Living Forward

1. Life Planning: The GPS for Your Personal Journey

A Life Plan is the app you need to stay on the path to the life you desire.

Define your destination. Just as a GPS requires you to input your destination, a Life Plan forces you to determine the outcomes you want in each major area of your life. Without a clear direction, you risk drifting through life and ending up at an unintended destination.

Navigate life's obstacles. A Life Plan helps you get back on track when you lose your way, much like a GPS reroutes you around roadblocks. It provides a framework for overcoming obstacles and keeping you moving forward towards your goals.

Continuous improvement. Like updating your GPS, your Life Plan is not a one-time event but a lifelong practice. It requires regular review and adjustment as your circumstances and priorities change over time.

2. Begin with the End in Mind: Write Your Own Eulogy

How do I want to be remembered when I am gone?

Craft your legacy. Writing your own eulogy forces you to consider the impact you want to have on the world and the memories you want to leave behind. This exercise helps you clarify your values and priorities, ensuring that your daily actions align with your long-term vision.

Engage your heart and mind. The eulogy exercise is not just an intellectual pursuit but an emotional one. It helps you connect with your deepest desires and motivations, providing the emotional fuel needed to drive lasting change in your life.

Create a compelling vision. By imagining how you want to be remembered, you create a powerful vision that can guide your decisions and actions throughout your life. This vision acts as a North Star, helping you stay on course even when faced with difficult choices or setbacks.

3. Identify and Prioritize Your Life Accounts

Your life is a collection of accounts and each of them requires the right attention.

Holistic approach to life. Think of your life as a collection of interconnected accounts, such as spiritual, physical, intellectual, marital, parental, social, and financial. Recognizing these different areas helps you maintain balance and avoid neglecting important aspects of your life.

Assess your current state. For each life account, evaluate your current level of passion and progress. This assessment helps you identify areas that need more attention and those where you're already thriving.

Prioritize wisely. Rank your life accounts in order of importance to ensure you're investing your time and energy in alignment with your values. Remember that while all accounts are important, they may not all require equal attention at all times.

4. Create Action Plans for Each Life Account

If you can delegate, delay, or drop it, it may not be a priority for you.

Define your purpose. For each life account, articulate your role and primary responsibility. This helps you focus on what's truly important in each area of your life.

Envision your ideal future. Describe in vivid detail how each account looks when it's functioning at its best. Use present tense and engage all your senses to make this vision as compelling as possible.

Set SMART commitments. Create specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and time-bound commitments for each account. These commitments should bridge the gap between your current reality and your envisioned future.

• Example SMART commitment: "Run (or cross-train) four days a week for at least 60 minutes."
• Example SMART commitment: "Date my spouse every week, including one weekday lunch and one evening out."

5. Dedicate a Full Day to Crafting Your Life Plan

This is the biggest day of your year.

Immersive experience. Setting aside a full day for Life Planning allows you to fully engage with the process without distractions. This dedicated time is crucial for deep reflection and creative thinking about your life's direction.

Prepare for success. Choose a quiet location away from your usual environment, bring necessary supplies, and commit to being offline for the duration of your planning day. Inform family and colleagues to minimize interruptions.

Trust the process. Even if you feel stuck at times, keep pushing forward. The act of engaging with these important questions about your life will yield valuable insights and a clearer sense of direction.

6. Implement Your Plan by Creating Margin in Your Life

Margin is possible. But it requires you to recognize the forces that threaten to gobble it up and then enact the appropriate countermeasures.

Triage your calendar. Review your current commitments and eliminate or reschedule non-essential activities. This creates space for implementing your Life Plan priorities.

Schedule your priorities. Use tools like an Ideal Week template and Annual Time Block to ensure your most important activities are scheduled first. This prevents urgent but less important tasks from crowding out your priorities.

Learn to say no gracefully. Develop the skill of saying "no" to requests that don't align with your Life Plan priorities. Use the "Yes-No-Yes" formula to maintain relationships while protecting your time and energy.

• Yes: Affirm the person and their request
• No: Clearly state your boundary
• Yes: Offer an alternative solution or explanation

7. Keep Your Life Plan Alive Through Regular Reviews

A plan is worthless unless you review it on a regular basis.

Daily reading. For the first 90 days, read your Life Plan daily to internalize its content and maintain focus on your priorities.

Weekly review. Set aside 15-30 minutes each week to review your Life Plan and assess your progress. Use this time to plan your upcoming week in alignment with your long-term goals.

Quarterly and annual updates. Schedule more in-depth reviews every quarter and year to revise your Life Plan based on changing circumstances and evolving priorities. Use these sessions to set new goals and commitments for the upcoming period.

8. Embrace the Life Planning Revolution in Your Organization

Self-leadership always precedes team leadership.

Lead by example. Before implementing Life Planning in your organization, create and live your own Life Plan. Your personal transformation will inspire others to follow suit.

Communicate care. Encouraging Life Planning among employees demonstrates that you value their holistic well-being and long-term success, not just their work performance.

Provide resources and support. Offer training, paid time off for Life Planning, and ongoing encouragement to help employees create and implement their Life Plans. Consider providing additional resources for key life areas such as financial planning or health and wellness.

Create a culture of intentionality. By embracing Life Planning organization-wide, you can foster a culture where employees are more engaged, productive, and aligned with both personal and company goals.

Last updated: January 23, 2025