A Good Time to Make Changes: Have you done your Life Plan Yet?

“Planning is bringing the future into the present so you can do something about it now.” – Alan Lakein

With fall around the corner, this is time when new beginnings are around the corner, and also a great period to think about what you would like to accomplish with summer almost behind you. I said almost, so try to use these less pressured days to look at what you would like to personally accomplish.

I suggest to clients that we work together on a life plan. I ask them to look at their life right now and think about what they would like to improve upon. We all have desires or dreams, so why not put them down to a written plan, which helps to make the commitment level that much higher.

An exercise to help with this can be a written one that asks people to define what gets them excited, when are they happiest and what are some of their favorite memories. Too often, people discount interests for fear of impracticality but you have to consider many factors before making changes, and sometimes it means uncovering hidden or forgotten desires from the past.

It’s also good to review with a coach, what is stopping you from moving forward in changes you want to make. Too busy? Too stressed? There are always a myriad of reasons, but when we make a plan and schedule goals into our weekly calendar, changes are most often do-able and a welcome change from old re-active routines.

I often start the life planning process by reviewing different areas of their life including:
• Physical Health – do they want to be in better shape or change their routine or even just simply start a routine
• Mental Health – how are they handling stress and we talk about tools that can help with that including daily rituals like journaling, meditation or even yoga
• Career Goals – are they happy with their job or do they desire a change?
• Relationship Goals – are the primary relationships where they need to be and tools that can help if they are not


Once we create a life plan template, and it happens in stages, we also work together to create tasks necessary to accomplish the goals and a realisit timeline so it is doable. Remember, life transition does not happen overnight, the planning starts in small steps, so it is not overwhelming and it can happen organically.

And, last but not least, I think it is essential to consider your core values before you move forward so they are in alignment with your next goals.

Core Values include:
• Kindness to others
• Integrity in Business
• Respect for the Environment

In summary, this is a good month to make a time to review where you are and plan where you would like to be this fall 2012. I promise you the effort to make some important life goals will put you in the driver’s seat of life!

Steffi Black Coaching
www.steffiblackcoaching.com
steffiblack@gcylaw.com