I Know, This Sounds a Little Backward
Planning backward makes sense to me, but then again, I’ve been doing this for a while. I like things organized. Some people would say I take organization a little too far. For me, this is about taking control of my business and my life.
Planning and decision-making are key to being in control.
This topic was brought to my attention a few weeks ago when I listened to one of Andy Andrew’s Peace of Wisdom episodes entitled Planning Backwards. It made perfect sense to me, so I thought I would share it.
“Do you tend to run late?
Here’s a little trick that might help: plan backwards!
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched people rush into an event—out of breath, flustered, sometimes still tucking in their shirt. And the funny thing is…they thought they’d planned well. They were sure the alarm was set at the right time.
The problem is, most folks set their alarm based on when they want to wake up, not when they actually need to arrive. That small mistake creates a big snowball effect.
So, let’s plan backwards. If your class or meeting starts at 9:00, you want to be there by 8:45. If it takes 20 minutes to drive, you’re leaving at 8:25. Add traffic, and now it’s 8:15. Getting ready? 10 minutes if you’re me—maybe 45 minutes if you’re my wife. Suddenly, the right alarm time is obvious.
When you count backwards, you take control.
Instead of reacting to the clock and racing the minutes, you’re leading them. You walk in calm, collected, and ready—while everyone else is still scrambling.”
I do struggle with trying to squeeze too many things into my schedule. But when I have a meeting with someone else, I’m pretty good at being on time.
Planning backward also works when it comes to bigger picture planning and goal setting.
You might be asking, how does time management relate to goal setting?
Here’s how.
Working backward from big, lofty goals to the small actions that need to be done today follows the same process.
A good example of this came from a conversation I had with a coaching client this week. We were looking ahead to his goals for 2026. One of those goals was to gross $1.2 million. That’s a pretty big step up from where they currently are.
We started breaking the number down and working backward. That’s $100,000 per month, $300,000 per quarter, or $23,080 per week.
One of the things we factored in was project size. Currently, they are doing smaller projects, but his goal is to land projects of $20,000 or more.
To gross $1.2 million with $20,000 projects, they would need to complete 60 projects. That’s more than one job per week.
Their current closing rate on proposals is 25% That means they would need to prepare and deliver 240 proposals at $20,000 each to reach those 60 signed contracts. That works out to just over 4 proposals per week. That’s a lot. And here’s the problem…
When we talked, they didn’t even have 4 leads.
Looking forward to $1.2 million sounds doable. The challenge is that it is 12 months away, and if they want to hit that number, they need to start doing something now.
So the question becomes: How can they get $20,000 worth of projects done this month?
They need to start looking for proactive ways to generate leads today. They also need to allow for smaller steps forward now and track progress as they go. I told him to get to work finding leads and to have $20,000 worth of proposals ready to work on by our next meeting.
Whether it’s being on time for meetings or achieving long-term goals, working backward is a good way to succeed. It requires that you be intentional and take action.
Our new 90-day Planning Journal for Builders is a great place to start. And if you’d like help working backward to achieve your goals, schedule a free 30-minute meeting with us.
