A Japanese proverb states, "Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare." The fourth stage of success is all about leveraging the momentum of the first three stages. It's about taking action. But action without planning can be as dangerous as action without vision. Fortunately, there's a road map to follow to plan for your success.

In any project, there are several variables to consider. They closely follow the old journalistic rule: "Every story must answer who, what, when, where, how and why." In your own venture, the who is obvious. In the third stage of success (vision), you discover the why. The next four elements are key to implementation:

The "what" of your venture is your goal. A well-stated goal has special attributes: it's specific, measurable, aggressive but realistic and has a deadline.

The "how" is the strategy. In any venture, many paths could lead you to your goal -- but usually one will work best for you.

The "when and where" are the plan. Based on your strategy, what specific actions do you need to take to achieve your goal?

If all this sounds a little overwhelming, take heart. Most people find that with a strong enough vision, this planning process unfolds naturally and can be really exciting.

"When you come to a fork in the road - take it."

Ahh, the wisdom of Yogi Bera!  Let's apply it to the fourth stage of success - implementation. Since this is an action stage, you're out there changing your world and the world is responding.  You may have heard that when you're on the right path, everything magically falls into place.  So what does it mean when something doesn't go the way you planned or expected?  What do you do then?

Debrief!  Evaluate!  Take stock!  It's actually a fairly straight-forward process that most of us forget to apply.  In order to do this effectively, you have to be willing to step out of the role of judge and into the role of evaluator.

First, take an unbiased look at your results.  Take it a step further than being happy if you got what you wanted and frustrated if you didn't.  Try evaluating from a standpoint that the results were neither good nor bad - just results.  Second,  compare the results to the actual goal.  How far off the mark are you?  Maybe you're on your way, but didn't get there as soon as you planned.

Third, analyze the correlation between your actions and the results.  If these are the results you got, which of your actions should you continue?  What should you do differently?

From here, you're free to adjust your goal and decide the best steps to move you forward.