Life Lessons—Your Own Personal Life Plan

Today I'm excited to welcome back my friend, Reba J. Hoffman. Reba is a life coach and has agreed to share a regular Friday spot with us every week. 

Before you ask about last week, let me confess and ask for everyone to forgive me. Reba sent me the post a week ahead of time, but I was out of town when it was supposed to go live and didn't check to see if I'd scheduled it correctly. I hadn't and we missed out. But I'm back on the ball this week and promise to do my best to make certain it never happens again. 

If you missed Reba's first post, Dare to Dream, be sure to check it out! 

Your Own Personal Life Plan

by Dr. Reba J. Hoffman

I meet people every day who wander through life, letting it live them rather than them living life. Why? They have no plan. I hang around writers all the time. Some of them are plotters who map out their books completely before they put their fingers to the keyboard to write. Others are pantsers, those who fly by the seat of their pants. While both can be very effective in prose, the latter isn’t a great way to live life.

We all have a finite number of days on planet earth. That won’t change, and once they are gone, you can’t get them back. I’m sure you want to get to your last day, look back and be satisfied that you lived the life you wanted to live. That will only happen if you have a plan.

Thomas Nelson Publishers Chairman, Michael Hyatt, wrote a wonderful e-book tool to help individuals write their life plan. Creating Your Personal Life Plan is free, easy to use and will help you moving in the direction of living your dream of being a writer and more.

Here are a few reasons why you should have a personal life plan:

• It maps out your goals and gives you clear direction. Want to be a published author? Great! Plan the steps you need to take in order to get there. Maybe attend a writer’s retreat, craft group, conference. Whatever it is, create the plan.

• It gives you instant GPS. At any given moment, you can look at your life plan and know exactly where you are and which way to turn to get you to your destination.

• Written plans are compelling. They have a type of seriousness to it that does not exist when you leave it all as an idea inside your head. It compels you to move forward, work on that life plan. After all, now it’s real!

• It’s easy to make small adjustments to keep you on course. You won’t get miles down a road only to realize you took a wrong turn. Small tweaks require far less energy and net higher results.

I highly recommend that you take the time to develop a personal life plan. Remember, until you write it down, it’s only a dream. When you write it down it becomes a plan. As you follow the plan, you’ll not only have a great chance of making it to your destination, you’ll enjoy the trip.

Do you have a life plan? Why not share it here!

Reba J. Hoffman is the founder and president of Magellan Life Coaching (www.magellanlifecoaching.com).  She holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Counseling and is a natural encourager. She serves as Member Care Coach for My Book Therapy and is the author of Dare to Dream, A Writer’s Journal. You can connect with Reba through her motivational blog, Finding True North, or by email at reba@magellanlifecoaching.com. You can also follow her on Twitter at @RebaJHoffman