Tired of New years Resolutions that don't work? Try this

Enough already! It’s a new year and with it another chance to set new year resolutions that I must accomplish this time. I want to share a funny story with you from one of my leadership mentors. He had made a new years resolution to lose weight like most of us do every year. He signed up to the gym got his gear and everything necessary to accomplish that goal and was ready to begin in January. The only problem was that every time he went to the gym, it was so crowded and he had to queue to use the training machines. The gym instructor noticing his plight gave him a bit of advice. The instructor told him to come back in March because half of the people would have given up by then and there would be plenty of space.

If you are one of those people who at the end of every year you wonder what happened or you completely gave up setting resolutions, I want to introduce you to a new concept. A new way to do things and every successful entrepreneur has done this to ensure that whatever business they set up aligns to their goals and interests. It is called life planning.

I must admit that a very good friend of mine introduced me to this and I did it. Since then, I have had so much clarity about my life and everything I do or come into contact with reveals opportunities that I am now able assess how they connect to my life plan and vision.

Life planning is pretty simple. It is what our government would call vision 2030. What is your vision 2030? How do you see your life 30, 40, years down the line? What do you see yourself doing, where will you be living? Start your life plan here and write everything down.

Look at every area of your life, finances, personal growth, relationships, education, spiritual growth, business etc. List the different areas down. If you have started from 2030 go back all the way to 2010. List down under each area of your life specific things you need to do each year to get to whatever your vision 2030 is. For example if you want to be a multi-millionaire in 2030 how much money do you need to make every year, every decade? What investment vehicles or businesses do you need to set up each year to generate that kind of positive cash flow? What do you need to do in 2010, 2011 etc that will ensure that you achieve that goal? Do you need to get out of debt, repay a loan, complete project x? Be very specific with this part.

Now move a step further. Look at how you are spending each day of the week. Are there activities that you need to include or exclude in order to align with your year one goals? Perhaps you need to get to work one hour earlier to avoid traffic and have time to study before class? Do you need to set aside two hours per day to focus on a project that has been delayed for years in order to get it done?

Nothing simplifies your life better than life planning. It sounds like a lot of work but the time you spend on it is nothing compared to the lifetime of clarity it will create for you. If you are an entrepreneur or aspiring to be one and do not know where to begin, this will help you focus on an area that is in alignment with your interests and lifestyle.

Check out http://www.startupnation.com/steps/55/3751/1/create-life-plan.htm for a step by step guide and a template you can use to get started.

Carry your weekly time table and life plan around with you so you can internalize it and in time know it by heart. Check yourself constantly to see if you are in alignment with your vision 2030. When an opportunity crops up that sounds great, first check whether it is in alignment with your life plan.

Try this and let me know how it works out for you. Let me know whether you need more help or information. Wishing you all a life of health, wealth, success and purpose.