It’s already half way through the first month of 2003. By now you’ve probably read tons of articles telling you that you should be planning the year ahead. If you’re anything like me, you’re heartily sick of them!
Have you noticed that just about none of these articles actually details strategies that you can adopt. How are you supposed to create a compelling future for yourself?
In this article we’re going to focus on real methods of planning and setting a direction for your life. Interested? Read on...
SETTING A DIRECTION FOR YOUR LIFE
We keep hearing about setting specific goals for our lives. This is great, but what happens once you’ve achieved the goal? Does life end?
My personal opinion is that while goals are important, it is far more useful to set a direction or theme for your life. Goals then become milestones along this path enabling you to determine if you’re travelling in the direction you set
yourself.
Setting an overall direction means that as you pass a goal or milestone, there is still more to be achieved and you are not left in a state where you wonder "now what?"
A couple of examples will illustrate the point...
Example 1:
You could set a goal to climb Mt Everest. This could be your all consuming passion and after a lot of work, you achieve it and get back down. "Get back down" is the problem... once you’ve achieved this lofty goal, and haven’t got something else to move on to, you could flounder for quite a while before deciding on another goal.
If however, you set a direction of having an adventurous life, you could then climb all the peaks, dive to the bottom of all the world’s oceans, drive a racing car
etc. There will always be something else after you achieve each goal and you will find yourself being *pulled* along as there will always be something to focus on after the current goal.
Example 2:
I’m going to share my own personal direction with you.
My primary focus is on DAILY IMPROVEMENT. While I do have a compelling vision for the future, I don’t dwell on it. I concentrate on the NOW. How can I improve in all aspects of my life, just a little, every day.
By having this as my focus I know that I am moving closer to achieving my vision. However, I am not attached to the outcome. I don’t fear failure as I am not focused on the future while envisioning a negative result. I concentrate on the NOW, the PRESENT.
DETERMINING YOUR DIRECTION
Sit down in a quiet place and take the time to create an overall direction. This could be for just this year, a few years or your entire life. It’s entirely up to you.
Examples could include being successful in business, being the best parent/spouse you can be, growing as an individual. From the examples above, you can see that you have an infinite degree of latitude as to what your direction could be.
It is important that there is no end point and that the direction you set for yourself allows flexibility for you to change your mind, as well as being a continual challenge.
OKAY, YOU’VE SET AN INITIAL DIRECTION, OR TWO... NOW WHAT?
You will need some way of measuring progress along your chosen path. This is where individual goals come in. Goals act as milestones along the path and provide evidence that you are moving in the direction you set yourself. Goals are a means to an end - not the end itself.
Let’s take a couple of examples:
Example 1:
You want to move down the path of personal growth. You decide that you need to attend some courses on relationships, as well as becoming more spiritual.
Goals for the year could include locating and undertaking a number of courses in communication, meditation etc. You can decide that by the middle of the year you would have joined a group of like minded individuals.
Example 2:
You want to start a new business and be successful long term.
Goals could include learning about financial management, marketing, business in general etc. You may want to identify and engage a business coach who will facilitate the path.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Once you’ve decided on a set of goals, it’s wise to determine if the goals really do serve you, as well as your wider environment. Run each goal through the following process and really examine your motives for wanting to achieve this particular step.
POSITIVE:
Ensure that the goal is positively stated. It’s something you want, NOT something you don’t want.
The human mind is motivated to move towards pleasure and away from pain.
If you are part of the population that is motivated by pain - i.e. only working at your best when there is a deadline and fearing negative consequences for not producing, you may want to reconsider this strategy. If you follow this strategy you will need ever increasing amounts of pain to keep producing. Eventually you will sabotage your life.
If however, you train yourself to be motivated by pleasure, you will be *pulled* along in the achievement of your dreams. Please note, I mean pleasure in the generic sense of wanting to achieve so that you feel good.
RESOURCES:
Do you have the personal resources to achieve this goal? If not, who/what will you need?
OPTIMAL:
Will attaining this goal be a win-win for you and other parties it may affect?
CONTROL:
Is the achievement of this goal within your control? What part will you play in it and how can you contribute to its attainment?
EVIDENCE:
How will you know that you are on track and that you have achieved the goal? What will you see, hear, feel that will let you know that the outcome is successful?
SPECIFIC:
Be as specific about your goal as possible. As the old saying goes, "Be careful what you ask for, it may not be what you intended."
SATISFYING:
Is reaching this goal going to be personally satisfying to you? Why is this goal important to you? Ask yourself if every part of you is totally aligned with achieving the outcome.
The acrostic "PROCESS" is an easy way of remembering these steps.
Once you’ve decided on your goals, you need to decide a rough order and a timeframe makes sense for you. Some goals will be prerequisites of others.
WRITING A LETTER FROM THE FUTURE
Okay, so you’ve done the steps above and *written down* a direction and goals for some timeframe in your future.
A useful visualisation tool that will help you embed this into your mind and body is to write a letter to yourself from the future as follows:
This example presupposes that you’ve set a direction for this year. Use whatever time period you wish.
Write a letter from the future to yourself. Pretend it is 31st December 2003 and that you are writing to a friend detailing all the wonderful events that have happened in your life this year.
In this letter include events from your professional and personal life. Write in the 1st person and in the past tense. Remember, these events have already taken place. Write with feeling, and vividly describe events - what you saw, heard and felt when they took place.
Once you have the letter, actually mail it to yourself. On receipt, actually read this letter to yourself OUT LOUD, in front of a mirror if possible, after getting up and just before going to bed.
IN CONCLUSION
Remember to have fun! Life is a game, and if you treat it as such, you will enjoy the process far more.
Ask yourself the questions:
What would happen in my life if it was just as important for me to have fun, as it was to achieve?
- Is there a gap between the person I am and the person I need to become to achieve my goals? Be totally honest with yourself!!!
- Do I believe that what I desire is really possible?
- Am I totally aligned with my direction and goals - or is there a part of me that objects for some reason?
- What action would I take *now* if I couldn’t fail?
Okay, like the Nike ad says - "Just do it!"
Take some action now and you will be one step closer to achieving your dreams.
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