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The Life Plan: Simple Strategies for a Meaningful Life

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Discover what you really want in life and how to get it! Do you want to live with purpose and achieve your life goals? In The Life Plan , leading life coach Shannah Kennedy sets out a step-by-step strategy to help you identify your true self and values, declutter and simplify your life, improve your time management and create structures that will help guide you towards your goals and visions.
This hands-on workbook includes questionnaires, charts and exercises and will become a valuable record of your life goals.
'Shannah is one of the best life coaches I have come across. She delivers practical and useful tools to help you be the best version of yourself.' Deborah Hutton, Media Personality
'People managers need life skills so they can successfully mentor and motivate others to take charge of their lives. This is the perfect handbook for every leader.' Colleen Callander, CEO of Sportsgirl
'An excellent resource to draw on for great performance in life.' Dean Gosper, Olympic Winter Institute of Australia

Kindle Edition

First published July 29, 2015

65 people are currently reading
648 people want to read

About the author

Shannah Kennedy

21 books23 followers

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5 stars
68 (25%)
4 stars
105 (38%)
3 stars
75 (27%)
2 stars
21 (7%)
1 star
3 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
Profile Image for Samantha.
148 reviews6 followers
August 30, 2016
Really enjoyed this! This book was a gift to me and was particularly enjoyable to read it since I have the stunning Kikki K special edition. This book has come to me at a poignant time in my life, when I've needed a bit of goal setting and reassessing. I particularly liked her idea relating to living to your values, such as a CEO who says he values Family but works 12 hour days and never sees his kids is not truly living in accordance to his values. There's a section dedicated to Sabbatical which I've been thinking of doing myself, I'll be going back to reread and start completing a few of the exercises. Recommended for anyone who is dealing with a big changer, upheaval or is feeling stagnant/wondering where to go next.
Profile Image for Selam.
129 reviews1 follower
August 22, 2021
2.5 stars
I picked this up as it was the only audiobook available to loan from my library that was also on my TBR and it was very average. The advice is good but nothing profound.

The most memorable advice was making a 20 year plan which sounds absurd - especially how recent events have shown no amount of planning can prepare you for what life throws at you, but does make you question in detail what direction you want to your life to head to.

The other interesting bit of advice was to take frequent sabbaticals in order to travel, which requires you to be in a somewhat privileged position in being able to leave work for a few months to travel (the writer is a life coach I think and her husband is a CEO so I’m guessing try can comfortably do this but for the average worker it might be more difficult).

I think it’s the type of book you have to actively complete the “tasks” and keep referring to in order to get the most out of it, these tasks are just answering basic questions about what you wanna do in life so made the book feel very average.

Also it’s a very short book so not much substance but sometimes less is more I guess.
15 reviews
March 22, 2024
The sections around planning your day/week/etc and living with intent are fine. It's good as an introduction but there are better books if you're interested in a particular subjects like mindfulness, habit tracking, or discovering your values for example. The questionnaires were pretty simple but could lead to insights if contemplated seriously for new people to this type of personal development.

The section about taking a 'Pause' felt brutally middle class. Hand waves away the point that many people can't take sabbaticals and many people live paycheck to paycheck due to wages constantly kept down by the C-Suite. I think the problem was the only example was her own 5-month break living abroad with her family. Life is easier to plan when you have resources to use/fall back on. It's easier to take risks like a career break when the consequences aren't severe. I was uneasy how often it ignores external factors, mental health issues, neurodiversity / disabilities not being accommodated by society, etc. You just magically find a way around systemic problems.

The book is fine for a typical 'Manager with family' type but the further away from that, the less useful it become.
Profile Image for Tash Oeding-Erdel.
142 reviews1 follower
September 13, 2024
⭐️⭐️💫 I found this book a gentle reminder about slowing down and gaining more clarity around your purpose and what you want from your life. No new concepts or any overly profound ideas but it was an easy read. It’s a physically large book dotted with pages of photos, so more of a journal style book, where you’d find most benefit from slowly reading through it, filling in the templates/prompts. Kennedy does encourage a sabbatical every 7 years, which I feel is not an achievable goal for everyone, but majority of the other strategies are fairly straightforward and may be effective for most.
35 reviews1 follower
October 11, 2019
Standard advice for standard people.

