‘The best way to predict your future is to create it’ - Abraham Lincoln
It has been said if you do not plan your life, someone else will. While creating a life plan might seem confusing or daunting, it can be of great value. To be honest, I wish I had been the type that was driven and knew what I wanted all my life, and then pursued it with all I had.
Sadly, I drifted and wandered and never really asked myself what I truly wanted to do, and then went after it with all I had.
A life plan is not bulletproof. Life is full of surprises, but it can at least provide a chart for the course to help you stay moving in the direction you want to go. It takes thought, reflection, introspection and work, but in the end it can give you clarity about what you want to do in life.
It will never be perfect, and will be adjusted along the way, but it gives you the ability to determine your goals and the steps you need to take to achieve them.
So, what is a life plan?
It is a document that describes in detail the life that you want to have. IT defines what you are about, what you want to accomplish and be remembered as. Essentially you imagine the life that you want, and then you write it down and starting crafting the steps necessary to achieve it.
While there is a lot to be said about this subject, I want to keep it simple and give you three things you need for a good life plan.
Vision
It all begins with Vision. What sort of life do you want. This is an intimidating question. But if we ask it and answer it honestly we can begin to take control of our lives. Most people are scared to ask this and become stuck and unsatisfied in life.
What sort of lifestyle do you want? Want kind of finances do you want? What do you want your marriage to look life? If you could have things exactly they way you wanted them, what would they be like? Ask yourself. Dream and unlock your imagination. It is ok. You have permission to desire the best life you can imagine.
I suspect that most of the time we won't dare to think we deserve what we want and feel guilty for wanting it, only to live unfulfilled lives. Sadly, we see people all around us going after their dreams and thinking that we are undeserving or un capable. Not true. High achievers are just like you, the only difference is, they go for it.
Start asking what you want your life to look like. Then, you can apply it to the specific areas of your life.
Values
Before we can think about the what, we need to know the why. In other words, what values do we live by. Why are we here and why do we want what we want. This is a deeply personal and spiritual question to ask. But something or someone defines your life. You live for some purpose whether you are aware of it or not. Better to know then not know. Maybe you will discover that you have been living for a purpose that does not really align with your true purpose and values.
For instance if you are a person of faith, God defines your life. God sets the agenda for you. You need to know what it is that you are about to set the tone for everything else. This is central to control how the different categories of life (we will see next) function and relate to each other.
What are your principles? How do they affect your decisions and priorities? What matters most to you? These are the things that will guide you along the way.
Variety
Our lives are made up of so many categories. Each one seems to pull and demand 100 percent of our attention. This leads to stress and frustration. This is precisely why a life plan helps. We begin to put these areas into perspective of the bigger picture of our life. Once we know our why, we can start to break our life down into different compartments.
Often we have around 8 to 10 areas of our lives. Most commonly they are family, work, friends, finances, health and so on. Once we identify these categories, we can now ask the questions: what do I want to happen in this area and how does it contribute to my overall vision of life, and how does my overall vision of life control this area.
For instance, health is a big thing for the majority of people. The question is: what do I want my health to be like and how will I make that happen. Maybe I want to lose 5 pounds and have better endurance. I envision that for myself and then make a plan to achieve it. Like getting a gym membership or starting a running routine.
A big one is marriage. What do I want my marriage to look like? How will I make that happen? These are just a few examples of the different domains of our lives that we create goals and plans for.
In conclusion, the unity comes from the vision and the values that we have. Then we can organize our lives and pursue our dreams because we have perspective and clarity.
Have you made a life plan? If so, what has helped you and how has it helped you? Comment below and share what you have learned about using a life plan.
Heres to a highly productive 2019 and fulfilling life.
