It’s January 25…and many of us have already broken them. The first few weeks of the gym were easy, but then it snowed and we stopped going. We loved eating healthy….all those salads….but then work got stressful and McDonalds called out our name. Every year we make them and every year 25% of us break them within a week and 60% abandon them before summer hits. They plague us, belittle us, guilt us, conquer us and gloat over us. Resolutions!
I said goodbye to resolutions in 2011 and have lived a different life ever since. Resolutions are problematic because they come out of a temporary mindset. They often address behaviors without addressing background. Resolutions are often good intentions but are easy to walk away from because at the end of the day we don’t really care about them. They’re not connected to our hearts….just our intentions and short term desires. Every year so many of us make resolutions because I think that deep down inside we all want to develop and move forward. The problem is that broken resolutions usually just add to the problem because they neutralize our hearts and stop us dead in our tracks.
In 2011 I developed a life plan and it started a daily process that has helped to transform my life. Michael Hyatt has developed a great resource for this and the best thing is that it’s completely free! So what does a life plan do?
When you develop a life plan you look at the end goal….more than a 5 or 10 year plan (which are also helpful) it looks to the end. You ask questions like “What do I want to be known for?” ”What do I want my wife/kids/husband/friends to say about me when I die?” I know it may sound a little morbid but thinking about the ending does two things….1. it gets you thinking about what really matters to you and 2. it gives you the ultimate goal and will provide the context for your plans and goals
“Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front”
After you’ve written out the desired reality you look at the current reality. This is the one that usually hurts if you’re honest. When you measure these two up against each other the journey before you begins to unfold. This journey is the one your life can take. This is where your annual commitments come from. The good news is that this is a life plan, not a one year plan so you don’t need to move from a-z in 365 days. Will you still fail and lose ground sometimes? Of course, but when you have a life plan your commitments and goals have a deeper meaning to you than just the goal itself….it’s attached to the depths of who you are.
So now that you’ve probably broken your resolutions or realized that they weren’t attainable take a break and start over. Download the life plan pdf, put on some good music, grab a cup of coffee and dream. You get one chance at life, will you leave it to chance or will you start moving towards a great life.
Have you written a life plan? Do you have goals, dreams? If so, how do you move towards them?