For the average woman (married, chicken, long term & stable partner), this book is worthwhile. Standard & traditional careers are ok for standard people. Project workaholics, chasing innovative challenges ... need to find other resources. These might include unfashionable casual intimacies as well. Exotic hobbies, interest groups, etc. Senior baby boomers like myself also need to plan our euthanasia as our bodies collapse.
Profile Image for Aimée-Stephanie Reid.
325 reviews1 follower
December 29, 2022
Read this to get a little inspiration going into the new year, and while it did give me some things to think about it didn’t offer much in terms of things I didn’t already know. It also focuses very much on big picture, big commitment things to help you move forward which just feel quite unsustainable. It also came across as if all you needed to help in life is the correct mindset, which just feels a little toxic
Profile Image for Amanda Hack.
39 reviews
March 9, 2023
What an AMAZING book! I was wanting to do a 1yr, 3yr etc plan and this book came up in my google search.
What a find!!
Gave me exactly what I was looking for and MORE!
Do the exercises in the book. I don’t normally but this book is so spot on in what the author wants you to do. I have made my plans and stuck up on bathroom mirror where I can manifest them daily while brushing my teeth!
Highly recommend!
Profile Image for Amanda.
115 reviews7 followers
June 18, 2018
Great book. If you are thinking of borrowing this from the library then read it quick so you can get the work done. Although this book shows the reader simple activities, there is a lot of work to do.

This book has left me feeling invigorated and I am looking foward to creating a life that is on purpose.
Profile Image for Y.
68 reviews5 followers
April 11, 2021
A good book to dip in and out with. Kelly urges the reader to dig a little deeper into one's values, drivers, and purpose in life. Question the status quo, to plan your life but to explore, and to live. Certainly, a romanticisation of life - good for those who are stuck in a rut or feeling a little empty. Practically, would be a different level of financial commitment...
Profile Image for Overbooked  ✎.
1,716 reviews
January 10, 2017
Multiple questionnaires to help the readers focus on their own own life priorities, living a personal optimal life, handy summary lists, reminders and strategies to achieve life goals. Not strictly original ideas but effective nonetheless.
I personally found the 20-year plan exercise v. useful.
Profile Image for Wenny H.
113 reviews8 followers
April 27, 2019
It's guided meditation in a book. It's more on the mindfulness side rather than the execution, planning than doing, however if you're a bit lost and looking to reconnect with yourself, this is the book for you.
7 reviews
June 3, 2019
Beautifully presented, clean and crisp to look, hold and read.
There are some good practical tips in this book, and also several exercises that I find particularly useful when setting up my year/month/week.
1 review1 follower
January 25, 2021
An easy read with great concepts to get you thinking about the life you desire. 2020 had me feeling a little lost so this was a great way to get me thinking and excited for the future. Finished the book in 2 days.
Profile Image for Rebecca.
13 reviews
March 15, 2021
You can read this book in one sitting, she does ask some thought provoking questions and provide framework to achieve your goals.
For someone who has never done anything like this, this book would be great.
25 reviews
Read
June 24, 2022
A great book to get you in the vibe for value setting, habit decluttering and vision board manifesting. I needed a little inspiration this month and this book was just what I needed. Simple relatable tools packaged with gorgeous photography.
Profile Image for Sevket Akyildiz.
109 reviews2 followers
July 10, 2024
A clearly written book.
Well-structured, and worth reading.
A mix of motivation, common sense, Buddhist thought, and creating balance in life.
I found the content helpful -- and the audiobook at three hours makes the information and advice concise.
Profile Image for Duncan Smith.
Author 7 books29 followers
January 2, 2018
Some useful tips in providing an overview as well as specific details and limiting beliefs to overcome.
120 reviews5 followers
August 26, 2018
Very interesting but I’m still quite young so couldn’t relate to a few things.
8 reviews
August 28, 2019
A practical approach which helps you to workout what is important to you and as a result, where to focus your energy.
68 reviews
January 25, 2021
So many gems in this book. It encapsulates all the goodness of goals and simplicity and living your best life.
33 reviews
February 21, 2021
This book is like kind of coach training. One of the wonderful books ever. Love it the way of written style and amazing photos.
Profile Image for Bee.
90 reviews1 follower
March 22, 2022
Good practical advice. Better as an audiobook.
Some good tips I’ll put into practice L.
Profile Image for Mandy Derwin.
32 reviews
May 25, 2023
So simple yet exactly what I needed. Excellent tips and perspectives to follow.
Profile Image for Fab.
188 reviews16 followers
June 26, 2016
I enjoyed this book. It’s very nicely designed and lovely to flick through. It got me thinking about a few things I haven’t thought about before and offered a few tips to improve the way I live. I just wish the content was structured a bit better. I feel like it jumped around a lot and sometimes didn’t progress in an orderly, logical way.

What I really enjoyed about this book was the exercises it has to help you better understand yourself. They helped me acknowledge what sort of things I want to have in my future and what sort of lessons I’ve learned so far. The vision board exercise in particular was a great one. I also found it valuable to take the time to understand what my top values are.

This is probably worth reading if you want to live a fulfilling life and perform at your best. It’s not life-changing but there’s definitely some good stuff in here. You just have to find which suggestions work for you and actually do the exercises.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews

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