It might seem a tad boring and unnecessary at first, but creating a life plan as soon as possible will help you stay on the right track and allow you to effectively mix the creativity and practicality of what life has to offer. It’s true that you have to consider both your present and future when crafting this plan, but the beauty of it all is that you can always make some tweaks and changes as time goes by and you see fit. The whole point is to make it easier for yourself to lead a life you’ve always wanted.

The Importance of a Life Plan

A life plan can be viewed as a roadmap, a blueprint if you will, of your life. It has to be as specific as possible and reflect your values and desires, but also very flexible as you’re bound to change as an individual, too. In that sense, don’t be too strict or focused on the format of this document as it should be a part of you, and as such, a living, breathing representation of your priorities.

Step 1: Ask the Right Questions

The younger you are when you’re making the effort to create a life plan, the better your own control and decision making will be in the future. However, this is the time you’ll have to imagine yourself at the very end of your life. Visualize yourself being interviewed about your biggest life accomplishments. What would you want those to be? How would you say you accomplished them? Ask yourself about the amazing things you did but never thought could be possible. Provide answers to this imaginary interviewer as the most ideal elderly version of yourself who has lived the most fulfilling life according to your own standards. This is the beginning of your life plan.

Step 2: Write Down Your Priorities

The answers you wrote to the questions about the best life you could lead honestly will help you with the general direction, but you’ll still have a lot of work ahead of you. For starters, you need to elaborate on your priorities. Of course, priorities change with age so don’t be too bothered about that and focus on what’s important to you now. This can be your career and finances, your home, family, love life, personal wellness and health, and so on. It’s recommended not to go over 10 priorities as you list them. Writing down between 7 and 10 is more than enough.

Step 3: Expand and Analyze Your Priorities

Now, this is the real start of making a life plan. Once you have your priorities listed out, it’s time to analyze them by assigning them a purpose (the reason why they’re a priority to you), your dream for the future in regard to a specific priority, and your current position.

For instance, if you’ve written down personal wellness and health at the very top of your list, think carefully about why this is a priority for you. You can say: I want to feel and look good, have more confidence and strength to engage in different activities, minimize certain pain, and so on.

The next bit is about your ideal self when it comes to this priority. For instance: I am healthy and flexible, my body is fit and my weight is optimal. I no longer have to take meds for a certain condition. I can run fast with no problems. I have an established exercise routine, etc.

And once you’re done with this, it’s time to admit to yourself your current state and position in regard to your priority. You have to say and write where you believe you stand in order to successfully move from that position to the future you previously described. This is something you have to do for every single priority you’ve listed.

Step 4: Come Up with Manageable Action Steps

With your priorities analyzed and explained with a clear link between the present and ideal future, you have enough room to come up with the steps you’d have to take in order to reach that ideal self.

Let’s say that one of your priorities is to always have a peace of mind and lead a mindful lifestyle. You can create a list of actionable steps which may look something like this:

• Do yoga and meditate every morning at 7 am.
• Instead of a second cup of coffee, make yourself some tea.
• Remember to be calm and collected during a conflict, but avoid conflict when possible.
• Practice kindness and gratitude on a daily basis.
• Take care of your duties and responsibilities by making to-do lists every week or every day.
• Plan your meals for the week every Sunday.

And so on and so forth. As the years go by, you might be able to focus on a specific issue within the priority more. For example, if you’re stressing over your property issues and have to protect your assets, it’s never too early to set probate asset management into motion, create a will, and simply use the law to help you settle your legal matters so that you can continue with other mindful practices. The same goes for doing your taxes or staying on top of them regularly, or even making a retirement plan decades before it’s time to retire. If it makes you nervous and stressed, address the issue, and take the steps to resolve it regardless of your age.

Step 5: Put Everything Together

The above-mentioned steps might seem too random if you don’t make it a point to organize the entire plan into a cohesive document. You can utilize different methods for this. Use a note-taking app on your phone to write quick thoughts and ideas about your life plan. You can then type and print them out, or simply write everything down by hand. Have the interview be the first page of your life plan document, with every elaborated priority on a separate page as well. Use additional pages for the action steps you wish to take within each priority as well. Organize these papers in a binder so that you can easily address it or add more information as time goes by.

The whole point of creating a life plan is to give yourself a helpful nudge in the right direction. Remember, in order for this life plan to work its magic, you actually need to take those actionable steps you’ve come up with!

Taylor Parker is an American based writer and blogger. She is very passionate about family, fashion, health and lifestyle. Taylor writes mostly lifestyle articles, but also you’ll find her in home improvement and other niches.

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