Does this image intimidate you? If it does, good, it should be, but only at first look. If you have a project, a serious project, that requires a great deal of effort and money, STOP thinking about it, you WILL FAIL, so do not WASTE your time and hard-earned money. This last statement is applicable, ONLY if the image intimidates you. Consequently, we will start this post with a dose of reality before we can help you learn how to lead a personal project.
Entrepreneurs, beware of the wishful thinking
Why the bad news?
Because you need to wake up.
If an image like this intimidates you, then maybe you do not have what it takes to launch your project. Maybe as an entrepreneur, you have too much wishful thinking. Keep in mind, wishful thinking is NOT positive thinking and is not ambitions. I know that there are too many motivations for things that will tell you to go with your heart. Maybe so, if you want to help a human being, but if you want to make a difference, you need a partnership between heart and mind, knowledge and competence, passion and hard work. Oh, some will also tell you to work smart not hard. Bullshit, excuse my French this morning. You have another partnership here that you CANNOT ignore; work smart AND hard.
Is this for entrepreneurs only?
No.
The above is not only for entrepreneurs.
- It is for anyone who has a personal project or an initiative to pursue; it could be a community project or not-for-profit initiative.
- It can also be used by university professors who want their students (possibly graduate students) to work on projects. The professors teach the subject and we help the students manage their projects.
- Another possibility on where this article and offer will work is investment funds, incubators, and accelerators who work with entrepreneurs and startup.
- It is for managers who consider promoting someone into a project management role. Assuming you, the manager is not intimidated.
Basically, anyone, anywhere, in any domain, young or mature, experienced or inexperienced, starting or finishing college, working or even retiring, a housewife or a ‘househusband’, so do you know who? YOU!
What should I do?
If you want to learn how to lead a personal project, then what you should do is take a few minutes to study this image, and maybe the other images that we are posting here.
The project management (intimidating) images
Take another look at these images, study them, if they are still intimidating, then stop reading, we cannot offer you anything. However, if you see these image as challenges to overcome, welcome to my world.
Check these images and then resume reading.
The small-simple project flow chart
The small-simple project mind map
How to eat a cow?
You have to think like this “how to eat a cow”, assuming you are not a vegetarian. To eat a cow, hopefully not in one sitting, you cut it in pieces that could feed a village or get the pieces you need today, and freeze the remaining pieces for later times.
What does this have to do with launching a project?
If you think you can launch a project in two to ten steps, then you are dreaming, a bad dream. You build it, piece by piece. The same way to eat a cow, or eat an elephant, or a whale. Maybe I should give some vegetarians examples; sorry, no veggie is big enough to use in demonstrating this point.
We know, we know, many “so-called experts” promote to you a template or a few templates claiming that will end all wars. Or, “the five steps to project success” and ending global warming; yup, sure. These people are telling you the TRUTH, or maybe not. They are trying to sell you (as some of my friends like to call it) “snake oil” or maybe they are drinking too much of these “Kool-Aid” that some organizations advertise.
If you want to learn how to lead a personal project, please remember, the partnerships we listed earlier? Re-read them now for a dose of reality.
Moving on to find a solution
Where to start and how do I make sure that all of the pieces fit properly?
That is WHY you need a project management methodological approach. You can use any well-defined structured method. However, copy-paste can lead to a disaster.
How can I learn?
Go back over the images again, and check out the featured image, which we show here again.
If you are not familiar with mind mapping, to read it start at 12 O’Clock (we mean the top) and read it like you check your watch, clockwise.
The bad news is: this image is only the outline.
The good news: it is really simpler than you think if you take it one piece at a time.
What does this image represent?
it represents the outline, the learning goals and missions in our online adventure and learning/coaching program, Leading a Personal-Private Project. Right now we are showing the price for this course to be $329 since it is not complete yet. However, once we have some of the initial content, we will be releasing incrementally, the price will be more than double. It might even cross the 1,000 United Stated Dollars.
Stop, stop, this is a commercial?
Yes and No.
- Yes, because we are advertising an online program.
- Yes, because we are showing prices.
- No, because it is will be ZERO Cost, for …
How is it Zero Cost
Well, maybe we must be clear (we were clear in the previous post but in case you did not read it yet), Zero Cost means you do not have to pay money. You pay by sharing the case study.
Even if it is ZERO cost, why should I waste my time?
If you want your project to fail, do not waste your time now; since it is only a matter of time before you will be wasting your time, and maybe your retirement money or your kids’ college funds. In other words, maybe you should think that a 100 hours of your precious time in the next few weeks, maybe 5 to 10 hours per week, can save you thousands of hours later and maybe thousands of dollars if not tens of thousands.
Curious to know more about how to lead a personal project?
Continue reading … study our offer in the previous post.
This offer will not last long, it is open until our anniversary, 11 August 2018, which is also my son birthday who is starting college this August as well, in good Ole Tejas.
Yours truly, the PM Coach with the short tie.
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