1.4.1 Planning

This involves identifying and clarifying your objective, and developing a plan of action to achieve whichever objective you have set yourself. The plan should clearly state the objectives (Why am I doing this?), expected outputs (What do I want to get as a result?), activities (How am I going to do it and when?), measures of progress and success (How do I know I have done it?), assumptions (What do I need in order to do it?), and responsibilities (Who is going to help me do it?). An objective does not have to necessarily result in a final product, but can also be the successful execution of a process, or establishing a situation which can then continue. As an example, imagine a toy train – an objective could be either to 'arrive at the station', or 'to be running continuously around the track'. There is the risk that sometimes people will associate the word 'objective' with its etymological root 'object' and imagine that goals/objectives have to be fixed situations or results. Achieving a specified process is also a valid objective.