No, it’s not a midlife crisis. But I have just completely upended my life at the age of 42. And it feels great and terrifying at the same time.
About a month ago, I packed up everything in my house, moved most of it into storage, and moved out West. At the same time, I rolled up a ministry effort that I had been leading for four years. And I headed West looking for personal life gold.
It has very little to do with money, and everything to do with taking control of the daily grind. I found that I was adrift in the sea of work and ministry activities. I felt for every two steps forward, I was taking as many backwards. Moving was more than just relocating my old problems in a new place. I have discovered that moving can be a great time to cut stuff from your life and refocus. It can be great to just throw stuff away and remove clutter.
For the record, I am not in any way leaving Industrial Reporting or Pallet Enterprise/Pallet Profile. You will still see my work regularly as I attempt to delegate more and truly focus on what I do well. But I am really trying to delegate more to other folks on our talented staff. And I am learning to focus my free time more on a few key areas.
So, let me share some thoughts that I am learning on fighting what life coaching and efficiency guru, Michael Hyatt, calls the “drift.” This occurs when you are so stuck in the details of your work or life that you can’t manage the direction – you are drifting through life without clear direction. Hyatt and Daniel Harkavy wrote in Living Forward, that it occurs when life does not turn out like you had expected, you are in your forties, fifties or sixties and cannot believe how fast time has flowed by, and/or you are unhappy and without a clue about how you ended up where you are. Drifters are those who need a map moving forward. And the key is to realize you are drifting and to desire to live a better story with how many years that you have left.
Over the past few months, I have been reading Living Forward and working on my life plan. It has been a real trip to see what I have accomplished and what is still left on my plate.
Michael Templeman wrote on www.Entrepreneur.com that in order to fulfill your goals, you must review them regularly; he suggested daily to make a plan become reality. He pointed to successful sports coaches that have systems to create a champion, and those are things that you do every day in practice to be ready for the big game.
Templeman also recommended, “By evaluating your goals regularly, you can make sure to focus on what’s important to you. For example, if your goal is to run 10 miles a day but you’re starting to have knee problems, then you may ask yourself if your goal is really to run (as an end in itself) or to enjoy a healthier lifestyle. This kind of flexibility will get you what you really want — and may save you from having surgery down the road.”
Another key lesson is to realize that you zig zag your way to the top and don’t usually follow a straight line to be a success. Templeman explained, “Zigzagging requires you to be nimble and flexible and to take advantage of multiple opportunities. When a challenge comes along, consider your goal and whether it would be best to forge directly ahead or to pivot toward a different, short-term goal. It may not be the straightest path, but being adaptable is the clearest path to success.”
Some life business experts warn that some planning can be overkill and get in the way of making the most of opportunities as they arise. Entrepreneur and author of bestselling book, The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferriss, said in an interview with CNBC that charting and sticking dogmatically to a life plan can be limiting. He explained, “If you stick to a plan very fastidiously, you are not going to be able to adapt to new opportunities that present themselves.”
Ferriss added, “To have a five- or 10-year plan that you follow to a T means that you have to aim below your maximum capabilities because you will have to minimize the risk.”
He suggests instead to follow six-month plans and two-week experiments to stay productive and nimble at the same time. He certainly isn’t against planning, goals and metrics, but he recommends that those plans be flexible to deal with whatever arises.
While I understand what Ferris is saying, I do agree that having a life plan is a good idea. You just don’t want to become a slave to it. The life plan is meant to work for you, not the other way around. Having a plan is great, sticking to it can be important, but being stuck to it can be an anchor. I really like the process that Hyatt and Harkavy have developed in Living Forward. And I believe that having a good life plan can go hand-in-hand with having a business plan especially for entrepreneurs.
In Living Forward, the authors explained the causes of drift and how we can prevent it. They also outline a
way to assess your current status and develop a life plan. So far this material has been helpful to chart some changes in my life.
Hyatt and Harkavy wrote, “Self-leadership always precedes team leadership” This is so true because it is hard to lead effectively where you have not been.
For more information on how to build a personal life plan, follow time management tools and more, visit www.livingforwardbook.com.
