Lifetime Planning...bringing it down to now

[Calicatt]

Hello all!

I'm trying a grand task of setting (though I know...not in stone) my lifetime goals and then trying to break these down into 25 year goals, then 10 year goals, then 5 years goals, then 1 year goals, then monthly goals then weekly & daily todo lists. BUT I'm having a little trouble breaking down my lifetime goals into smaller chunks.

ALSO, most of my lifetime goals don't really fit the SMART goal-setting principles.

Here they are...any thoughts/suggestions on how to break them down or rework them would be helpful.

• I write great works of literature, books that contain a force of deep power, books that move and change the world.

• I am the best friend and lover the world has known.

• I am confident. I am able to maintain a joyful spirit and spread this to others. I am able to face all forms of adversity with great courage, persistence, and conviction.

• I have sufficient funds to easily live in comfort and to be wildly generous, and I am able to choose my pursuits around their true worth rather than their profitability.

• I own my own company or non-profit venture.

• I am an expert in the field of literature. I am an expert in the field of psychology.

• I am luminously healthy in all ways.

• I learn to relax and enjoy the experiences of my life, even through adversity.

• I give hope and to show love through my life and art. I inspire and lead.


whew, that felt like a bit of soul-bearing.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[stevedevane]

Calicatt,

That is an awesome list. Congratulations on putting them down in writing and sharing them with us.

I'm not sure I'd call them all goals, because I tend to think of goals as things that are quantifiable. I can do that with some of your list, but not with others.

So, you might start by coming up with ways to measure each. In other words, how will you know that you've achieved it.

For example, how many great works of literature do you want to write in your lifetime? Then it becomes easier to break it down into years. If you want to write 10, that might be one every five years for the next 50 years.

The ones like being the best friend and the lover might be a little more difficult to manage. You have to decide what that looks like for you.

Once you've gone through you list like this, it might be easier to break them down into smaller chunks.

I hope that helps. Looks like you're off to a great start. Keep it up.

[Ak47]

Try to break down some of them. Some of the emotional, social etc etc can be done slowly all at once. Things like becoming an 'expert' though..., that's a different story. Though it's possible, it has been said that generally someone must practice something for 10 years to become a real expert at it. While you could easily disprove that from some approaches.. .when it comes to psychology, etc i think it would be difficult to do.

As for writing, you could do that fairly quickly, more quickly than you think. The longest phase is planning and research, but if you have enough free time you can complete the actual writing part in about a month (not including the multiple revisions necessary).

[Calicatt]

hey guys! thanks for the help and encouragement! I guess the ones i have to most trouble "breaking down" are the social/character ones...how do I break down something like being the best friend and lover into a ten year or one year plan? Or should I just cut & paste as is into these plans?

[Love]

Hi, Calicatt.

Those look like awesome goals! (I love the part about being "wildy" generous). I have no thoughts on how to break them down into chunks, but I did want to offer my encouragement and wishes for all the best!

Cheers

[Doku]

Hmm. Reading through your list, most of them are traits of a stereotypical Buddhist monk. I'll see what I can do to help break them down.

Format will be 1 / 5 / 10 / 25

Originally Posted by Calicatt

• I write great works of literature, books that contain a force of deep power, books that move and change the world.

Start writing short stories and looking at the trade magazines. / get published in the short story mags, and start writing larger works / get noticed for the short stories, and have some larger works published / ding!

• I am the best friend and lover the world has known.

Start dating, and reading the mars/venus books (cheesy, but often true) / Select your mate, and learn more about their interests. Start learning to dance, cook, etc. (stereotypical "renaissance man" stuff) / Get married, and impliment stuff learned, refine skills / ??

• I am confident. I am able to maintain a joyful spirit and spread this to others. I am able to face all forms of adversity with great courage, persistence, and conviction.

I've always lived by the "don't worry, be happy" philosophy...

• I have sufficient funds to easily live in comfort and to be wildly generous, and I am able to choose my pursuits around their true worth rather than their profitability.

Read the works of Dave Ramsey / Implement the financial peace university way, start working on career advancement + cash advancement / Become one of the top experts in your field and research starting your own company / Start your own company and start being generous with your cash

• I own my own company or non-profit venture.

Find your passion/skills, and research laws surrounding your chosen business venture. / research the market, and start the business. (even if you do nothing with it, you can say that you were in business for X years) / With your top expert status, and your initial contact list, future employee list, etc. start the company / Grow and sell the company, or become an absentee owner, or an IPO

• I am an expert in the field of literature. I am an expert in the field of psychology.

