How to create your life plan
The most successful people have life plans. That’s certain! These people earning six, seven figures are implementing this strategy to create as much value in their life as possible. So my question is; why aren’t you doing the same?
The most successful people create a life plan
This is so true and often a reason why we don’t. We think that we are not successful people. It almost sounds like a ‘Chicken or the Egg’ situation. What comes first; the life plan or the success. It sounds silly to think that now someone is successful they will then create a life plan.
To be successful you need to create your life plan
What are life plans?
Life plans are long term goals that are written down and reviewed to check progress towards them. They can also be used to ensure that you are remaining on track towards your goal. Sometimes we make choices in life which in the short term sound good but may actually move us away from our goal. Checking on your life plan ensures that you are reminded about where you are going and what you need to do to get there.
Why is it helpful to create life plans?
When working for any organisation, we can be given targets and directives which improve the company. This may not be aligned to what you want to achieve. Your life plan will help you ensure that decisions you make are aligned to the outcomes you want to achieve.
How to create your life plan?
Here I will break down what you need to do to create a life plan. Something I would advise is to keep the process as simple as possible. This means there is more chance of you succeeding. I don’t mean you need to lower your standards or goals, they should be aspirational, but what you need to do is simplify the process to get there.
Creating your vision
This is what you want to achieve. Let’s say you are looking for a life plan to help your career. You will be asking yourself some of the following;
What job am I in?
Who will I be leading?
What will my responsibilities be?
How much will I be earning?
As you can see, these are written in a positive affirmation way. It’s not going to be “I want...” it’s “I will...”
What skills will I need?
I always talk about aiming for your goals and working backwards. This helps to determine what you need to achieve them. So based on this, you need to think about what skills you need to get to where you want to be. Remember, what got you here won’t get you there. This will then help you to decide which skills you can learn in preparation for achieving your goal.
What skills do I have?
Never underestimate the power of what you know and can do right now. The skills you have now could be transferable, so it’s worth reviewing what you have and how these can help you.
Your network
Feedback in your development towards your goals is probably the most important aspect in whether you will achieve them. This is not going to be about you at networking events, but rather picking those people that you know who will give you honest feedback. Whether you like it or not!
To achieve your life plan, you will need to find people who can help you. As you will see from the list, some of this will take you out of your comfort zone. Aim for each point to be a different person.
People who can help you achieve your life plan
A positive person who can tell you how great you are.
Someone to give you feedback on your performance. This can be the person who does your yearly review.
Someone who will truthfully challenge you. Sometimes finding this person can be difficult. If you find the right person and they do this right, you will see massive gains in your progress.
A person who will support you when you are feeling down.
Someone who has had experience of what you want to do. Possibly once or currently in the position you are aiming for.
Someone who can help you be seen as the person to take the role. This is about creating visibility. Opportunity is created by visibility and credibility! Make sure you work on this.
Where do you go from here?
Now that you know what you need to have to create your life plan, it’s now about creating your action plan. Set out your actions by stating the following. This could be made as a table.
Action (What you need to do).
By when.
Who will help.
This article was written by Paul Martin. Head Coach at Coaching for Leverage.
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