Children are remarkable for their intelligence and ardor, for their curiosity, their intolerance of shams, the clarity and ruthlessness of their vision.

— Aldous Huxley —

Oh to be a child again! To have no reservation about one's vision. Before you begin any project, give yourself some thinking time to mull over what you are going to be embarking on. Once that is done, and you have some ardor and clarity for your vision, you can then begin the paper process.

For Phase I, you will be using the Design Overview Sheet. If you need to, you can review the worksheet notes presented on the Applying the STARS System page. I am going to use a fictitious example of someone wanting to become a Pastry Chef by the end of the next year. You can print out either a blank Design Overview Sheet or the Design Overview Sheet Example by clicking on one of the appropriate options. These require an Adobe Acrobat Reader which has a link on the Third Party Downloads panel at the left.

1. Design Overview Sheet (blank)
2. Design Overview Sheet Example

Design Overview Sheet Steps

1. Project: This would be your project name. Our example: Pastry Chef
2. Page ID: Do whatever ID numbering system that would help you keep order in your files. I chose PC for Pastry Chef, O for Overview Sheet, and 1 for the #1 Overview sheet. You may have more anticipated stages than the spaces provided, so you may need a second Overview page (or more). Also, as you go along, you may find it necessary to revise your Design Overview Sheet, and decide to make a new, updated one.
3. Date: Date you prepared the sheet.
4. Prepared By: You would put your initials or name. This would be more important if several of you are working on a project together versus you working on your own life area. One approach is that all of you prepare a sheet independent of each other, then bring them in for discussion. It's amazing how people can view things differently and this could set up the discussion to all get on "the same page" — by merging the most important points into one page.
   For our example, I used my initials, so a mythical Shelly Dee will be filling out this sheet.

5. Objective: Write in a clear cut goal with a time frame.
   
6. Spirit: Write what you feel good about, as well as what concerns you. Just write the important points — if you have a lot to say, continue it in a journal or write out a separate pape to be placed in your DYGL Binder.
   
7. Project Stages: There is space to record six major stages for your project. If you need more, make a second page for the stages.
   
   The Stage ID/Description column is for giving a general description and an ID for your task tracking. In this example I used letters for my IDs, but numbers or words would work just as well.
   
   The other three columns are for making general notes about Time, Action, and Space. Depending on the project you are working on, one of those three elements will be the Overriding Element. If you are being forced to work to a deadline, Time is the Overriding Element. If you are remodeling your bathroom, Space is at the forefront. For our example, the process of learning is most important, which is Action. For this example, where it is done, and how long it takes is less important than the learning. So I circled Action in the Overriding Element column, then assigned columns for Time and Space. I then filled out my columns with appropriate material.
   
8. Resources Needed: These are just general notes to get you thinking about the People, Knowledge, Tools/Materials, and Finance that you will need. As you work on your task lists, you will be honing in more on Resources.
   
9. Notes: Write whatever you need to note. In this example, a note was made to talk to a Pastry Chef at a local restaurant to get a feel on the business. It's like a kickoff action for the fictitious Shelly Designing her new Great Life.
   
10. Here is our example in full. You can click on it for a larger image or open the Design Overview Sheet Example This file requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can get from the Third Party Downloads panel at your left. file.
    

Next you will proceed to Phase II: The Work.

— Shelly —