The above will help you get here.

• I am luminously healthy in all ways.

research diet + exercise / choose and start one of the programs / re-evaluate and adjust / ??

• I learn to relax and enjoy the experiences of my life, even through adversity.

The above will help with this... especially once you are flush with cash after selling the company (or IPO)

• I give hope and to show love through my life and art. I inspire and lead.

Start doing so while progressing with the other things. Inspire and lead will happen as you start your own company, hire employees, motivate them, etc. The rest will happen in your after-sale leisure time... (otherwise you'll get bored to death)


Hope that helps!
--Doku

[maxdof]

Originally Posted by Calicatt

I'm trying a grand task of setting (though I know...not in stone) my lifetime goals and then trying to break these down into 25 year goals, then 10 year goals, then 5 years goals, then 1 year goals, then monthly goals then weekly & daily todo lists. BUT I'm having a little trouble breaking down my lifetime goals into smaller chunks.

Hello,

I don't what inspired you to apply this technique?
I would advise you to read and apply the books of Stephen Covey:
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
Put First Things First
The 8th Habit

That would help you a lot.

And if you really really want to chunk into the Next Action, read and apply
Getting Things Down, by David Allen,
though as your goal is to achieve a lifetime planning, the Covey solutions would suit you better.

Cheer up!

[mercuryrising]

Originally Posted by Calicatt

Hello all!

I'm trying a grand task of setting (though I know...not in stone) my lifetime goals and then trying to break these down into 25 year goals, then 10 year goals, then 5 years goals, then 1 year goals, then monthly goals then weekly & daily todo lists. BUT I'm having a little trouble breaking down my lifetime goals into smaller chunks.

I think this a great idea and you inspire me to do the same.

My suggestion would be to go through your list and ask yourself, "What can I do today to make this happen?"

Then you have list of activities you can do each day that you can develop into a routine. And your actions are quantifiable. I would take a look at this list in the morning and then review in the evening. I would stay in a state of constant improvement. How effective are my actions? What if I did such and such this way? Why am I avoiding doing something over here?

Those are my thoughts.

[m18pak]

Can I just ask why you want to "write great works of literature, books that contain a force of deep power, books that move and change the world"?

[Mags]

Originally Posted by Calicatt

hey guys! thanks for the help and encouragement! I guess the ones i have to most trouble "breaking down" are the social/character ones...how do I break down something like being the best friend and lover into a ten year or one year plan? Or should I just cut & paste as is into these plans?

Hi Calicatt

What does being a best friend look like? What does being a lover look like? Break it down by specifying the characteristics, and their corresponding behaviours.

Erin's blog post of today describes this process really well and may help you with getting to grips with these intentions.

[Calicatt]

Thanks for all the great replies and examples. I want to reply to M18pak who asked why I wanted to write great lit. When I first read that I was like *phhhht* it's so obvious, it's self-evident. But then in reading some other forums I was reminded of Steve's creative self-expression podcast where he talks about how blogging is just a medium for him, how it's not his purpose, only the means of expressing his purpose.

So I suppose that writing is a tool too, a means of expression. I think there is some value in "art for art's sake" or beauty for beauty's sake, but is that the only reason? No I want to write great works of literature because I have been so moved and inspired by literature of the past that I want to join that tradition, I want to give to the world of literature what I have received from it.

The first time I did steve's 20 min life purpose exercise I came up with "To live, and to love and to write with passion and power and beauty" But that purpose still doesn't sit right with me as it seems so...vague? Not sure. Maybe it's right and I just haven't risen to meet its challenge?

Any thoughts?

[stevedevane]

Calicatt,
I say this with the disclaimer that I have not done Steve's 20-minute life purpose exercise (if you could point me to it, I'd be appreciative), but perhaps you might want to say how you plan to live, love and write with passion, power and beauty. (Or do the first three all go with the last three - forgive me if they don't - it now appears to me that the first two - live and love - are on their own and the rest go together. Is that correct?) Anyway, when I think about my purpose or my mission statement, I like to start thinking broadly, then try to narrow it down some. It might help to think about what each part of your purpose means to you. What image comes to your mind when you think about each of them?
I hope that helps.

[Calicatt]

the 20 min life purpose exercise is in the "best of steve" menu on the left of his blog...the url is...

How to discover your life purpose in about 20 minutes

I have to think about your post before replying but I'm out the door! post later