Everyone knows the importance of having a strategic plan for their business. But how many of us have created a strategic Life plan for ourselves and our families? A strategic life plan is more than a financial plan for retirement. It's a guide for achieving your hereafter desired lifestyle. How do you do this? "Begin with end in mind," as Stephen Covey says in his book The 7 Habits of extremely efficient People. But what does this easily mean? If you result our unique approach, it's as uncomplicated as answering five questions:
- Where do we want to be? (what's our hereafter desired outcome?)
- How will we know when we get there? (what measurements will we use to tell us we're on track or have easily achieved our desires?)
- Where are we now? (what are today's issues and challenges that need to be resolved?)
- How do we get there? (what strategies, actions need to occur to close the gap from where we are today to where we want to be?)
- Ongoing - what will or may convert in our hereafter environment that could affect our desired outcomes?
Q1 Where do we want to be?
Can you visualize your hereafter 10 or 15 years from now? What does it look like? How does it feel? More than a vision, this is a article of the lifestyle you want to have 10-15 years from now. Does it include travel? Does it include a house on the beach somewhere? Does it include passage to activities like hiking, swimming, tennis, sailing, fishing? possibly voyage the Us in a motor home. Where do you want to go? What do you want to experience? What does daily life look like for you? Here's an example of a hereafter desired state you might craft:
We're sitting on our back porch, placed just steps from the water. The sunsets here fill the sky with dramatic hues of orange, crimson, pink and gold. We've just returned from a four-month sail boat cruise where we visited 10 countries, ate exotic cuisine, and experienced cultures we had never seen before. We're relaxing, regrouping, checking our financial situation, visiting with friends and family, and manufacture plans for our next worldwide adventure.
Q2 How will we know when we get there?
What are the specific milestones you will use to tell you you're on track to reaching your desired state? What will have to be fulfilled, by what date for you to know you're on track or already there? What might be some of the measures for achieving the desired state above, for example? They might include the following:
Q3 Where are we now?
It's today, and you're a long way from achieving this desired outcome. List today's current situation: your finances, your work situation, your house situation (do you have children living at home, for example), your health. List issues or concerns that may be opportunities or challenges to achieving your dreams. Here are some examples:
Q4 How do we get there?
Here's where we start identifying the strategies that will get us from where we are today to where we want to be. What will it take to close that gap? include financial, health, family, and training that might be required to achieve your desired state. For example, we might include some of the following:
Q5 Ongoing: What will or may convert in our hereafter environment?
Now take a look at the world around you and identify areas that might impact your hereafter dreams. What's happening economically where you currently live? What changes might happen in the next five to 10 years that could dramatically affect you? How might the socio-demographic changes impact your current and hereafter lifestyle? Are there technological changes that need to be determined that could affect your future? What about ecological concerns such as global warming, high price of gasoline, etc.? List as many things as you can and impart this at least twice a year to make any adjustments necessary. For example:
Condense all your answers into a one-page document that you and your house can keep within easy reach. impart it monthly, make any important adjustments, and update it on a every year basis. Once this is done, you will have created a Strategic Life Plan, using the Systems reasoning advent to planning.
We've only touched the tip of the iceberg on using a System's reasoning advent to planning. This same process can be utilized in your work, for problem-solving, for event planning, for every aspect of your life. Its very simplicity and natural way of reasoning makes it a useful tool applicable to all aspects of our work and life.
originate a Strategic Life Plan As a Road Map to Your hereafter