The Lost Art of Planning

"Failing to plan is like planning to fail". I'm not sure who said it and yet it's a great quote. Many people plan their vacations more than they plan the lifestyles they're living. A lot of people have a mixture of influences from friends, relatives, and others who shape their lifestyles. They end up leading what I term "accidental lifestyles" or "lifestyles by default."

What if we could plan our dream lives? Friend, I've got good news for you. We can! There are no rules in this lifetime. None. You can live your life on your own terms. How to get there is by planning. Planning and then taking massive, immediate, repeated action until you get what you want. See the article on "Mastering the action habit" for the bit about taking action.

This article we're going to focus on planning using the E.V.A. formula. I'm going to give you a step by step procedure. A few of you will take this information and apply it and thus put yourself on the fast track to your dream lifestyle. Unfortunately, statistics say that many of you who read this article won't apply it. I personally hope you're one of the few that does!

Onward. The first step for making your plan is to decide what you want. This is your "End Result." How do you want to live? Where do you want to vacation? What's your dream house look like? Imagine yourself driving your dream car. What kind is it? Keep going and vividly make this real in your mind. After you decide what you want, you have to have a vehicle to get there. This is the second part of the E.V.A. planning formula.

Your vehicle is what specifically is going to allow you to get your dream lifestyle. This could be your career, your job, your part-time business, or your own full time business. Know where you're at now too. This is point A. You've already established where you want to be, point B. Your vehicle is the mechanism that will drive you from point A (now) to point B (your dream lifestyle).

So figure out the specific vehicle you're going to use to get you where you want. Ideally, it will be something that you enjoy doing. You could travel from where you live across the United States in a used Yugo or a brand new Mercedes Benz. Both will get you there. It's up to you to decide how much you want to enjoy the ride.

After you have decided on what specific vehicle you'll use to get you to your dream lifestyle, go 1000% all out firing on all cylinders going into hyper-speed warp drive after what you want. Avoid hesitating. If what you do is getting you where you want to go, good. If not, adjust. Back up. Make new plans. Take even more action. Of course, this is the third part of the E.V.A. formula: action. The more of it you take, the sooner you'll get what you want.

Another thing about designing your own life is to go through and write down what you value and what you don't. Rank your values, in order of their respective importance in your life. Write out your own personal code of conduct and your mission statement. Then stick to it. If things change, change things on what you've written. Writing things down forces you to get clear and specific about who you are and what you're about. It further affirms to your unconscious mind to behave in the manner that you desire.

Here's a recap of the E.V.A. formula:

Go for it! Nothing's stopping you!

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