Brainstorming with Millionaire Women

What makes someone into a millionaire?

According to Thomas Stanley and William Danko's The Millionaire Next Door, your neighborhood millionaire is very likely that penny-pinching, warehouse club-shopping fellow down the street.

That profile, though, didn't fit at least half the book's readership: women. After being contacted by dozens of successful businesswomen, Stanley fired up another research project -- and discovered that The Millionaire Woman Next Door differs from her stingy male counterparts in significant ways.

Like many of the men, she rises early, and she works late. But -- unlike the guys -- she's a meticulous and flexible planner.

You may not want to be a millionaire -- but by combining some of The Millionaire Woman Next Door's best practices with the power of visual brainstorming, you can quickly and easily restore a sense of direction and purpose to your life. Here's how.

The Millionaire Woman's Strategy for Success
Unlike folks who allow life's current to carry them from event to event, Millionaire Women plan for success. In other words? They set goals.

By now, most of us are already familiar with the Franklin/Covey method of setting goals (I used to use it myself, in fact). After defining your values, you organize your daily To Do list into three categories: A for "what must be done today," B for "what should be, but doesn't have to be done today," and C for "can be put off a bit."

Having divided your To Do list into three categories, you then prioritize each entry in each category by assigning it a number. ("Sorry, dear, Mommy can't chat now -- 'Talk to my child' is an A5 item, and I've only on A3 right now.") In theory, this approach chops big tasks into small, methodical steps; by working your way from A1 to A10, you get things done that need to be done.

I was struck, however, by the difference in how Millionaire Women set goals. According to Stanley, instead of the ABC method, most Millionaire Women have daily, weekly, monthly, annual, and lifetime goals -- and review them frequently. Setting lifetime and annual goals provides these women with a context, or a level of awareness, their male counterparts often lack. By keeping their ultimate destinations clearly defined and scheduled, Millionaire Women make better choices today, this week, this month -- right now.

Planning + Brainstorming = Enhanced Chances for Success
Over the past few weeks, I've become a better planner -- and a more centered worker -- by merging the planning methods of the Millionaire Women with simple visual brainstorming techniques. Step-by-step, here's how you can do the same:

1) Invest just ten minutes drafting a simple list of your goals. Begin with lifetime goals: three to four things you really want to accomplish before moving on to your Personal Eternal Destination of Choice. Having defined these, try thinking in terms of smaller steps: what actions will you need to take this year, in order to get closer to that lifetime goal? This month? This week? Today?

2) Having worked backward from your lifetime goals, now let's deal with the very practical, very pressing reality of what needs to be done today. What assignments are currently on your plate? What To Do's have been lingering, incomplete, for weeks? Take no more than ten minutes to work these existing obligations into your short-term plan. Set completion goals and sprinkle them across your daily, weekly, and monthly plan.

3) Using a Tarot deck, the Instant Ideas deck, or any set of random images, draw five cards: one for daily, weekly, monthly, annual, and lifetime goals.

4) Spend ten minutes allowing these images to inspire additional ideas. Some cards will suggest new goals to add to your list. Others will remind you of goals you've forgotten. Others may provide commentary on the goals you've already defined, helping you see or evaluate them from new perspectives. Turn off your inner editor and let your imagination run free.

5) Each day, refer to your goal list (preferably first thing in the morning). During the day, as new To Do items and options come you way, weigh each one against your larger goals. With time, you may see (as I did) that you�'e investing a lot of time and energy into projects that, ultimately, don't move you closer to where you want to be.

Other great ideas:

- Associate lifetime and annual goals with a Tarot card (or Instant Ideas card), and keep the card out as an inspiration or reminder. Once you associate certain goals with certain cards, watch for these cards to turn up in your occasional "What do I need to do now?" readings.

- Associate daily or weekly goals with a Tarot card, then, for each, select a card you feel represents the attitude or approach needed to achieve that goal. Keep both cards out to remind you of your destination -- and the strategy you've designed to get you there.

Next week: Unlike their male counterparts -- who briefly visualize one outcome and doggedly pursue it -- Millionaire Women define multiple possible outcomes nd have a plan for dealing with each, just in case.

In next week's update, I'll reveal how you can use Tarot cards or the Bright Idea Deck to incorporate this level of flexibility and responsiveness into your own planning process -- even when planning for contingencies is completely foreign to your nature!