Get the Life You Want
Do you have big goals, a plan of action, and the confidence you will achieve your dreams?
Do you daydream about success but don’t really think it’s possible for you?
Do you want to change a wish into a plan?
This week, my wife and I purchased a car. We spent hours researching models, checking safety features, and reading online reviews. After multiple test drives and visits to various dealerships, we finally settled on one she wanted. Then we spent hours more buying it and still more hours learning its various features.
That’s the way it is when we make a big purchase. I’m sure it’s the same in your home. We do this when planning vacations, too, right? Reading online reviews, choosing hotels, and carefully picking flights or planning a drive. If you’re at the stage where you have a teenager picking a university, you may be experiencing the dizzying array of possibilities. All of it requires time, attention, and careful planning. Whether college, a car, a vacation, or a family event like a wedding, we take the time needed to plan it all out so that we have a memorable experience.
So let me ask you a question.
Do you spend that type of time planning your life?
It seems that many of us go through our lives, accepting what comes, and just “going with the flow.”
What if there was a better way?
Michael Hyatt has just written a book with Daniel Harkavy that will help you design the life you want.
Michael is the CEO of Intentional Leadership, an online leadership development company. He is the former CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers and also the NYT bestselling author of Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World. You may have heard his popular This is Your Life podcast.
Michael also is a close personal friend. He encouraged me to join Twitter and start blogging. I’ve watched him grow his business, but more importantly I’ve watched how he lives his life.
Which is why I am confident you will enjoy his newest book, Living Forward: A Proven Plan to Stop Drifting and Get the Life You Want. Though I don’t know his co-author, Daniel Harkavy, I know he was Michael’s coach. His company, Building Champions, has helped many people get on track to accomplish their goals.
I recently asked Michael a few questions about the new book.
Design Your Life
What is a life plan?
A life plan is a brief document where you establish your personal priorities and articulate the steps you need to get from where you currently are to where you want to be. It’s a living document that you write yourself that gives you a view of your life.
Tell us about your own experience with Life Planning.
Daniel introduced it to me when he was my coach in the early 2000s. Before I created a Life Plan, I spent way too much time at work. That was one area where I did plan, where I was intentional, but I was really drifting in other areas of my life, including my health, family, community life, and everything else that is truly important to me. Life Planning has been transformational for me.
Begin With the End in Mind
As part of designing a legacy, you recommend actually writing your own eulogy. Why? What are some reactions to this exercise?
Writing a eulogy is powerful because it forces us to acknowledge something our culture is desperate to keep us from acknowledging: our own mortality. We are all going to die.
You don’t have a choice about that, but you do have a choice about what you leave behind, about the memories you’re going to give the people you love.
It’s an emotional exercise. I’ve taught this in large group settings where people have wept and had to leave the room. Most people who do it say it is one of the most profound things they have ever done. It’s also empowering.
Take A Day for You
Michael, we share a passion for productivity. Both of us like to get as much done as possible in as little time as possible. Why do you insist on setting an entire day aside for writing the Life Plan?
This is non-negotiable for me. Don’t try to do this piecemeal. This is the plan for your life. It needs and is worth your focus.
Proverbs says, “A plan in the heart of a man is like deep water, but a man of understanding draws it out.” You’ve got to dive deep and invest the time to pull it out. Invest one day. It’s a great start.
For many, the most difficult part of the Life Planning process is giving yourself permission to take the time to plan your life.
