The Rapid Planning Method: What it is and how to use it

Do you know the ultimate goal that your work is contributing to? Or are you just going from task to task, trying to get as much done as you can?

Productivity is typically judged with two variables: How much you get done and how much time it all takes. It rarely accounts for the greater picture.

The Rapid Planning MethodTM will help you identify what's important to you, why it matters, and what needs to be done to make these things happen. It's a great method for improving your productivity by ensuring everything you do is tied to a goal that actually matters.

What is the Rapid Planning Method?

Created by American author, coach, and speaker Tony Robbins, the Rapid Planning Method (RPM) is a productivity method for doing more to achieve the goals that are important to you. It will allow you to go from disorganized to-do lists to a clear vision, a thorough action plan, and a greater sense of daily accomplishment.

RPM will allow you to take even your loftiest, most difficult goals and find ways to move towards them monthly, weekly, and even daily. Instead of just trying to get more done, you’re aligning your regular work with your broader vision in all aspects of your life.

The 7 steps of the Rapid Planning Method

With the Rapid Planning Method, you can go from an initial vision to an action plan for just about anything in seven steps.

Step 1: Capture everything you have to do.

Before you do anything else, list every project, task, and responsibility you currently have. Because RPM isn’t just about your work life, but also your interests, relationships, and health, include everything for these areas of your life as well.

At this stage, don’t try to organize these items in any order or by category. Just sit down and ask yourself “what do I need to take care of this week?” and write everything down.

Step 2: Create a vision of what success means to you.

Now that you have a picture of what you’re doing right now, it’s time to look to the future.

For each area of your life that matters to you (e.g. family, health, work) ask yourself what success should look like. Sure, being a CEO may be the epitome of professional success for some, but it might not be for you. You can certainly use people you admire as inspiration for this vision, but only if you think their life looks more like something you want for yourself.

Here are a few examples of what that vision might look like:

• Health: “Be fit enough to participate in any physical activity without worrying about keeping up with my friends.”

• Money: “Get out of debt and stay out of debt.”

• Relationships: “Be in a strong, healthy marriage and have multiple kids.”

• Work: “Get far enough in my career that I manage my own team, have enough money to take a yearly family vacation, and build skills to go my own way if I need to.”

Step 3: Define your purpose.

After figuring out your current responsibilities and where you want to be, you need to know why you’re doing it.

For every vision you’ve identified, ask yourself why that vision matters. After all, if you’re going to try and make them real, you should know why.

At this step, you may find that some of the visions you had earlier don’t make as much sense for you as you originally thought. Don’t hesitate to remove or modify your vision for each area as needed.

Here’s what your purpose might look like for your vision in each area:

• Health: “To live longer and enjoy more of life with the people who matter to me.”

• Money: “To do a better job of providing for my family and mastering my money instead of letting it master me.”

• Relationships: “Family drives me to work and do other hard things.”

• Work: “I want to be a leader without sacrificing my work-life balance.”

Step 4: Establish specific outcomes.

At this stage, you’re going beyond the more abstract visualization you’ve done to identify the specific outcomes that’ll show you’ve succeeded at something.

Make these outcomes measurable, meaning you can clearly determine if they’ve been achieved. Here’s what those outcomes might look like:

• Health: “Be able to perform 15 pull-ups, sprint two hundred yards, and swim half a mile.”

• Money: “Have zero debt and build a six-month emergency fund.”

• Relationships: “Get married by the end of the year and have our first child by the end of next year.”

• Work: “Lead a team of at least five people, plan a family vacation for next year, and read at least three professional development books this year.”

Step 5: Create a Massive Action Plan for each outcome.

A Massive Action Plan (MAP) is the list of all the tasks you have to complete to reach the outcomes you specified for each area of your life. These have to be actionable steps directly related to your goals, with enough detail that you never have to ask yourself what your next step is.

Much of the work you’ve done so far has been about what you want to achieve, why you want to achieve it, and how you’ll know when you’ve achieved it. Your MAP will define how you’re going to get there.

Here’s an example of a MAP for the work vision outlined above:

• “Ask my boss what I need to do to be considered for a promotion where I can lead a team.”

• “Take on an additional project where I can grow my leadership skills.”

• “Choose and read my first professional development book.”

• “Plan my time off.”

• “Book a family vacation.”

Step 6: Schedule your MAP and make it happen.

With your action plan all plotted out, it’s time to refer back to the original list of tasks, projects, and responsibilities you made earlier. Identify and integrate the items that already fit within your MAP into your plan. Then, take the tasks in your MAP and slot them in with your other responsibilities.

For example, while you might want to prioritize the action items that come with your vision for what your work life should be like, you can’t exactly pause your vision in other areas in the meantime. You also won’t want to neglect other responsibilities in your life that don’t necessarily fit your vision but are still important.

Here’s how you might schedule the action items in your MAP for your work vision:

• End of today: Ask my boss what I need to do for a promotion.

• End of the week: Choose and start reading that first professional development book.

• End of the month: Plan time off and book a family vacation.

• Next month: Take on a new project.

Step 7: Review your work and adjust as needed.

You have your goal, your purpose, and a plan to get there. As you start working towards that goal, you’ll want to pay attention to your progress and evaluate how you’re doing. This prevents a speed bump from turning into a roadblock, giving you the agility to keep moving forward with only small alterations to your initial plan.

For example, your current manager may tell you there’s no chance you’ll get a promotion allowing you to lead a team. You might then change that action item to finding a new job where that is a possibility.

Continuous improvement is the name of the game, and you’ll want to revise your approach consistently, either weekly or monthly.

The benefits of the Rapid Planning Method

While RPM might seem like a lot of work, it’s a tried-and-true method for achieving your goals and ensuring you’re always working on something important to you. Beyond that, you’ll get some serious benefits from this practice:

• Better productivity: Slowdowns in productivity happen, often due to your current actions not matching a goal that’s important to you. By knowing exactly what you need to do to keep moving towards that goal, you’ll be more consistently productive.

• More achievement: Getting tasks done doesn’t mean you’re moving towards your larger goals. You look more productive on the surface, but deep down, you know your goals are still way beyond reach. With a MAP, you’re always moving towards those goals, meaning you’ll achieve more of them.

• Focus: It’s too easy to get distracted by the endless tasks on our plate. With RPM, you can keep your eye on what’s important to you and make sure the next step contributes to something that matters.

• Flexibility: No item in your MAP is set in stone, and that flexibility allows you to adapt to factors that are beyond your control. Whether it’s changing to a job that’s better suited to your overall goals or moving to be closer to family, RPM lets you make changes for the better.

Plan better and get more done

At its core, RPM is a path to finding out what matters most to you, why it matters to you, and ignoring influences that don’t fit with your core values. It’ll get you to where you’re going and help you overcome any obstacles on the way there. Build your MAP, stick with it, and you can have a completely different life within months.