design your plan (a poem)
They say if you fail to plan,
you’re planning to fail.
if you’ve got somewhere you want to go,
something you want to create,
someone you want to be,
you are more likely to “succeed”
with a plan as your guide.
But, how can you plan
without knowing where you really want to go?
by now, in this series
you ought to know
we’re focused on pursuing the authentic life.
Step 1 is
know who you are,
what you love,
and the gifts you were given.
Your plan begins with your authentic life in mind.
Close your eyes,
listen to your heart,
connect with your spirit,
FEEL the vision of your authentic life calling you.
Write down all the details you remember,
what you see,
the emotions you feel,
and who you were.
Now, you can begin the design of your plan.
They say if you fail to plan,
you are planning to fail.
I say don’t just make a plan,
design your plan
with great clarity,
intention,
and purpose.
With a life planner and advisor before you,
you might assume finances is where to start,
but you must not be paying attention, my friend.
Money, while important,
comes late in the plan.
It’s just a means to an end,
and without understanding the “end,”
you cannot assign purpose to the means.
Instead, focus on the following,
in no particular order,
FAMILY:
make sure they are on board,
See themselves as a part of your this plan,
and that you have their best interest at heart.
CAREER:
does it support or align with your authentic life
and if not, how do you bring it into alignment?
A leap of faith,
a side hustle,
a combo,
or maybe nothing at all.
what’s your next professional move,
and how do you make it happen?
EXPERIMENTATION AND EXPLORATION:
allow your Self
to experience different versions of YOU
to know where to further explore
and where to pull back.
The more you experience,
the more you know is possible,
and the more you evolve.
FRIENDS
As Benny The Butcher said,
“Everybody Can’t Go”.
There are no promises this wil be easy,
But they aren’t moving with you,
they’ve got to go–”get to steppin’.”
Make your sure your average of five
is strong,
aligned,
and moving with you in the direction you want,
not holding you back.
Maintaining Alignment:
You’ve found the ideal connection of
spirit, mind, and body.
Do everything in your power to maintain it;
you’ll know when you’re alignment is off.
I said, “no particular order”
But this should be #1.
Spirit, mind, body and
Money
With all of the above in your plan,
it is time to align your finances
and allocate your dollars within your authentic life.
Money’s role
becomes clear when you have designed your plan.
If only it were as easy
as I just made it seem.
Obstacles will arise.
Four little words are all you need.
What
How
When
Who
What can you do?
How will you do it?
When will you do it?
Who do you need to help you?
All credit to Mr. Kinder for this simple formula.
When you look at obstacles
from the perspective of the four words,
they don’t seem so intimidating.
Don’t look now,
you’ve done it.
You’ve designed your plan
to pursue your authentic life.
The beauty of designing
is you have the ability
to update and adjust the design
as your authentic life evolves.
They say you fail to plan,
you’re planning to fail.
You cannot fail
as you’ve designed a plan authentic to you.
See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,
JC
