Today I want to talk about your future. Do you have a plan for your future?
When you write a book you never know what lines people are going to hone in on, or what lines are going to arrest readers, cause them to pause and reflect. 15 years ago, when I published The Dream Manager, I went on a media tour. I did interviews and book signings. And I was amazed at how many times I was asked about a single line in the book.
“Most people spend more time planning their annual vacation than they spend planning their lives.”
It caught people’s attention because it is true. But also because it is a sad truth.
The sadder truth is that most people have never been taught how to put together a life plan. Well, today we are going to do something about that.
Now before we get too far, I want to set aside one myth about life-planning. The idea isn’t to plan every moment. The idea is not to cling rigidly to the plan you come up with. The goal it to think intentionally about your future so you can live intentionally in the present. The idea is to identify what matters most to you and learn how to place what matters most at the center of you life.
This focus and intentionality will change your life forever.
The other option is to stumble along and just see what happens. This we know is a failing strategy. Napoleon said famously, “Those who fail to plan can plan to fail.”
It’s time to come up with a plan for your life.
Some people may say, “I am too old to put together a life plan.” Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the older we get, the more important it is to reflect upon our future.
When people get close to 60 years old they tend to start thinking about the end of life. It is just something that happens to people. But the reality is if you are 60 today and in reasonable health, you are likely to live for another 25 years… and not having a vision for those 25 years of your life would be a tragedy.
Everything great in history has been built by people who believe that the future could be better than the past. Do you believe that your future can be better than your past? Maybe you do, maybe you don’t. Lots of people don’t. All I ask is that you stay open to the possibility.
Stay open to a better future. It may not involve the same things as your past, it may involve new people, activities, and adventures.
Your better future may not be bigger than your past. Bigger isn’t always better. Sometimes a smaller, simpler future is a better future.
Only you know and that’s why this visioning exercise is so important.
Many years ago, I met a Master Architect at a party. I am an introvert and not that comfortable around crowds of people, especially groups of people I don’t know. And I’m no good at small talk. Sure I can do it, but I’m not that comfortable doing it and it doesn’t feed my soul.
So, when I find myself in these situations, I look for someone interesting to talk to, and I find out what it is that they know more about than anything else. You see, my experience has been that most people are absolutely fascinating if you talk to them about the one thing they know more about than anything else in the world. And I try to learn everything I can about that one thing that they know more about than anything in the world.
This has led to some of the most amazing conversations of my life.
If you think someone is boring, you are probably talking to them about the wrong subject. Get them talking about the subject they know more about than anything else in the world and they will transform before your very eyes. They become animated and their eyes begin to smile.
So anyway, I was at this one party, and I was introduced to a woman. We got to talking and it turned out she was an Architect. I asked her what are of architecture she worked in and she shared that she helped people design their dream homes, specially luxury custom homes.
“What is the biggest mistake people make when they are designing their dream home?” I asked her.
She explained to me that most people make the same two mistakes. First, they do not make the areas around the kitchen large enough. This is the natural gathering space in a home. It is the place people gravitate toward when there is any type of gathering in a home.
Second, she explained, most people design the house they need today. It takes 2 – 4 years to design and build a luxury home. So, if you design the house you need today, by the time you move into it, your needs have already changed, and depending on what stage of life you are in, those needs may have changed significantly.
“How do you help them to avoid making these mistakes?”
What I then heard was genius. She explained to me that she had her clients put together a 25-year plan. She explained that the focus of how most people use a home changes every five years, so but breaking the next 25 years into five-year increments, she helps her clients develop a vision for each five-year increment for the next 25 years.
The clients get a worksheet that is divided horizontally into five large areas. Down the left-hand column of the worksheet is a bunch of lines for clients to list categories.
The first is age. How old are you today? How old will you be at the beginning of each of these five-year increments. If you are 45 today, you will be 70 at the end of the 25-year plan.
Next, she has her clients list their children and what ages they will be in each segment of the 25-year plan. They grandchildren. Then Pets.
People quickly realize that their children will be grown and off to college fairly quickly, and yet they may have been designing the home around their children.
She then has clients list every room in the home they are designing and describe how it will be used in each five years segment.
Ever since that night I have been using a similar process to help people form a vision for their lives. And today I encourage you to spend some time mapping out a vision for the next 25 years of your life.
Use the worksheet provided. If you don’t have one yet, visit FloydConsulting.com/plan25 to download the worksheet.
Across the top you will find the five/five year segments. Down the left column you will find a number of categories.
We start with the same categories…
Your age.
Your spouses name and age.
The names and ages of your children.
Names and ages of your pets.
Then you will find a whole bunch of categories. Jot don’t your vision for each of these aspects or areas of your life over the next 25 years.
Start with relationships. Identify a handful of relationships and describe how you would like to see them evolve over each time frame.
Then consider your home or living space.
If you own or lead a business, envision your business over the next 25 years.
Consider your own career. How do you see it unfolding and developing in each time segment.
Reflect on your Health. What will be your health focus in each of the five-year increments?
Take a look at your personal finances. When do you hope to be debt free. Write it in. What do you plan to have saved by different ages. Write it down. What do you plan to give away? To whom? And when? Put it in your plan. What other financials goals do you have other the next 25-years?
Next consider your mind. Your intellectual development and mental health.
And then add other areas that are important to you. You may have a hobby that you want to continue to explore over the next 25 years. You may have new adventures you want to take as your commitments change over time.
25 years is over 9,000 days. One quarter (three months) is just 1% of your next 25 years.
Most people overestimate what they can do in a day, and underestimate what they can do in a month. But most people never plan for a month. Most people overestimate what they can do in a year, and underestimate what they can do in a decade.
What can you do, be, and become over the next 25 years? Lets find out.
What are you going to focus on?
What area of your life could be improved ten-fold? Yes, 10 times. Most of us have areas of our lives that can be massively improved if we have the right plan and the right coaching.
How would you like your life to be different five years from today? Do you have a plan? Most people don’t. But today that is all changing for you.
Starting today you are going to develop a vision for your life.
There is a powerful line in proverbs that reads, “Where there is no vision the people will perish.”
Do you have a vision for your career, business, marriage, parenting, health, personal finances?
In which areas of your life are you thriving, surviving or perishing?
One of the most powerfully experiences in my life has been having a life-coach. I have had a life-coach for over 25 years now and it is amazing the things my coaches have helped me see that I didn’t see, and learn about myself that I didn’t know. It is also amazing that no matter how successful we become in life, we all still need accountability and encouragement. In fact, the more successful we become the more we need this accountability, because the less likely the people in our lives are to hold us accountable.
So today I want to invite you to reach out to FLOYD and enter into a life-changing relationship with one of our coaches. We have life-coaches, business coaches, sales coaches, coaches for CEOs and entrepreneurs.
Your coach will help you develop and execute your 25 years plan.
Your coach will help you develop a vision for your life.
Your coach will help you to figure out what matters most and align your life with those priorities and values.
Your coach will help you to schedule your priorities rather than prioritize what's on your schedule.
Your coach will help you avoid spending too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important.
Stephen Covey said, “To achieve goals you’ve never achieved before, you need to start doing things you’ve never done before.”
If you have never had a coach, today is the day.
Get yourself a coach. Click here. Or visit floydconsulting.com
Together with your coach you will develop a vision for your life, become a better decision maker, and build a bigger and better future for yourself, your business, and your relationships.
It’s time to become the-best-version-of-yourself!
Matthew Kelly
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