Create a Great Lifework Plan

In this post I share how I create my annual Lifework Plan, and give you tools you can use to create one for yourself. It’s a simple process of setting intentions which makes it easier to create a holistic life that includes mind, body, soul and service.

Throughout the year you will undoubetdly be presented with opportunities. Your Lifework Plan gives you the clarity you need to confidently let go of the things that don’t serve you, freeing you to choose with confidence the life-affirming opportunities that makes you say, “I love my life!”

2010 Lifework Planning

(This article is part 3 in a series. Click here to read part 1 and part 2.)

Last year I surveyed my ezine readers in order to understand their hopes, dreams and needs. 100% of them agreed that growing meaningful lifework was of utmost importance. It was the only category that got unanimous agreement.

I’m sure the definition of “meaningful lifework” varies by person, but one thing is for certain: meaningful lifework doesn’t happen by accident.

Of course, you may discover something you love by accident. You may even be fired from a job and end up in a completely new field that you enjoy,- all by “accident.” But having a life filled with meaningful activity, being at one with your choices, succeeding in your endeavors, those things don’t happen by accident.

Growing meaningful lifework requires many things:

1. Knowing what you love
2. Knowing what you don’t love
3. Knowing what you do well
4. Knowing what you don’t do well
5. Knowing how to make decisions
6. Knowing how to say Yes
7. Knowing how to say No
8. Learning from your mistakes
9. Having confidence to take risks
10. Determination
11. Determination
12. Determination

Notice I have “determination” listed three times. That’s exactly what it takes to keep the momentum going when obstacles descend upon your dreams.

But determination is easier to grasp and hold onto when you know what you want to grow. In the rest of this essay I elaborate on how to plan your year so can more easily stay focused on your endeavors.

As an aside, planning is not simply a “to do list” but a way to set intentions and create clarity. This process is especially important for self-employed people because it gives you the structure you need to stay focused.

If you don’t plan it’s easy to let little things like TV, YouTube, and less desirable projects prevent you from growing lifework you love.

In other words, planning helps you grow what you want to grow so you don’t end up with a bunch of weeds come harvest time.

Before I continue, though, I want to emphasize that both planning and spontaneity are integral to growing lifework you love. If you don’t open yourself to spontaneity chances are good you’ll miss out on incredible opportunities. Planning is only part of the equation. Spontaneity is the other. A solid Lifework Plan has room for both.

The first step in creating a Lifework Plan is to know what brings you joy. For example, I have a “life purpose theme” based on my top 4 values (excluding food, shelter, family, etc.). My top values are:

1. self-expression
2. creativity
3. spirituality
4. strategizing

I’ve turned these four values into the following life purpose statement: My purpose is to live fully-expressed by finding and giving creative soulutions. This theme helps me plan and make decisions when spontaneous opportunities arise.

For instance, when someone offers me a job or wants to collaborate on a project I assess the situation by asking myself if it is in alignment with my purpose. If it isn’t, I easily decline. I know that if I am not in alignment with finding and giving creative soulutions I will not be happy.

There are times, of course, when projects are fully aligned with my purpose, but I often have a number of commitments on my Lifework Path that are more important to me, so I decline those offers as well.

So how do you plan the rest of the year once you have a purpose statement?

I draw things out to sort them out…

When I plan I start with several categories, all of which are integral to my lifework. Here are some of them:

• Mind
• Body
• Soul
• Creativity
• Service
• Financial

I encourage you to think of categories that are important to you. That’s a great place to start.

For each category I create goals. Even though I have a lot of “goals” I prefer to make them a natural expression of my life. I don’t always do well with rigid structure, like “go for a 30-minute walk every day at 9:00 am.”

Some of my work goals are that rigid, and in those cases it is hugely helpful. But with all other areas of my life, rigid goals feel oppressive. Regardless, recording my goals helps me stay conscious of my dreams so I don’t get lazy or spend too much time on things like Facebook.

I never want to hear myself say, “I don’t have enough time to make my dreams come true.” Lack of time is an excuse. People who live extraordinary lives don’t make excuses, they make things happen.

The Meaningful Mind

In the mind category I set two goals:

1. Read 35 books on any topic (I’ve never set a goal like this before. I usually just read whatever I want to read, whenever I want to do it, but I like the idea of pushing myself to read more so I’ve set this intention.)

