Life Plan Steps - a Review

Excerpt from the October 26, 2008 Meeting

The process of building on our knowledge of who God has called us to be, and knowing the gifts that have been placed in us along with our core or governing values is the first step towards developing a "Life Plan"

Big Long-Term Goals
For many of our core values we should develop Big Long-Term Goals that stretch us but are attainable with some hard work, discipline and grace.

Milestones
For each of our Big, Long-Term goals we want to establish Milestones along the way. These are points in time where specific targets are achieved, typically spaced no more than 6 months to a year apart. Consider the example of a big goal of attaining a four-year college degree. The natural milestones in that goal plan might be June 2010 complete Freshman year, June 2011 complete Sophomore year, etc . . .

Short-Term Goals
To reach the milestones many short-term goals must be set that will enable us in smaller "bites." In the example above, perhaps a short-term goal for reaching the milestone of completing the Freshman Year would be - Pass all mid-term and final exams for the classes I'm enrolled in. Another might be to select the right classes ahead of the start of the year so that they are in alignment with the major you're enrolled in.

Actions
For every Short-Term goal there must be ACTIONS. Actions are what transfers our dreams into our realities by taking small steps every day on the path towards our Short-Term goals, leading to our Milestones, leading to our Big Long-Term goals. In the example above an action might be to earn the money to buy my school books by August 15, 2009. Another might be to establish a study schedule by September 8, 2009 to dedicate time each day for doing my classwork and preparing for exams. In every case the action steps must indicate who, what and when.

The following audio clip references our discussion and review of our Life Plans:

Life Plan Review Audio Clip