Monthly Archives: March 2017

Life Planning: How a Life Plan Can Help You Avoid the Drift

Life Planning:
How A Life Plan Can Help You Avoid the Drift

What does a life Plan do?
About a year ago, Daniel Harkavy and Michael Hyatt published a book titled Living Forward. I read it and recommend it highly. In Living Forward, they describe the importance of having a written life plan. At first glance, this idea may seem a bit over-the-top and lofty, but after going through the process of creating one last year, it has helped me in several ways.

Above all, it helps me to be intentional about how I live my life. I want to look back on my life 5, 10 or 20 years from now and see that I have lived a worthy life of significance. Simply, my life plan clarifies on paper what is most important to me, charts a course for action in getting to where I want to be in life, and serves as a regular reminder when I review it. It keeps me from drifting through each day, week and month without purpose. My life plan reminds me to live a life of intention, designing it for my purposes and desires. During my run-of-the-mill day, I can bounce my decisions, time and tasks against the intentions in my life plan. This provides clarity in purpose and has been a tie-breaker when assigning priorities. I hope that it keeps me from any regrets.

What is Drift?
I emphasize being proactive and acting on life, rather than the alternative which is to drift through life. Drift is an insidious, unintentional and silent villain which robs us of becoming all that we can. The drift never takes us to a place that we intend. It is a slow pull that we often don’t even realize. When lives crumble, they don’t happen in a day. They fall apart over time because of inattention to the important. That can be the effect of drift.

Think of it like a boat Captain adrift with no sail, map or rudder. She is not only unaware of her position, but also subject to the weather and the currents, with no way of making corrections. A life plan provides the figurative sail, map and rudder. While still subject to the weather, winds and currents, it allows the boat Captain to stay in control and make it to her intended destination.

Avoiding the drift is important because according to the authors, its consequences cause:

* Confusion — No clear direction or perspective. Our lives are not guided with purpose and meaning. We just go from one thing to the next, seemingly   unconnected.

* Expense — Causes us to waste time, money, and health among others.

* Lost Opportunities — We lose the ability see opportunities and to go down paths that would enrich our lives. We don’t see them because we are distracted in the here and now.

* Pain — Lack of planning and action in the areas most important to us, can lead us to painful troubles. This can occur in our marriage, health, finances, profession, family and other areas of our lives.

* Regret — No one wants to look back and wish things had been different. “If only I……….(you fill in the blank.) It becomes even more frustrating when we realize it is a result of our lack of planning and attention to how we want to live our lives.

What’s in a Life Plan?
So what is in a life plan? Harkavy and Hyatt suggest specific contents be included. I’ve used their model and customized it to reflect what I think is important. Your Life Plan should inspire you and sit well with you. When you review your Life Plan, it should capture your dreams, goals, beliefs, and values. Here’s an outline of what I’ve included in mine:

  • A mission statement – a short statement about what I believe my life is about
  • My envisioned eulogy – admittedly macabre, but necessary to envision the end game and provide context
  • My most important areas of life – physical, spiritual, mental, financial, relational, professional, etc.
  • What constitutes for me a successful day, and life? How do I measure if I’m on track?
  • An action plan for each important area of my life – it includes a purpose, envisioned future, my WHY, the benefits, where I am now, specific commitments to get me there, and obstacles and pitfalls to be mindful

If you know what you want in life and have a plan to get there, then you are leaps and bounds closer to “succcess.” Harkavy and Hyatt remind us that most people spend more time and attention planning vacations, weddings and car purchases than they do their own lives. I found the introspective process of building a Life Plan is as valuable as the end product itself. It need not be a long document, and does not need to be perfect, because it will change. It is not hard to do, but requires that you set aside time to do it. It will never be complete, but will always be under revision and adjustment as life progresses.

“My definition of success has two parts. The first is when my intentions, words and actions align–integrity. The second is when they are progressively moving me toward my goals and how I want to live my life.”

My definition of success has two parts. The first is when my intentions, words and actions align–integrity. The second is when they are progressively moving me toward my goals and how I want to live my life. My life plan plan helps me to live my definition of a successful life. How do you define success? How do you know if you are on track? If you want to dive deeper into life planning and how to create one, check out https://livingforwardbook.com.

Be Your Best!


Moving: Lessons from this Ordinary Life Experience

About two months ago, Cheri and I moved into a beautiful new home.

It was a tumultuous period, so naturally I figured there must be lessons from this ordinary life experience.

For some time, Cheri has wanted to move out of our old house. I was quite comfortable in that house, and really had no desire to move. I was settled in my comfortable and familiar life and routines. Our town suited me fine. My life was there. Cheri had the house decorated like something out of a magazine. I had put so much in the way of blood, sweat and tears in improvements that I would be leaving a part of myself there. A move would be expensive, and our new mortgage payment would skyrocket.

However, both our parents are getting way up there in age, and we weren’t getting to see them as much as we wanted due to the distance. As well, the prospect of moving to a place that would better suit us as we grow “more mature” seemed like a good idea. We were furthermore concerned about how rough our town was becoming. But the real reason I had no interest in moving was that we had so much “good” stuff accumulated over the years, the thought of trying to downsize, organize, pack and move it all was daunting. We also needed to prepare and sell our house, with the associated burden of timing the sale for a door-to-door move, or finding an interim place to live, until our new home was built.

Regardless, we took the plunge, and we are very happy that we did. It seems like a dream home for us. It all happened quickly between September and Christmas.

We sold, pitched and donated stuff to downsize. Then came sorting, organization and packing. A contract was written on the new house. We prepped the old house and got it sold. There was time for little else. We then lived out of boxes and suitcases in the basement of my in-laws for about two months, while all of our possessions went into storage.

Eventually our new home was ready and we moved-in two days before Christmas. It was crazy. But…the amenities of our new community are amazing. The area is great and located within reach of anything we could want. Our home is absolutely gorgeous and we are so much closer to family. We are now in a wonderful home that will elegantly serve our needs well into our later years. But it required a lot of work and even more courage.

I learned these 8 lessons from this ordinary life experience.

  1. Appreciate the small things in life and don’t take them for granted.  I recall missing the familiar–my own bed, coffee mug and sitting chair.
  2. Take one thing at a time and it will come together. There was a lot to be done in a short period. Bit-by-bit it all materialized, especially after we got started.
  3. Establish a plan. Plans close the gap between where you are, and your desired state. You’ll save time in the long run and reduce the stress.
  4. Change is constant–accept it. And even better, embrace it. We were going to move, it was just a matter of when. It was easier after I made the decision to “change gears.” Being “all in” made the rest of it easier.
  5. You are capable of more than you think. Whatever faces you may be daunting, but it is usually not as bad as you think.
  6. Dream big. Big dreams force solutions to big challenges. Your results reflect the size of your challenges.
  7. Be bold, do it, take the plunge. In decision and action. If you want something that is good for you, it’s easier after you put it in motion.
  8. You don’t drift to where you want to be in life. You reap what you sow. We invested in our desires, tolerated the turmoil, and took the necessary action.

Thousands of people make moves every day. Why was it a big deal for us? Because it pushed us out of our comfort zone. It is said that the best teacher in life is not experience, but evaluated experience. These are my lessons from this ordinary life experience. From what ordinary life experience can you pull lessons?

Be your best!