Creating a Personal Life Plan

I've been talking about creating great personal stories for years now. I've written books about it and even host a conference helping people live more strategically. And now I've got a great tool that is helping me execute my stories more efficiently. It's called a Personal Life Plan. You've probably heard about them, but my friend Mike Hyatt has given us a way to create a plan for free. Mike's free e-book, Creating Your Personal Life Plan can be downloaded at his site. I think you just have to give him your name and address and it's all yours. Mike won't spam you, so don't worry. And believe me, it's worth it.

Here are several reasons to create a Personal Life Plan:

1. A personal Life Plan is a foundation: If you feel like your life is crumbling, it's probably because you either have a foundation that isn't quite strong enough or you've got too much weight on your foundation. Strengthening your foundation is accomplished through a clarification of values. What matters to you most? What do you really care about? What will matter in the end? All great questions, and all questions that strengthen our foundations.

2. A Personal Life Plan is a filter: If your foundation is already strong, another problem may involve taking on too much stuff. Either too many relationships, the wrong relationships, projects that aren't aligned with who you are as a person or your personal values, or work that you could be delegating to somebody else. Creating a Life Plan automatically establishes a filter for your life. Because your values are clear, you will know much better what matters and what doesn't, and you'll be able to get some of the burden off your shoulders.

3. A Personal Life Plan gets you in touch with your heart: This is much more than a tool for busy executives. A Personal Life Plan helps you focus on what matters most: relationships. This is not a book about how to be more efficient, though it will accomplish that. The gist of a life plan involves strategically aiming your life toward a more fulfilling overall experience, setting great relationships as the  primary aim.

4. A Personal Life Plan can create community: I decided not to do this exercise alone. I invited four of my friends into the process with me. We each printed out the book and met at my house to get started. The first exercise led us into a discussion about our funerals. We each talked about what we want our funerals to look like. The conversation was deep, powerful, and connected us as a group of friends. I was surprised at how some of my friends answered the question, and even more surprised at how I answered the question. We left with some homework, which will be obvious when you read through the book, and will be meeting again and again until we've gone through the entire book and each have our Personal Life Plans in order.

Please download Mike's e-book, Creating Your Personal Life Plan, and also consider filling out your plan with your closest friends, your family, or even your colleagues. I'll be using this resource for years. Very thankful to Mike for creating it and giving it to us for free.

Creating a Personal Life Plan is a post from: Donald Miller's Blog