Resolutions: Life Planning Tools (eBook)

Introduction

You are Here!

We are going to take a journey. A journey in which we seek to discover our true selves. The mission of our journey will be to clarify our self-understanding, hopes, plans, and dreams. Starting point – Here & Now!

This book is about defining who am I, (now) and who do I want to be tomorrow (future).

What defines you is an extraordinarily complex set of variables. For example, children who have grown up in the same household will have their own unique variables. We are all that we experience, and each of us has unique experiences. Many things affect our experiences, family, friends, jobs, health, and interactions with the world. Books we read, movies, music, travel, education, and so much more.

We are all a work in progress, our environment affecting us, often moving us down different paths. How much have you changed over time?

“The charm of history and its enigmatic lesson consist in the fact that, from age to age, nothing changes, and yet everything is completely different.”

-Aldous Huxley (English author 1894-1963)

Our environment is constantly changing, people, events, stories, tragedy, the birth of children, or the death of a parent. We are all a work in progress.

“We must not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time.”

- T.S. Eliot

The world was not built for us. It is not necessarily a suitable or comfortable place to live. We have to find meaning so that we are not lost in the billions and billions of stars where the earth sits. We have this fantastic opportunity to design the life we want -and determine who we want to be.

Who will you choose to be?

Since you are reading this book, you have decided to take control and reach your highest level of potential.

I’m Fixin To

Resolutions was written because I met many people who had a goal or a dream; but needed a valid plan to reach that dream. I watched people talk about their goals for years. I call it “I’m Fixin to.” People see a picture of the goal but never move to develop a plan of action for reaching the goal. So, “I’m Fixin to” becomes a mantra. People go for years chanting their mantra “I’m Fixin to” – go to college, start a business, lose weight, yet do not make a plan of action; they do not achieve this goal.

I have studied self-development and self-growth since I was a young child. There is a significant body of information on the self in science, philosophy, religion, psychology, and literature. Seeking to find oneself is not new. We can travel back to the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations and find philosophers who spend their days and nights on the same question.

Who Am I?

I invite you to take a journey. This journey will be an in-depth look at your life. We will make plans for your future at the end of this journey. We each decide to survive or to thrive. Resolutions: Life Planning Tools is a method to move you through planning your dreams and planning to thrive. It is not a one-size-fits-all. Instead, it is a raw format, a place to start. You will need to change the format to fit your needs.

Themes

A couple of themes will run throughout this book.

Face your demons

We define ourselves by the choices we make

Take Responsibility – ZERO EXCUSES

Do not live to survive – live to thrive

Resolutions

The Dictionary defines resolutions as a firm decision to do or not to do something. A person is resolved to act.

The History of Resolutions

“The ancient Babylonians are said to have been the first people to make New Year’s resolutions. Some 4,000 years ago, they were also the first to hold recorded celebrations in honor of the new year.”

Today, setting a New Year’s resolution is a tradition of writing goals for the coming year. The goals could be to continue doing something well or resolve to change a habit, learn a new skill, or plan a vacation.

Resolutions most likely conjure up the faithful list as people prepare for the new year. Yet resolving to improve your life or make profound changes in your habits goes way beyond the New Year’s list.

We define ourselves by the choices we make. If we decide to be in control, we allow ourselves an excellent opportunity to manage the outcomes in our life. The other option is to let your friends and family decide on your path. This book aims to inspire you to TAKE RESPONSIBILITY with ZERO EXCUSES!

The Usual Method

Most people who make resolutions write a list to prepare for the new year or verbally make a list. This list, I agree, is a good idea. People stray from achieving their resolutions because they use “one-liners,” such as I will lose weight, start exercising; I will write my book this year! Of course, they wrote the resolutions with the absolute best of intentions. Good intentions rarely last through January.

So, what causes failure to meet these established goals? They have written the plan as a one-liner is a large part of the failure. There is no clear definition in writing one line to define a goal. Details are needed to determine who, what, when, where, why, and how the plan will be reached.

• One line
  • Cannot define priorities in life
  • Cannot establish steps to reach the goal
  • Does not give directions on how to reach the goal
  • Cannot identify the gaps between where you are and what you need to reach the goal
• And one line cannot define when we reach success
• Or monitor that you stick with the goal

You have not created CLARITY of what you want to achieve, nor do you have an actual plan of action.

For example,

1. I will lose weight,
2. I will start exercising,
3. I will write a book.

And that is all that you will try to tackle this year. OK, let us start with number one.

Goal: I will lose weight.

You have not defined for yourself:

• How much weight will you lose?
• How will you lose weight?
• How long will it take to lose weight?
• Why do you want to lose weight, or why do you have a problem with your weight?
• What is the root of the problem?
• Benchmarks for achieving the goal
• How and when will you evaluate your progress?
• Once you reach the goal, how will you either set a new goal or maintain that weight?

You have set a resolution to lose weight and have no plan of action or direction. Your diet on January 1st through the 8th, and then you binge and give up. Or exercise for a few months and then get busy with something else. A year goes by, and you have yet to lose weight.

You did not reach the goal because you did not have a plan of action. These are essential questions to ask yourself if you wish to change your behavior. Much of this change is about your behavior.

What will this book do for you?

The goal of this book is to make you think about your life. Do you set goals? How do you manage? How do you determine when a goal has been reached? Do you have an evaluation of your overall goal plan? Do you have a method of monitoring your progress?

Reading this book should help you:

• Gain Focus
• Find Clarity
• Become more aware of your behavior
• TAKE RESPONSIBILITY – ZERO EXCUSES
• Learn how to develop a plan of action
  • Take a comprehensive personal inventory
  • Set priorities
  • Establish goals
  • Create a map for your plan to help navigate getting from point A to point B.
• Then, finally, how to evaluate and monitor your progress in achieving your goals so that you keep moving in a progressive direction.

True North

True North is a navigational term. True North is the universal 0o mapping reference. True North will be our navigational term for finding your true path in this book. Your mission. Your passion. Your purpose.

Direction is one of the most crucial elements of success

My goal is to guide you through defining who you are today and deciding who you want to be tomorrow. To find the gap between the current you and the future, develop a plan of action to fill the gaps and achieve your hopes, plans, and dreams.

I will ask you many questions and give you food for thought. Taking great conversations through the ages, using science, philosophy, religion, psychology, sociology, and literature.

We will also discuss the following topics: they determine who you are today.

• Family & Relationships
• Spirituality & Values
• Culture & Identity
• Worldview
• Self-Dialogue

Self-Dialogue

Self-dialogue is an internal discussion. We will work on understanding and controlling our self-dialogue to improve our lives. Self-dialogue is like a voice in your head. The voice tells you do not eat that banana split because it has too many calories. Self-dialogue involves self-regulatory functions, a debate of good versus evil. It affects what you can accomplish if you learn to control the dialogue.

Your self-dialogue can also cause...