Pillar # 7 – Create Your Plan of Action

Welcome back to Life Compass, where I’m sharing my Ten Pillars of Lifestyle Design.  Congratulations on making it this far!  You’ve invested a lot of time and energy in following the first six Pillars:

• Pillar #1 – Start Your Master Dream List.
• Pillar #2 – Envision Your Preferred Future.
• Pillar #3 – Clarify Your Life Purpose.
• Pillar #4 – Evaluate Your Current Reality.
• Pillar #5 – Reveal Your Personal Values.
• Pillar #6 – Set Well-Defined Goals.

That work is about to culminate as I share Pillar #7 – Create Your Plan of Action.  In this step, you’ll synthesize the work you’ve done so far into an action plan that will propel you to achieve your targets (goals).

1. Refine and rewrite your Life Purpose onto one sheet of paper titled “Life Purpose”.
2. Review your list of Personal Values and make a master list of your most important values.  Title this page “Master List of Personal Values”.
3. Review your list of Goals for each life area and make a master list of your most important targets to work on for the next season of life (I suggest three months).  Prioritize them by order of importance and indicate which Life Area they’re from.  I suggest you work on at least one target in each life area per season, but I recognize that some will require more time and energy than others.  Next, set a due date for when the target should be attained or completed.
4. Make a separate “Goal Planning Worksheet” for each one of your seasonal targets.  At the top of each sheet, write today’s date, the Life Area that this target corresponds with, and the due date. Leave space at the top for a completion date, which you’ll fill-in when the target is completed.  Next, write out the target using the SMART format (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Tangible).  Then list the benefits you’ll receive by achieving this Target.  Feel free to write a few sentences – these will help motivate you to achieve the target.  *HINT* Make sure you ask yourself “Why?” several times until you get to the answer that will really motivate you!  Next, list the obstacles that could keep you from successfully attaining the target.  Next, list some ways you can avoid or overcome the obstacles.  Lastly, identify the specific action steps that are necessary for you to achieve this target.  You might list them in order and put a target date next to each one…or you might create a mindmap or use some other kind of chart or timeline.

That’s Pillar #7 – Create Your Plan of Action.  We have a little more work to do on your Target Planning Worksheets.  But we’ll save it for Pillar #8 – Identify People or Tools that Can Help.