Whether you are planning your future, your horses training or your day it all starts the same way, sometimes it is simple to see the steps you need to take, other time you really need to take pen to paper and figure it out.

It can be a really daunting task, all the steps involved are not always obvious, but they are there waiting to be seen.

The best way I have found for making a plan with hidden tasks, and steps is basically to take it apart from the desired result (or the problem) back until you get to the first step.

So as an example if I wanted make a plan for making soup, it would look something like this:

• Serve and eat
• Simmer for 20 minutes
• Add noodles
• Cook veggies
• Add broth
• Chop veggies
• Go to grocery store
• Find recipe

The end result of making soup is serving, and eating it, so I start there and work my way back, this way no steps are missed. When you read the the list bottom to top it shows all the steps in sequential order.

If you attempt to make the plan starting with the first step and moving up, it will work with simpler goals, but the more complicated the goals, the easier it gets to skip steps along the way. These steps will only become apparent when they are right in front of you, then you may get stuck because of a road block you did not plan for.

I use this method a LOT when figuring out a training plan for my horses, not just because I don’t want to miss steps, but also because when teaching or training the more little steps you add the more solid the understanding will be, and thus the better trained the horse, or student.

This process is often misconstrued as being too time consuming, when in reality it takes a lot less time and effort to plan ahead then it does to mess up and start over again, or to get stuck in a rut because of being unsure about the next step.

A well constructed plan ALWAYS saves you time, energy and money in the long run!