There’s a reason this blog is called Narrowing the Distance. We all want more out of life, but aside from something unusual happening like winning the lottery, most progress is made over time. So your goal should be to continually narrow the distance from where you are to where you want to be in all areas of your life.
I’ve found the best way to do this is by creating a life plan. And there’s no better time than the beginning of a new year to create one. Here’s your guide to getting started…
As mentioned in a previous post, I divide my life plan up into separate “accounts”. Sometimes these accounts are in great shape and moving in the right direction, other times they’re in the red. The purpose of a life plan is to write down the accounts that matter most to you, include your “ideal scenario” for each, then make a plan to get there.
I have 6 accounts that monitor
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- Health – Eating right, exercise, optimal weight, annual checkups, and so on
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- Family – I subdivide this to make sure it covers goals related to my wife, daughter, mother, etc…
- Spiritual – Doesn’t have to be related to religion. More about understanding the bigger picture and higher purpose in life.
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- Finances – For me this covers investing, but also side gigs like rental properties
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- Work – Specific goals related to my career
- Fun – If i don’t plan for fishing trips and beers with buddies I find it rarely happens.
These are pretty much in order of importance for me. For example if I don’t take care of myself first, I can’t take care of my family, hold a job, have fun, etc…
Your accounts may look different, but the process is the same. I dedicate a page or so to each account and include my current status (which is not always positive), where I want to be, and some specific actions I’m going to take.
For example, with my health account, my current status is that my weight is ok, but I don’t get enough exercise and I eat out (and drink) too much. So some specific actions I will take include pre-paying for a trainer for a month to hold me accountable, and buy a paleo cookbook and follow one recipe a week instead of eating out.
To date I’ve already pre-paid for the trainer (you can get some great deals in January!) and will start meeting with him next month after my travel slows down.
I also spent a couple hours with my daughter at a bookstore and skimmed a few paleo cookbooks that I may like. This knocked out two birds with one stone as I got to spend some quality time with my daughter as well. Next steps are to read reviews on Amazon and place an order for one.
My life plan is written at the front of my notebook that I carry everywhere with me. This allows me to review frequently and make sure I’m on track. A minimum of once a year I will update it to reflect my new goals for each area, but I’ll review often just to make sure I’m making progress.
While this post may be enough to get you started developing your own life plan I can’t recommend Michael Hyatt’s book called Living Forward enough. You can currently pick it up on Amazon for under $12, which is a fraction of the cost of hiring a life coach and will likely prove to be just as effective if you follow through.
If you’re reading this post I’d love to hear your accounts or specific actions you’re planning on taking this year.