Education
As we are coming to the end of 2020 and look forward to 2021, we are going to offer encore episodes about the importance of and steps in writing a life plan. 2020 certainly didn’t turn out like the vision we may have had for it, but we have a lot to look forward to. This past year has dealt a harsh blow to many plans we may have had. Some I know have been able to reboot their plans and move forward with an alternative direction, either changing course entirely or just navigating around the original planned course. As 2021 approaches, we can look forward to a vaccine for Covid-19 and the return to some of the activities that we have been held back from doing as a result of this pandemic. This is the perfect time to do what I believe is one of the most important steps to avoiding a life of regret by writing down a life plan, and we will spend the next 3 episodes replaying the 3 episodes that covered this nearly a year ago. This also gives me time to take a bit of a break to revisit my life plan and make adjustments based on where I am now and this season of life to chart the course of where I want to be. So don’t miss a single episode of this series. Remember, just listening to teaching and information will get you nowhere unless you act on it, so here we go for part 2 of this series. Much of the information I am going to share is based on the book, “Living Forward” by Michael Hyatt and Daniel Harkavy as I have mentioned in previous episodes. You can find the reference and link to the book in the show notes. Last week we talked about beginning your life plan with the end in mind, and your action step was to write down what legacy you hope to leave behind once you are gone by reflecting on what you would want people to say about you at your funeral and after. Today we are going to get down to the specific about several categories, or what the book “Living Forward” call Life Accounts. Examples of categories, or life accounts that you would want to include are: Spiritual Intellectual Physical Marital Parental Social Financial Vocational Avocational This list is not exhaustive and you can have different names for the categories that may be more specific to you, for instance “spouse” or you spouses name, your children’s names. You can also add categories such as grandchildren, travel, exercise, etc. I recommend you list them in order of priority, but that it up to you. They do recommend putting categories that are related directly to you near the top, such as spiritual, intellectual, and physical. Although this may feel selfish, it goes along with the thought that you can’t take care of and add value to others until you can take care of yourself. Hyatt and Harkavy suggest there are four considerations when making your list of life accounts: Life Accounts are unique to you. Life Accounts can be names whatever you want. Life Accounts are interrelated. Life Accounts will change over time, as we discussed last week. You will need to get specific for each account. Each one will need to have the following sections: Purpose Statement: What is your reason for being in this area, our role? Envisioned Future: What does this area of your life look like when it is at it’s best? Inspiring Quote or Scripture. Current Reality: Keep it simple and realistic. Write it as bulleted statements. Specific Commitments: Similar to goals, what steps do you need to take to get from the current reality to your envisioned future. These steps will change as you accomplish them and move to more advanced steps. Here is an example of my physical life account from my life plan: Physical: My physical purpose is to maintain my body as God’s temple through proper nutrition, exercise, and following recommended checkups. I am at a very ideal weight for me, and I have the energy to accomplish my daily activities and desires. I am exercising daily and loving the activities that are giving me great physical benefits. I have cut my medications to a minimum because of my healthy way of life. I am very conscious about my health and diet, yet often make poor choices, particularly on the nutritional side. I track steps and exercise with an Apple Watch I currently do 35-40 pushups every morning I don’t have a regiment in place for getting enough exercise and strength building. I have cut my BP and Cholesterol medication in half and monitor results Specific Commitments: I will get to and maintain a weight of 175 – 180. I will do cardio and strength building exercises a minimum of 4 times per week. I will read “The Daniel Plan” and make 4 beneficial eating habit changes as a result. I will drink at least 8 – 8 ounce servings of water daily. Inspirational Quote: Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you received from God? 1 Corinthians 6:19 We will get down to more detail about how to write your specific commitments and follow through with making progress with your life plan next week as we conclude the series. Action Step: Write down your list of between 6 - 12 life categories or accounts. Write your purpose statement for each, your envisioned future of where you want to be, an inspiring quote or scripture for some of them, and the current reality of where you are now. Refer back to the show notes for an example of how I have written one of my accounts, but write it in a way that is most meaningful for you.