2. Learn all about birds. I love birds and would like to be able to identify them by look and song. This is a fun project that has little to do with my work, except that I use bird imagery in my art. Actually, I’ve written a story called “The Mockingbird Manifestory” which I hope to publish in video or ebook this year.

Body Basics

Over the past year I discovered that the health of my body directly impacts the health of my business. This year I’ve incorporated exercise and nutrition into my Lifework Plan.

My goals are to:

1. Walk 30 minutes every day

2. Join a fitness group in March, probably something like Zumba. This goal is twofold: to get exercise in a way that I enjoy, and also to meet people in my community.

3. Be conscious of nutrition, especially when I am stressed and pressed for time. Always have apples and carrots on hand.

Soulful Living

My spiritual practice is to be conscious of the Divine in every aspect of life. I don’t always succeed (!), but there are two things that help me stay connected in this way:

1) Regular outdoor activity like hiking and camping. This year I’ve planned 3 camping trips, one to my favorite place: the Mojave Desert. I love the wildflowers that grow on the Amboy Crater. Scott and I love camping there because it is quiet and peaceful, but unless I make plans we won’t go. He’s in a band and spontaneous trips are difficult to make.

2) Journaling in the “Conversations with God” style. I started doing this in October and love it! Not only does writing help me center myself, but this particular exercise helps me hear the voice of the Divine on a regular basis, even when I’m not writing.

Another area of soulful living is in cultivating community with family and friends. I have intentions for this category as well, like have 3 dinner parties.

Creative Endeavors

I added the” creativity” category because my self-defined purpose in life is to live fully expressed through creative means. This year I intend to infuse my life with more creativity, including art journaling and the completion of 3 paintings in my “Spiritual Leader” series. Here are two from the series:

Service Goals

My work goals are far tighter than the other areas. They include:

1. Weekly ezine and blog submissions, which is a significant increase from last year’s monthly submissions. This is the one area I’ve discovered that needs to be rigid and predictable. Last year I tried doing it on the 15th and 30th of every month, but as a self-employed person with no set work hours I rarely know what day of the week it is! I missed so many 15ths and 30ths that I decided to make it Monday. It’s hader for me to forget when it’s Monday.

Anyway, I will be sending you ezine posts every Monday. After 3 months I will re-evaluate and see if it is achieving my goals of adding value to my community and increasing my readers.

2. Publish twice monthly to Divine Caroline

3. Publish 4 articles in various periodicals

4. Write one manifesto about finding one’s “Lifework voice”

5. Create an inspiring video about meaningful lifework

6. Design and offer several programs. I have about 4 in the works for 2010.

I have more specific goals than this, but I wanted to give you an example from a variety of categories.

Deadlines

For many of these goals I have a deadline in mind. Every Monday I assess where I am, what is due next and what I need to focus on to complete my long-term goals. I then do a sort of reverse engineering process and determine what small step I can take to accomplish part or all of my work. This helps me stay on track and actually manifest my intentions.

Right now, for instance, in addition to writing my weekly articles, I am working on a workbook called Grow Your Lifework. This product will help people find clarity so they can confidently make decisions about what they want to grow and what they need to let go of. My intention is for this to be a creative process that includes a manual with 10,000 to 15,000 words.

Writing an ebook or creating anything of magnitude can feel overwhelming, and unfortunately, this overwhelm prevents a lot of people from moving forward. They feel bogged down in the Big picture and can’t see the little step they need to take get started growing.

Considering this common dilemma, my next ezine will focus on how I use my Lifework Plan to create manageable action steps for myself.

Until then, here are a few questions you can explore to create your Lifework Plan:

1. What am I aligning with this year? Read Love Your Lifework

2. What do you most want to accomplish? Create categories and set your goals somewhere between reasonable and unreasonable. You want goals that push you to excel, but don’t cause you too much anxiety or overwhelm.

3. What can you honestly commit to?

4. If you’re overwhelmed with your completed Lifework Plan ask yourself why. Are the goals too lofty? Are they aligned with your purpose statement? Make adjustments until you look at your plan and say, “I love this!”

I hope this has been useful for you. I’ve found the process to be an invaluable part of my success. Share with me any ideas, breakthroughs or plans you make. I’d love to hear from you!