Build your own life, or someone else will hire you to build theirs. – Farrah Gray

I am a planner. I have planned my career, our financial life, home renovations, vacations, etc.  But it wasn’t until my friend and coach gave me the book Living Forward three+ years ago that I ever sat down to design and plan my whole life. Yes, I have planned pieces and parts for years, but not always the priorities and relationships that matter most: my faith life, my marriage, my relationships with my kids, family, and friends, adventures, and ministry & service. 

The book and the life plan process helped me define and focus on what matters most and focus my life and energy on spending time with the people I love and a life of service and adventure. It’s a ‘simple’ process (not easy though) that took a weekend and required silence, solitude, prayer, and contemplation.

The planning started by writing my eulogy as if it is being read today and then another version as if I wish it were written at some point in the future. Leaving a legacy is inevitable. Leaving the legacy I want takes some effort and change.

The process also got me dreaming of what my envisioned future will look like 20 years down the road and who I am becoming with my faith, with my health, with my wife, kids, family, and friends, and the other priorities that define me.

From there I took a hard look at my current realities and relationships and solved for the gaps where I need to make progress and changes.

I am now three years into the process and have made good progress in many areas. I know where I am going and who I am becoming. Businesses succeed because they have a written strategic plan, a written budget, and other written documents meant to guide their future.  Successful companies don’t wing it. And I’m not either.

The Life Plan is more than a collection of New Year’s Resolutions because my Life Plan charts the course of my life for the foreseeable future. It is never complete and never finished. I review my plan a few times a year for encouragement and to see where I still need to evolve. I am adding new habits on a regular basis, not just once a year.

Since 2000 there has been no book I have recommended or given to friends more than Living Forward.  It is also the primary tool I use with new coaching clients. To get started I have made my templates available here. Enjoy!

Did something here resonate with you? Want to connect about coaching? I help men and women define their purpose and live out their priorities through one-on-one coaching. Connect with me at https://www.morriscamp.com