How to make a life plan

A life plan is a map of your possible future combined with a list of ways to keep it on track. This is a useful way to set out your goals clearly, think of ways to reach them, and make sure you are making progress towards them. Writing down your intentions can motivate you to keep taking steps in the right direction. Here are our suggestions for how to make a life plan.

Life plan assessment

First, take an honest look at your life. Decide what you are happy with and what you would like to change. Write down everything you can think of that might be relevant, it doesn’t have to be tidy, or even logical, at this stage.

Setting your priorities in life

Next, consider what you would like to achieve more specifically. Where would you like to end up? What are the goals and aspects of your life that are most important to you? Do you want to focus on your job, your family, your skills, etc? Picking one item to focus on, to begin with, might be sensible.

Setting Life Goals

It’s important to have specific goals to work towards so you know when you reach them. The goals themselves are worthwhile, and the process of working for them keeps you focused. It prevents boredom and complacency and protects you from burning out.

Make your goals SMART

Now, narrow down your ideas. From “I want more money” or “I want to spend more time with my family”, make a SMART goal; that is, one that is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. For example:

• Specific: “I will have more money” becomes “I will get a pay rise of at least £X”.
• Measurable: “I will do this by getting promoted at work.”
• Achievable: “I will make promotion possible by developing my relevant skills” (which becomes a separate SMART goal in itself).
• Relevant: “This will increase my income by at least £X so I can support my kids through college.”
• Time-bound: “I will do this within one year.”

This makes it easier to focus on the specific actions you need to be taking.

Do A Personal SWOT Analysis

What is SWOT analysis? SWOT refers to Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. SWOT was originally developed to help businesses reach their goals, but it works for personal ones as well. It’s best to lay these out on one page, like this.

Using a SWOT analysis template

Under Strengths, list things about yourself that will help you reach your goal. Include things you have learned as well as things where you feel you have a natural talent or ability. Be realistic but not shy about recognising your strengths. For example, if your goal is to write a book, list your prior experience writing for school or work, your typing speed, whether you already have ideas for a plot, etc.

Under Weaknesses, list things about yourself that might hold you back. Again, be as honest as possible, but don’t beat yourself up. Are there areas you need a few more skills or a more positive attitude? In our book-writing example, the author should consider if they have trouble getting motivated or organising their time. Or they may have no idea what to write about, or need to improve their laptop skills.

Under Opportunities, list the external resources you can draw on to help you. Our would-be writer might include a local (or online) writers’ support group, the names of publishers calling for submissions, and/or family who can babysit while they write. Is there a strong market for the type of thing you want to write?

Under Threats, list any outside circumstances that might get in the way. For our writer, the genre they feel suited to might have a small potential readership. Or the market could be overcrowded if it’s popular, and so on. Remember, this is about external complications, whereas weaknesses are more about internal ones.

How to use your SWOT analysis

Once you have all this information, look at the lists and try to pair things up. The biggest hurdles are likely to be where threats and weaknesses overlap. The easiest places to take action will be where your strengths and opportunities work together.

Do you have specific strengths to offset the weaknesses? If not, how can you get them?

What opportunities might overcome or reduce the threats?

This should help you decide on the first steps to take towards your goal. And don’t forget that hypnotherapy for motivation, or some life coaching sessions can be among your opportunities, and I’d be happy to help. Contact me to book your first session.

SWOT Image: adapted from Xhienne, CC BY-SA 2.5 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5, via Wikimedia Commons