So, what is a Life Plan? One can equate a life plan to a “Float Plan” for someone who plans to take his yacht and sail the “Loop” [Say from Toronto, up the Great Lakes to Chicago down to the Mississippi River, to The Gulf of Mexico, around The Florida Keys and up the east coast and up the Hudson River back to Lake Ontario. Another comparison may be to climb Mt. Everest. Both are huge undertakings, but then so is your life. In each case you set out with a goal; Circumnavigating the “Loop”; Climbing Mt. Everest and Succeeding in Life. In each case, one needs to plan. We have to admit that each challenge is a monumental task and looking at any one of them almost seems too daunting to even contemplate. Why? Well, the plan conjured in one’s mind is too simplistic. For example, “I am going to make a lot of money and then I will retire early and travel the world.” That is not a plan. That is a dream. It is part of a life plan, but in of itself, it is more than likely to stay a dream.
The Life Plan I have in mind, is NOT a spiritual reawakening or a religious based exercise. It is a secular compendium of actions that best positions one to succeed at achieving their life’s dreams. As my area of acumen rest in the financial services area, I focus on helping small business owners find their path to success with the Life Plan, although the strategies are easily translate to other situations.
However, we are getting slightly ahead of ourselves. In attempting a Life Plan, we need to clarify the goals for Success. It is quite clear that everyone’s vision of success will be slightly different. For some, becoming a CEO of a huge company and making lots of money. For others, its traveling and seeing the world on $50 a day. A number will be satisfied with a steady pay cheque and enough beer to watch football on weekends. A few will strive for a revolutionary concept that will be deemed a disruptor in a major industry. A very few will wish for above all else, peace of mind, enlightenment and happiness. Life is like looking at the Mona Lisa and trying to answer what she is smiling at? We all have a different conclusion. But it doesn’t matter, it is your definition of success that counts. What is somewhat universal is the process that creates the path to your success. The reality is that each stepping stone to achieving the ultimate success the greater your happiness quotient.
The following words or terms become very important in the process of developing, accepting and internalizing a Life Plan. Keep them in mind throughout the process.
- DREAM
- SPIRITUALITY
- CURIOSITY
- PURPOSE
- OUTSIDE THE BOX THINKING
- PLANNING
- PASSION
- TENACITY
- REALITY
Keep these terms in mind as you complete your Life Plan.
The Dream
A DREAM is an aspiration. If it wasn’t, it would already be your ultimate REALITY. So, if you have a desire to change your reality, you have to begin dreaming. Pick at date in the future, say 10,20 years and try to imagine what your future reality might look like if you were able to waive a magic wand. Serious dreaming requires a conducive atmosphere. For some it a quiet space, for others its soothing background music.
Another way to look at a life plan is considering the example of energy. If you look at the ocean and see the waves, you are looking at Random Energy, In of itself, random energy is useless to man. Someone however, probably an electrical engineer, was watching the waves one day and recognized them as random energy. Then he began to [DREAM], what if there was a way to convert that random energy into useful energy! He then mused about the possibilities, [CURIOSITY], abundance of energy for mankind, [PURPOSE]. Then after a period of time he committed himself to finding a way and began his quest. After a few years of experimenting, failing and trying again, [PASSION & TENNASITY] he came up with the wave turbine used in tidal basins to generate electricity. The result is a DREAM becoming REALITY.
Your goals and aspirations will largely depend on where along the curve of life you decide that a Life Plan is not such a bad idea. If you embrace it out of high school, you pretty much have a clean slate. The later you start, the more baggage you carry, the less time you have and the harder you need to work to unlearn some of the habits and traits that are counter productive to your goals. You are more prone to take short cuts and skip or delay planning or implementation steps. It is important to fight these tendencies.
Most important of all, following the plan implicitly comes with an emotional bi-product, - Happiness. The goals are all laudable, but real bonus is the resulting happiness that incremental achievements bring. Promotions, lay offs, material acquisitions, love, tragedy, sickness, family all impact on your happiness quotient. You can be happy from day one and most of us are. When you first graduate out high school, you are “gung Ho” ready to tackle the world and you are very happy. So theoretically, happiness is a continuum, a life line if you will. Two things can throw you off the “Happiness line” and thus make you unhappy. One is apathy and the other is PASSION. Life is always going to throw hurdles at you. Most often this will make you unhappy. Those with an apathetical disposition will view it an obstacle and stress over it, while those with a passion in life, view it as a challenge and strive to get back to the “happiness continuum” by finding a way to overcome it and move on. Here is the kicker. The Life Plan anticipates many challenges, allowing you to either be ready for them or sometimes pre-empt them altogether, maintaining your “happy place” and keeps you on track to your goal.
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