Philosophy Of Success For Starting A Nonprofit Charity

• It starts with a VISION of the final outcome.
  
• Achieve that vision by creating a STRATEGY to get you there.
• Execute the strategy with TACTICS.
  
• Fuel the strategy with IDEAS.
  
• And constantly measure PROGRESS to stay on target.

The set of statements above represent a powerful philosophy that we use in the military to empower success in business and virtually any type of project. By applying this model to your business, your projects, and sub projects - you become a well oiled machine capable of completing even the most monumental of challenges.

Let's take a closer look:

Element 1: Vision

How will you ever get to where you want to be if you don't know where you are going?

You must first start with the end result in mind. Design a clear vision of the success you want to create. And not just abstract: be very specific about what this success looks like to you. What does your life look like? What do you want to have? What do you want to be doing everyday?

The clearer your Vision is - the easier everything else becomes.


Element 2: Strategy

The next question to ask is how are you going to do it? Your strategy is a blueprint to your vision. Your map of how to get there.

And the way you create a strategy is to reverse engineer. It's like filling in the blanks. What will you do, market, fundraise or sell to generate that revenue? How much harder do you have to work every day to make this possible? Realistically what needs to happen to allow for this?

Go deeper and deeper. All the while taking notes and editing them down to an easy to read "strategy guide" for your own personal reference.

The end result should be a realistic gameplan for achieving the objectives you've established in your vision. It is something you can frequently reference to keep your eye on the ball - and to justify your efforts each day.

Keep it flexible

In business things can change fast. Nothing ever stands still. So your strategy should be flexible. And you need to make a commitment to revising & updating the strategy as often as once per week given the current scenario.


Element 3: Tactics

Tactics are the next, most immediate actions you need to take. They are generated by the strategy. They run parallel to it. This is your "To-Do" list. It's what you need to do on Monday morning when you first get to the office.

Tactics (or tasklist) should be organized in a simple, easy to manage list of important things needed to be done as a result of the strategy previously defined. By keeping it small and revising it on a day to day basis you'll maintain momentum.


Element 4: Ideas

Ideas are the fuel for your strategy. You need to be attentive to discovering ideas and adept at implementing them into your gameplan.

Good ideas can in the middle of the night or on the drive to the office. You need to develop a process of saving them as soon as the happen to capture the essence. In other words, write them down as soon as possible. Give the idea a heading, and file it into your notes close by your vision, strategy, tactics and notes. So you can easily look back and “grab off the shelf” when you are ready to implement.


Element 5: Progress

Implement a procedure to keep track of sales revenue, leads, website traffic, or whatever the key processes at work in your business & strategy. A simple spreadsheet and bar graph can work to accomplish this.

Monitoring performance levels in your business is key to understanding where you are at and how much further you need to go to accomplish your objectives and achieve the vision.