�People say knowledge is power, but it absolutely isn�t,� says Moran, coauthor along with Michael Lennington of the New York Times best seller The 12 Week Year: Get More Done In 12 Weeks Than Others Do In 12 Months available nationwide at booksellers and at www.12weekyear.com. Your failure to meet your goals has nothing to do with what you don�t know � and everything to do with how well you execute.

There�s a long list of things you know would improve your career, business, health, or whatever. Whether you actually do them is the difference between a life of greatness and one of mediocrity. Brian Moran explains how changing the way you think about time can help you close the knowing-doing gap to finally start meeting your potential.

�You can be smart and have access to lots of information and great ideas; you can be well connected, work hard, and have lots of natural talent, but in the end, you have to execute,� Moran confirms. �Execution is the single greatest differentiator between great lives and mediocre ones.�

He believes most people have the capacity to double or triple their income just by consistently applying what they already know. Despite this, we continue to chase new ideas thinking the next one is the one that will magically make it all come together � when what we really need to do is apply the Nike slogan to our lives. So why don�t we just do it? Moran suggests you�re dropping the �execution ball� for the same reason companies can�t meet their goals: You�re thinking about time in the wrong way.

�We tend to think we have all the time in the world,� remarks Moran. �Let�s say you have a baby and you have all these vague notions about saving for college. Well, before you know it, he�s 12 years old and you don�t have a penny saved. Quite simply, we don�t do what doesn�t seem urgent.�

Moran and Lennington�s book offers a new way to think about time and how you use it. In a nutshell, plan your goals in 12-week increments rather than 365-day years. When you do so, you�re far more likely to feel a healthy sense of urgency that gets you focused. And whether your goal is of the business or personal variety, you�ll get far more done in far less time � and you�ll feel a lot less stressed and much more in control.

Read on for a few tips on how you can better tackle life�s pitfalls...

The number-one thing that you will have to sacrifice to be great, to achieve what you are capable of, and to execute your plans, is your comfort. Therefore, the critical first step to executing well is creating and maintaining a compelling vision of the future that you want even more than you desire your own short-term comfort. Then and only then can you align your shorter-term goals and plans with that long-term vision.

�If you are going to perform at a high level, take new ground and be great, then you better have a vision that is compelling,� advises Moran. �One way to get there is by asking, �What if?� Doing so allows you to entertain new possibilities and begin to connect with the benefits. If you�re going to create a breakthrough � to reach the next level � you will need to move through fear, uncertainty and discomfort. It is your personal vision that keeps you in the game when things become difficult.

�Once you have your vision, stay in touch with it,� he contends. �Print it out and keep it with you. Review it each morning, updating it every time you discover ways to make it more vivid and meaningful to you. And share it with others. Doing so will increase your commitment to it."

How many articles, books, and blog posts have you read emphasizing the importance of establishing work/life balance? A lot, right? But where much of the advice on creating work/life balance goes wrong is around the idea of equality. Often we�re told what we need to do, in order to spend equal time in each area of our lives. The result is often unproductive and frustrating. Life balance is not about equal time in each area; life balance is more about intentional imbalance.

�Life balance is achieved when you are purposeful about how and where you spend your time, energy and effort,� explains Moran. �At different times in your life, you will choose to focus on one area over another, and that�s perfectly fine, provided it�s intentional. Life has different seasons, each with its own set of challenges and blessings. The 12-week plan is a terrific process to help you live a life of intentional imbalance. Think about what could be different for you if every 12 weeks you focused on a few key areas in your life and made significant improvement.�

There is a humorous anecdote about commitments involving a chicken and a pig at breakfast time. The chicken has contributed the egg and is therefore merely interested in the breakfast; the pig, however, contributes the bacon, and is thus completely committed. Kept commitments benefit both parties involved by improving relationships, strengthening integrity, and building self-confidence. Commitments are powerful and, oftentimes, life changing.

�When you�re merely interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstances permit, but when you�re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results,� notes Moran. �There�s no denying that at that breakfast the pig is all in. And that�s how you must approach the commitments you take on as part of your 12-week plans.�

The annual execution cycle many organizations embrace lulls people into believing that they can put off critical activity, yet still accomplish what they desire and achieve their goals. It sets one deadline, year-end, which in January � heck, even by July � still feels too far away to spur you into action. But consider the rush of productivity that occurs when a deadline you have to meet draws closer.

�In many companies during the final five or six weeks of the year, there is a frantic push to end strong and then kick off the new year with gusto,� points out Moran. �It�s an exciting and productive time. The problem is this urgency exists for just a handful of weeks in a 365-day year � but it doesn�t have to. When a company sets deadlines for every 12 weeks rather than every 12 months, that excitement, energy and focus, happen all year long. And this strategy works with all goals, not just business goals.

