moment-to-moment judgment call. Having things out of your head - "distributed cognition" - with any system you use, will contribute to your clarity in making those decisions. Is this helpful? I'm glad you liked the video.

[@ThomasIkemann]

Wow, just wow, this needs to be seen by every procrastinator.

[@AlanRafaelSeid]

They'll get to it eventually... 🤣

[@carolinarios2994]

One of them finaly here !!!🤣🙏👍 Now I just need to actualy do this....

[@PaolaValerimc]

Hi Alan, thank you for this video, very interesting and practical, as always. I have a question: how do you keep the number of cards manageable? I have not dedicated the two hours to the excercise yet, but I suspect after two hours I would end up with a very high number of Whats. And if each What generates more Whats via the Hows, the volume of cards could reach a very high number. How do you manage this, maybe by Contexts? Thanks!

[@AlanRafaelSeid]

Hi Paola: Yes! You could end up with a large number of cards! First, as you _complete_ specific actions the number of cards starts to go down. Secondly, I suggest that you sort them by the upper corners of priority and time-frame. Also, try to focus on your A's. You can keep all your B's and C's in a different place and review them monthly or quarterly to see if there are any that have become a higher priority or that you want to let go of. With both priority and time-frame up-front you are sure that you are only working with the things that are truly important to you and that need to happen soon. I may have an A+ card with a 20-year time-frame, but one of the "How" cards under that I may want to complete next week. One way to deal with the space issue is to do it in a table or spreadsheet. I have found that this is a concern that goes away over time. But most importantly, take the principles and concepts and find a way to make them work for you. Is this helpful?

[@PaolaValerimc]

Hi Alan, y es very helpful thank you so much. I will test this tool, it is similar to what I am actually applying but more structured. Will let you know how it goes. I wluld like to share this in my blog, can I have your authorization? www.paolavaleri.com I really enjoied the video.

[@AlanRafaelSeid]

Paola Valeri You can share anywhere you want. Thank you for checking in. And I'm honored...

[@lezgoverci]

is the "Where" also the category?

[@AlanRafaelSeid]

Hi Vercillius: A category is like a project: fixing a shelf, completing a report, etc. "Where" is the context in which a specific task can be accomplished: "phone", "hardware store", "email".... Once you break down tasks into doable items, I might have multiple phone calls related to different projects, but when I can knock off a bunch of phone calls I can have my tasks organized by context, or where. Similarly, I might need items from the hardware store related to mre than one project, but identifying the "where" allows for more efficiency, as I can get various items in one trip. Does this help?

[@lezgoverci]

Alan Seid thanks. Now it’s clear. I was wondering if there is an app for this? This would be a great app for goal oriented people. This is better than an app that just allows you to put a list.

[@lezgoverci]

Alan Seid would you mind if i make an app based on this?

[@AlanRafaelSeid]

@@lezgoverci Go for it! Just to be clear: I learned this system from David B. Ellis, author of Creating Your Future. He needs credit for that if you create an app. Let me know how I can help! ~Alan

[@dophuc3641]

for example, to become a number one company to provide diapers for baby and adults? thanks

[@AlanRafaelSeid]

The answer to your question is longer than makes sense to write in a comment response. If you would like support from me in a coaching & mentoring context, you can sign up for a no-cost consultation at RafaKalapa.com/consultation-application Otherwise, just follow the instructions in the video...

[@dophuc3641]

or zoom out: to become the best delivery service in my town

[@aniruddhadeyanik]

What did you feel before making this video? What lead you to share this Idea? I have loved the every second of this video, but to be honest, I am not going to share this with anyone else, because I want everyone to suffer through what I've faced and as long as I've faced it. Why did you made things easier whereas you've suffered a long time?

[@neo-babylon7872]

It's bit ironic that a video about breaking down large projects is 17 min long!

[@AlanRafaelSeid]

a bit... because that's too long? The method I show here I used for a 40-year plan... and the person I learned it from used to present it in 3-day workshops - so I'd say for a 17-minute investment you're getting a pretty good deal! Still, I will try to be more concise on the next one. 🙏

[@lollipoppp282]

@@AlanRafaelSeid I didn't even feel the 17 mins! It was a really informative video. The use of visual aids made the whole concept clear, concise and enjoyable to watch. Everything was well explained, you didn't go to fast or too slow so therefore I'd like to take the time to thank you for making this content for us to make use of for free!