Comments on: Before you create your business plan, create your life plan

By: gene

gene — Wed, 24 May 2006 20:41:16 +0000

great post – a side product of this process of creating a clear and well visualised set of outcomes, is that it will help your mind stay tuned in to your goal & help it become a reality.

By: GL

GL — Tue, 23 May 2006 16:27:19 +0000

Although I don’t currently have a business, my fiancee (who lives in Phoenix) and I are faced with similar decisions in exactly the same geographical areas… if we decide to live in AZ. Our wrencher right now is deciding whether I should cut ‘cubicle’ roots here in the East and move there, or whether we want to escape back East in the summers… but Sedona is closer and indeed special.

If I do try for a business, it’ll be “at home” (like yours) and, $ willing, won’t take up ALL of my time.

cheers!

By: Astha

Astha — Tue, 23 May 2006 04:50:13 +0000

I love reading your posts. Their like a dish of wisdom, spiced with passion!

And I totally agree with the observation that you’ve got to have a life plan, a direction. That way block by block you can build something meaningful.

However, you’ve got to make sure you’ve meandered enough to settle on a course.

Scott, from HELLO, my name is BLOG puts it very aptly:

Limited references create a limited life. If you want to expand your life, you must expand your references by pursuing ideas and experiences that wouldn’t be a part of your life if you didn’t consciously seek them out.

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 22 May 2006 20:30:09 +0000

Great article. The human nervous system is goal-seeking. Having a plan with clear parameters will go a long way towards keeping problems at bay and it enhances your chances for success.

Some more tips for kicking this principle into overdrive:
1)State goals in the positive (don’t think about what you don’t want… you risk drifting towards whatever you’re thinking of!)

2)Make a mental image of yourself having accomplished all these things and step right into it. See, hear, feel and smell every component of that experience. This will really give your goal-seeking brain something to work with.

3)Enjoy the ride!

By: Rick Dobbs

Rick Dobbs — Mon, 22 May 2006 17:59:27 +0000

Can your site get any better? I think not.

Thanks so much for showing what your plans are as an example, that helped tons.

By: Shari

Shari — Mon, 22 May 2006 13:36:40 +0000

Excellent advice! Last year we downsized our business because life got in the way. Now that we are in the process of relocating our business and rewriting our business plan, your timely post will help us write our life plan first. Thank you!

By: Simon

Simon — Sun, 21 May 2006 13:42:28 +0000

There is a great proverb. “When the student is ready, the master will appear”. This weekend has been just that for me.
I too stepped straight into the Business plan first, life as an afterthought approach, and an event late last week, halted me in my tracks.
Today you blog about the very subject I spent several hours reading about yesterday. Bo Burlingham – Small Giants : Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big, (he talks indepth about 13 companies that had a “heart-felt” business moment at a critical time).

Thank so much for the post, and for pointing me to Rich and Jeff’s site….I’m on my way over there right now.

By: Randy

Randy — Sat, 20 May 2006 03:14:09 +0000

Andrew pretty much said it all, bravo.

BTW the URL I linked isn’t my blog, it is one I am trying to get going for my mother in-law.

By: Max Leibman

Max Leibman — Sat, 20 May 2006 01:24:37 +0000

Well said!

I would add one more facet–I would submit that a draining, miserable form of success can arise from having a great business plan but no clear life plan, but I believe there’s another oft-overlooked risk here. Success isn’t nearly as likely to flow from a business that pulls you away from a great life in the first place.

It’s possible to work hard at a great business plan and end up both successful (in the business sense) and disillusionedly miserable; however, isn’t one more likely to have business success in the first place if it is pursued as an integrated part of a healthy, fulfilling lifestyle?

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 19 May 2006 23:30:38 +0000

I could not agree more with this very informative post. You offer great advice to avoid falling into the success trap. Meaning you work yourself to the bone to become financially successful and then find yourself set with money but no direction for your life as a whole. A life plan is the right place to start for getting your life on track .