Beyond the First Step

Early American philanthropist and businessman William Clement Stone, once said, "All personal achievement starts in the mind of the individual. Your personal achievement starts in your mind. The first step is to know exactly what your problem, goal or desire is." These words were true in Stone's era of industrialization and growth of our country, and remain as valuable advice today. But once you have the clear understanding of what you hope to accomplish, what comes next? How do you transform your ideas into action?

As the premier organization for empowering young adults to make positive change within themselves and their communities, the Jaycees are here to help. With decades of experience in completing thousands of projects that benefit individuals and groups, your local chapter has the blueprint for success in bringing your ideas to life.

So you've got that great concept and you're ready to get involved...how do your start? Here's some quick ideas for a great launch to your initiative:

• Leverage Your Leadership - your local chapter leadership is your first resource for evolving an idea into a doable plan with a manageable scope. With the experience of leading similar projects, they are experts in developing concepts into action. Whether you need assistance in defining your audience, putting together a team, creating specific action items, or promoting your idea to the community, most likely someone in your chapter leadership has achieved success in a related project.

• Review Previous Projects - one of the benefits of working with a national organization is access to the multitude of projects that have been completed in past years. Not only is your local chapter an excellent resource to help you define and outline your goals, but the United States Junior Chamber lists past efforts on their website for you to check out and "borrow" ideas. Here's the link.

• Use Your Chapter Experts - at your next local chapter meeting learn about the resources in the room. You're all there because you care about the community and self-improvement. Take advantage of that commonality by discovering what specialties and talents are represented in your chapter. Not only will you be able to put resources together for your project, you'll probably learn some new information and techniques to help in other areas of your life.

• Document Everything - just as you will use the history of others to improve your project, future Jaycees will want to benefit from your experiences. Your chapter has access to the Project Management Guide, among other resources, to help you layout and document every step of your successful project. You can find a copy with your local chapter leadership or on the USJC website library.

Whether a large or small project, something that's been completed in years past or a brand new idea, the experience and talent within local chapters across the country can be your resource to continued success. Take that first step...then the second, third, and fourth. Make your chapter and community proud...then tell us about it. Share your experiences on our Facebook and Twitter sites so others can benefit from your action. We're excited about what you can accomplish!