James Hagerty, a Wall Street Journal obituary writer, wrote an article explaining how he wrote obituaries. He answered three questions about the deceased person’s life.
- What the person was trying to do
- Why
- How it worked out
These are good questions to ask ourselves: What do I want to do? Why? How is it working out?
Asking them will help you identify goals.
To accomplish your goals, you need a deadline and a plan of action. Your deadline could be age 70. You could create your plan of action by breaking down each goal (to be accomplished by age 70) into smaller goals or steps.
For example, one of your goals might be financial. You might decide that you want $5,000,000 in a retirement account by age 70. You could use an investment calculator online to identify how much you need to invest and by when. This will help you know when you need to start earning an income and how much to invest.
Your first, smaller goal might be to get a job to earn income so you can invest. I recommend writing down a 7-year plan for getting the type of job and income you need. Ask yourself what you want to accomplish in that 7-year period. Then figure out what you need to do to make it happen.
Break down the 7-year plan into yearly goals, monthly objectives, and weekly and daily tasks.
The main thing is to begin with the end in mind and start taking action today.
Moses, one of the great leaders of all time, prayed: “So teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12, English Standard Version)
I will post life plan resources here.
Photo by – Landsmann – on Unsplash