Like a ship without a rudder, many of us go through life without any real direction or a solid definition of what we want to accomplish. In fact, we spend more time researching and planning for our vacations than our future. But having a “life plan,” or a blueprint for where we want to go, what we want to be, and the steps we need to take to achieve it, can make the difference between personal fulfillment and failure. Just like a business plan, your life plan should include goals and strategies for success. Not just empowering, a solid, yet regularly updated life plan creates focus on what you want to achieve. It’s a discipline that takes you one step closer toward transformative experiences and results.

Now you’re busy – I get it. But try to carve out a little time to sit down and create or update your life plan, taking the following in mind:

1. Life planning is important! At work, we create business plans for the organization. At home, we design financial plans with our spouse. In sports, we develop plans for our plays. All share a common goal — the desire for success. Crafting the life plan is paramount to successful life, or the one you truly want to live.

2. Life’s lessons provide guideposts for the plan. Scrutinizing the past can show us where to go and not go, shedding light on our strengths, our weaknesses and, importantly, our passions, which once understood can give a plan shape, perimeters, clear routes and possibilities.

3. Our gifts and talents are our innate teachers.
They ground and steer us in all we do and should be the building blocks for what we become and where we go. Ignore these, and you’re making life harder than it has to be. Don’t know what they are? Think about what you loved and were good at as a child. That’s your answer still.

4. Your business plan and life plan might go hand in hand.
Don’t be surprised if you find that following a life plan leads you to change something about your business plan, or that your business plan inspires you to take new risks or previously feared paths within your life plan. If this happens or if they even complement each other, it’s all OK and, more likely, a sign that you’re on the right path, following your true, best course. Relax and go with it.

5. “Our dreams are the blueprint for our destiny.”
I put that in quotes because it’s a mantra for the mindset you must adopt to achieve your full life-planning potential. We live in an environment of constant change, and the changes are intense and increasing with intensity. The clearer you are about your path, the easier it will be for you to make effective, smart decisions. You’ll then spend your time more wisely, and life will simply be more enjoyable, fun and fulfilling.

To learn more about MAP’s life-planning process, please contact us directly.

Do you really want to go through life without a plan?