A.I.M.: The Powerful 10-Step Personal and Career Success Program

Chapter 10. Filling Up Your Toolkit

We shall not weaken or tire . . . give us the tools and we will finish the job.

—Sir Winston Churchill

In the previous stages of the A.I.M. process, you have slowly and methodically built your case for change. We have led you through exercises that have helped you to identify what you value and why, looking at the various patterns in your life and what they might say about the choices you are likely to make in the future. We have used that information to identify possible changes you want to make in your life, as well as an outside perspective (your reality banker) and some difficult questions to, hopefully, narrow those choices further. In the preceding chapter, we started to answer questions you might have about your possible choices through the use of research and identifying people with whom you can network.

There is still one more step to complete before you can go out into the world and make your change happen. As you may have gathered, the A.I.M. process has been designed to reduce the risk that you may fail and increase your chances of success. The best way to reduce the risk of failure is to find ways to prevent you from doing what your instinct is telling you—namely, to leap into action before you develop a plan, conduct basic research, narrow your choices, and figure out how best to apply your scarce time and energy to the changes you need to make.

Once you have done all of this, however, you still need one more important asset before making ...