1. You need to know your purpose- This is paramount, it’s necessary to create abundance, to find lasting love, to create the life you desire. It is the most important step and the key to truly understanding yourself.
2. A vision for the life you wish to create- this will be tied to your purpose but basically it relates to understanding what matters most to you, your values, and the principles you wish to live by.
3. Let go of the concept that goal setting is a to-do list or a ticking-off exercise-I cannot stress this enough. When you create what is essentially a purpose-driven map for your life, it is not a list of mundane daily chores to achieve. It is also not the place to write goals that do not have a strong ‘why’ behind them.
To create your truest, most authentic life map and one in which you will be motivated to pursue a life long, you need to have a deep-rooted reason behind wanting to achieve the goals. Without this, you will soon lose motivation, and become distracted, which in turn may lead you completely off track from the journey you were meant to take. So come to this exercise with a new mindset and an openness to focus on the bigger picture that pursuing your purpose will lead you to create.
4. Adopt the Pareto Principle- named after the economist Vilfredo Pareto, it states that 80% of the results come from 20% of the work. That is if you focus your energy on the top 20% of your priorities, this will yield 80% of your results.
When setting tasks from your goals, focus on those few that are most important and will yield a high return.
5. Learn the art of saying NO- the world does a funny thing when you are on target, it sends you distractions. Be it in the form of people who seem to want to only have fun or tasks that occupy your time but add nothing towards your life mission. Hence the need to learn to say NO, literally to others and even yourself. On those days when your mind would rather you binge on Netflix series all day than work on your novel.
6. The first focus is building relationships and results, with the secondary focus on time management- for it to truly encompass who you were called to be, your deepest needs the foundation must be in building relationships and not only working on your career.
Relationship with yourself, God, family, and friends. When you understand that within your planning it is crucial to make time to unwind, spend quality time with your partner or children, you start to see that this is more than your route to monetary success. Just as important as this, is focusing as I have already alluded on activities that will bring you closer to achieving your goals.
Finally, this will allow you to either plan daily or weekly the different activities needed to accomplish your goals. Whilst understanding that life ebbs and flows and you may have given an hour to spend with your child for their homework but it took two instead. Realise that human beings cannot always be fixed into a time allotted slot and the benefit, the potential positive impact made makes it worth it every time. Stay flexible and be compassionate with yourself on days you go slightly off-plan.
I bet you’re wondering when the good stuff, the all-important so how do I create this Soulful Development Plan is coming!