By Dr Tim Ong
Whenever we have a certain goal to achieve, such as going for a
holiday, we put a plan into action.
Before we travel, we decide on our destination, how we are going to
get there and when. Once those are decided, we equip ourselves with
all the necessary things that we'll need in order to get there, such
as clothing, money, travel documents, where we will be staying, etc.
We are aware that we may not follow our plan exactly but when we have
a plan, then we are more likely to succeed in reaching our
destination. We can always modify our plan along the way.
The same holds true for our journey of life.
No one wants to fail in life, but when we fail to plan our life, we
are setting ourselves up for failure, thus the saying "If you failed
to plan, then you plan to fail".
Why do we make plans for trivial things, yet neglect to plan for our
life? Why leave our life to chance when we can hold it in our hands
and decide what we want out of it?
We CAN have EVERYTHING we want out of life!
To get everything we want out of our lives, we need to plan. This
plan should be our very own MASTERPLAN OF LIFE.
HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN MASTERPLAN OF LIFE
"Start With The End In Mind"
- Steven Covey
STEP #1: DEFINE YOUR GOALS
This means we need to decide NOW what we want out of life. These are
the GOALS we want to achieve in this life.
For example, I want to retire by the age of 45 so that I can spend my
time doing the things I like to do, and these are:
· to spend quality time with my wife and children
· to travel and see the world, learn about the different
cultures
· to continue acquiring new knowledge and learn new skills to
enrich my life and the lives of others
· to enrich, empower and encourage others towards success in
their lives
· to make this world a better place for everyone
I write all these down because GOALS MUST BE SPECIFIC. They must also
be MEASURABLE, ACHIEVABLE, and REALISTIC and HAS A DEFINITE TIME
FRAME. It is best to WRITE DOWN YOUR GOALS.
STEP #2: IDENTIFY WHAT YOU NEED TO HAVE AND TO DO IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE
THEM
In order to achieve my goals, I need to have a few essential things.
These are:
1. HEALTH
Health here refers to mental, emotional and physical health. Health
is wealth. Without health, no matter what else we have, we will not
have enough.
"A wise man ought to know that health is his most valuable
possession."
- Hippocrates
2. PRODUCTIVITY
I need to have at least a skill that will allow me to be productive
and contribute towards the needs and the growth of the community I
lived in. I need to be useful to society so that I can feel good
about myself (SELF-ESTEEM, SELF-CONFIDENCE, SELF-WORTH). My skill may
also provide a source of income for my family and me.
3. FINANCIAL FREEDOM
In order to be able to retire early and do all the things above, I
need a continuous stream of PASSIVE INCOME that will provide me with
the money to live the lifestyle I choose.
STEP #3: WORK YOUR PLAN
Now that I have defined my goals in life and identified what I need
to have and to do in order to achieve those goals, I must now work my
plan! What I have above is a MASTERPLAN that gives me the big picture
of what I want my life to be. My MASTERPLAN should be simple and
general.
Next I must now make smaller plans or sub-plans to achieve the three
things in Step #2 - health, productivity and financial freedom. All
these three go hand-in-hand. Thus, in my daily or weekly schedule, I
make sure that all three components are represented.
For example, to maintain health, I make sure that I spend time to
exercise at least two to three times a week. I also watch what I eat
and drink. I don't smoke or take alcohol, and I make sure I have
adequate sleep at night.
I also put aside some time to read and learn new things, including
attending seminars and talks, motivational workshops, NLP classes,
meditation classes, etc. All these activities help to stimulate my
mind and increase my creativity and productivity.
I know that if I want to retire early and live the lifestyle I
described, I must create a few sources of passive income that will
continuously put money into my pocket even when I don't work. To know
more about passive income, click here. Since being able to achieve
financial freedom is crucial to my plan, I therefore create a
specific plan just to realize this goal.
Once we have all these in place, we must work our plans and
constantly review our goals to see if we're moving in the right
direction. Learn also to enjoy the journey along the way. This is
just as important if we want to have a good life.
Remember, you cannot be successful just because you have created your
own MASTERPLAN OF LIFE. You must also work your plan! You must
fulfill all the three steps in order to succeed.
Good luck and may success be yours!
Related Articles:
Power Thinking - Choosing Goals with Subconscious Assistance
Those who work to super-define their goals
will most certainly achieve them & more, but before the super-
defining, one must choose a goal that truly fits before the
level of desire & motivators can be attached. This article
assists the reader through the goal-choosing maze.
Power Thinking Tools - Goal Tending
Want to break away from the pack? Then do
know that it's not enough to have a goal. Once a goal is
chosen, it must be detailed & groomed. That's what goal tending
is all about. This article takes the reader through this process
& on the way to experiencing the high level achievements that
come only from working in this precise way.
Your System for Living Life on Purpose, With Purpose
Every new bit of information I learn helps me be more successful in what I aim towards. Having a good, solid understanding of how I need to get there and what influences that, is critical, in my view, to being effective. That’s where the whole concept of life or success
'systems' comes in.
