YOUR LIFE A-Z: PLAN

YOU NEED A PLAN THEN YOU ADJUST FOR CIRCUMSTANCES

PLAN

It is the experience of the TWENTY-MINUTE COACH that without a PLAN nothing much is accomplished.  Busy in your day-to-day world, sometimes a PLAN does not seem very important because your day is fairly scheduled.  This lack of PLANNING is where life can get tricky because when you are so busy with life’s details you don’t notice life might be just passing you by.  If you flip back to the word focus and observe those eight threads of your life what is your PLAN for each thread?   What in your life needs attention in order to make your idea, dream or goal a reality?  Intentions are nice but they usually go nowhere without a well designed strategic PLAN.   The more detailed your PLAN of action the better you will feel about what you are doing because you are able to see the small steppingstones completed along the way.  When you are not able to observe the small successes along the way discouragement often sets in and you find yourself derailed.  With a written PLAN of action you are able to check off the list of steps accomplished.  PLAN for each thread in your life as well as the stages of your life.  You hear about PLANNING your will, your retirement, and even today we pre-plan our funerals.  Hearing about something and executing a PLAN of action is the difference between living your life and watching your life from the coach of passivity.  Write a PLAN, follow it and tweak it when it needs to be adjusted. 

YOUR LIFE A-Z: NEXT

Life is Waiting for You.  What is NEXT?

NEXT

If you are like me you have a list of things that need to be done.  That list can keep us busy twenty- four hours a day.  However, that list is not really NEXT in our life.  NEXT is a very important word.  On April 24 1996, the Women’s National Basketball Association was born with the words, WE GOT NEXT.  Those words echoed for the first few years as the WNBA took to the court to prove that women were a valuable denominator in team sports.  NEXT meant we are here now.  We have business to do and we are doing it.  What is NEXT in your life? NEXT is not doing the dishes.  NEXT is that important step of action that allows your life to open a new door of self-discovery.  What is it that you have wanted to do that is really important to you?  What keeps you putting it off?  What is the NEXT step that you need to do now in order to breathe life into your NEXT?  Has there been a class you have put off?  Or perhaps there is an entire college degree that you have yet to achieve.  Life changes in a moment’s notice, but nothing happens without forward action.  You have heard the saying; you don’t drive forward by looking in the rearview mirror that is true too about the quality of your daily life.  NEXT is a process of many small steps toward a goal.  It is showing up and establishing yourself as a person worthy of voice and presence in the world you live in.  

YOUR LIFE A-Z QUANTUM

FOCUS ON THE COLORS

QUANTUM

A quantum is the smallest possible discrete unit of any physical property, such as energy or matter.  The word comes from the Latin root “how much.”  As we are involved with the Twenty Minute Coach, our year of change, Quantum is the perfect word to reduce some stress.  I will bet 99% of my readers examine their daily life with what did not get done, how much money is not in the account, and how much more is left to do?

Today, I want you to practice thinking backwards from your normal mode of operation.  Look at your accomplishments today. Did you brush your teeth?  List ten things that you did today.  I am reasonably sure each of you did at least ten things. Start with the obvious, like brushing your teeth.  When you add up ten things that you did today notice what it is like to focus on the smallest physical act that you did today.  It is highly probable that your mouth felt better after you brushed your teeth and your body felt better after you showered.

We have spoken about gratitude and even the benefits of keeping a gratitude journal.  By focusing on the minimum amount of accomplishment today, you build energy to keep doing small things.  Small things lead to big things, big things lead to feeling better and better about your choices.  Focus on the minimum today and watch your spirit lift.