I’ve never really taken to using the roles and goals part of it. Like Michael I rely upon the original formula taught by Hyrum Smith. For me, roles and goals can be useful however when looking at the first part of the old process, namely your Vision.

Vision can contain descriptions of who you are, and who you see yourself being; these things can be stated in the language of roles and in that way take on board notions of inner diversity.

Vision is an iterative process tied in deeply with Governing Values. Values not only indicate how you will priorities your tasks but also how and with what “moral compass” you will attain your goals.

The Franklin Covey software comes in two versions. One for use within Outlook the other as a standalone windows product.

Michael, sharing that background info, very interesting, and, no, I didn’t know that I was still using the Outlook engine. The Microsoft empire is harder to escape than I thought. Thanks again, Grant

Indeed as Hyrum Smith (the original Franklin guru) said in the original instructional course…”When your daily activities are in concert with your highest priorities, you have a credible claim to inner peace.” I don’t need to ‘sharpen a saw’ in order to work toward being the person I want to be. My roles are priorities, but they are so as Governing Values.

More on topic…doesn’t the new PlanPlus for XP software require the Outlook engine to operate? How does this aid you in your (admirable) goal of migration away from Windows?

The Franklin method focused more on tasks and goals. As a result, my daily tasks felt more like duties or obligations to fulfill.

Once they merged with Covery, the idea of roles came in to play. By attaching roles to each of his tasks, the user of the organizer was asked to attach meaning to his actions.

MB