�The great thing about having a 12-week plan is that the deadline is always near enough that you never lose sight of it,� he adds. �It provides a time horizon that is long enough to get things done, yet short enough to create a sense of urgency and motivation for action.�

A plan in your head isn�t really a plan � it�s wishful thinking; that�s because life gets in the way. If you don�t have a written plan, you will almost certainly drop the ball in the first few days. The world is noisy, the unexpected happens, distractions arise, your innate desire for comfort tugs at you, and you lose focus on the things you know you should do. But if you sit down at the start of your 12 weeks and write out your strategy, it forces you to think through potential pitfalls up front.

�With a written plan, you make your mistakes on paper, which reduces miscues during implementation,� declares Moran. �You no longer waste time on unimportant activities because your plan triggers your actions. Your action choices are made proactively at the beginning of the 12 weeks when you create your plan. In short, a 12-week plan helps you get more of the right things done each day, and ultimately helps you reach your goals faster and with greater impact.�

The way your plan is structured and written impacts your ability to effectively execute. Effective planning strikes a working balance between too much complexity and too little detail. Your plan should start by identifying your overall goals for the 12 weeks. (Yes, you may have more than one goal during that time frame.) Then, you�ll need to determine the tactics needed to meet each goal.

�Break your goal down to its individual parts,� suggests Moran. �For example, if your goal is to earn $10,000 and lose 10 pounds, you should write tactics for your income goal and your weight loss goal separately. Tactics are the daily to-do�s that drive the attainment of your goals. Tactics must be specific, actionable, and include due dates and assigned responsibilities. The 12-week plan is structured so that if the tactics are completed on a timely basis the goals are achieved.�

To guide you on your journey to completing your tactics and meeting your goals, you�ll need weekly plans. Your weekly plan encompasses your strategies and priorities, your long-term and short-term tasks, and your commitments in the context of time. It helps you focus on the elements of your plan that must happen each week to keep you on track with your goals. Your goals in turn keep you on track with your vision. Everything is powerfully aligned.

�Start each day with your weekly plan,� advises Moran. �Check-in with it several times throughout the day. If you�ve scheduled a tactic to be completed that day, don�t go home until it is done. This ensures that the critically important tasks, your plan tactics, are completed each week.�

You�ve probably heard or read the mantra �What gets measured gets done.� It�s true: Measurement drives the execution process. After all, can you imagine the CEO of a large corporation not knowing the numbers? As the CEO of your own life and business, you need to know your numbers. But don�t measure your results (how many pounds you lost or how much commission you earned) � instead, measure your level of execution (the extent to which you stuck to your diet/exercise plan and the number of sales calls you made).

�You have greater control over your actions than your results, and your results are created by your actions,� states Moran. �To measure your execution, you need to know to what degree you followed through on each week�s tactics. This allows you to pinpoint breakdowns and respond quickly. Unlike results, which can lag weeks, months, and in some cases years behind your actions, an execution measure provides more immediate feedback, which allows you to make game-time adjustments much faster.�

The 12-week plan is designed to help you spend your time with more intention. That said, many of us engage each day on its own terms. In other words, we satisfy the various demands of the day as they are presented, spending whatever time is needed to respond, without giving much thought as to the relative value of the activity. According to Moran, you can regain control of your day through time blocking.

�Basically, you divide your days into three kinds of blocks � strategic blocks, buffer blocks, and breakout blocks,� he explains. �A strategic block is uninterrupted time that is scheduled into each week. During this block you accept no phone calls, no faxes, no emails, no visitors, no anything: You do only the activities on your plan. Buffer blocks are designed to deal with all of the unplanned and low-value activities � like most email and voicemail � that arise throughout a typical day. Breakout blocks provide free time for your rest and rejuvenation.�

Embracing the 12-week plan will help you rethink your multitasking ways. If you�re accustomed to sending emails during meetings, juggling texting conversations, and rushing from one place to the next, you�ll be shocked by how focusing on what matters most will change your life. �Most people look back and realize that with all their efforts to not miss anything, they were missing everything,� says Moran. �They see that nothing was getting their full attention, not the important projects, not the important conversations, and not the important people.

�We must all remember that the current moment � the eternal right now � is all we have,� he continues. �The future is created now; our dreams are achieved in the moment. Consider Olympic great Michael Phelps: He didn�t achieve greatness when he won the 18th gold medal or when he won his first. He achieved greatness the moment he chose to put the effort into his training. Results are not the attainment of greatness, but simply confirmation of it. That�s why the 12-week plan is so pivotal. It provides a structure that helps you do the things you need to do to be great.�

Brian P. Moran is founder and CEO of The Execution Company, an organization committed to improving the performance and enhancing the quality of life for leaders and entrepreneurs. He has served in management and executive positions with UPS, PepsiCo and Northern Automotive, and consults with dozens of world-class companies each year. As an entrepreneur, he has led successful businesses and been instrumental in the growth and success of many others. In addition to his books, he has been published in leading business journals and magazines. He is a sought-after speaker.

Michael Lennington is vice president of The Execution Company. He is a consultant, coach, leadership trainer, and an expert in implementing lasting change in organizations. He works with clients in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and the Middle East to help them implement corporate initiatives that drive sales, service, and profitability. He holds a B.S. from Michigan State University and an MBA from the University of Michigan.

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