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7 WAYS TO FIGURE OUT THE NEXT PHASE OF YOUR LIFE

1 – Create a Personal Mission Statement

If done well, a personal mission statement a will provide you with clear boundaries for all of your goals, plans and priorities. Every goal you develop should support your mission statement. If they do not, either revise your statement or adjust your goals in order to stay on track.

2 – Create a ‘Must Do in Life’ List

Develop a list of all the things you must do, be, and experience before your time on earth is up. Time travel to your older self and ask, “What things will I regret if I don’t do them?” Compare your list to your personal mission statement to ensure the items on your list support your statement.

3- Quiet the Noise   

Take a hint from Bill Gates, Co-Founder of Microsoft. He dedicates two weeks every year to spend time reflecting on his life and his next steps. If you don’t have the luxury of two weeks, find a way to make this work for you. An hour a month, a half-day every 6 months, a full day once a year. Whatever works for you. Just find some time to quiet the noise for uninterrupted thinking and reflection.

4 – Conduct an Informational Interview

What’s one thing you really want to do that you’re not quite sure how to make happen? Once you decide, find someone who has already done it (either someone you know or someone you don’t). Reach out to them to conduct an informational interview. Learn about their successes and challenges along the way to help you develop your own plan for success. Don’t be shy. People generally love to share their experiences to help others succeed. The worst that can happen is they say ‘no’. If they do, it’s generally due to lack of time. Just find someone else.

5 – Determine Your Ideal Life

Have you ever written down and defined exactly what an ideal day, week, month and year would look like for you? This is a great starting point to develop goals that will ultimately lead to a life full of happiness and joy. 

6 – Develop a Life Plan

Follow an effective life planning process to develop a life plan. A good life planning process will help you figure out exactly what you want to do with your life, develop goals, create a plan and help you prioritize efficiently.

7 – Develop a planning schedule that works for you

Consider committing to a specific time period where you will revisit the direction you’re going and/or revising your life plan. Some people feel more comfortable planning out 3 months at a time. Others prefer a longer approach (1-3 years). Everyone is different, so figure out what time period works best for you and put a recurring reminder on your calendar.

A PERSONAL MISSION STATEMENT 

1. Get clear about their life purpose
2. Specifically define their values and interests
3. Create a life that is centered around their purpose, values and interests
4. Find their way back to the big picture when they get lost in the details of life
5. Make decisions

https://www.determinedtolovemondays.com/personal-mission-statement/

DESCRIBE YOUR IDEAL LIFE

WILL 1.  We have so much going on in our life that it’s difficult to slow down long enough for some thoughtful reflection.

2.  “Most people are so busy reacting to the needs of daily life that they’re happy just to be getting through the day. It’s hard to live on purpose when life revolves around daily crises and you’re always feeling overwhelmed.”  ~ Marcia Wieder

3.  We are bombarded by messages about what our life SHOULD look like that our own wants, needs and desires gets drowned out.

4.  We are so used to helping others achieve their life dreams that pursuing our own can be a foreign concept.

5.  We often value the opinions of those we care about to the point that we sacrifice our dreams so our loved ones won’t be uncomfortable; especially if they don’t understand what we want out of life.

6.  We believe that what we really want to do in our lives is too risky, too difficult or too scary to figure out how to get there. Therefore, we push our dreams to the back of our mind to avoid the pain associated with not living the life we really want to live.

The problem is, you really can’t get rid of the pain of not living your ideal life. It tends to manifest itself in other ways. Those ways can look and feel like depression, anxiety, fear, anger, discontentment, negativity, harsh judgement, substance abuse, overeating, etc.

If you are experiencing any of this in your life, it’s time to start being honest with yourself and planning for your ideal life; the life you would love to live.

Would you believe me if I said it can be incredibly simple? I can hear you laughing now.

Nothing is that simple, right? Well, that’s for sure.

However, what IS simple is taking the first step. And then the next. And then the next. You just need to know what that next step is.

Respond to every call that excites your spirit.”  ~Rumi

https://www.determinedtolovemondays.com/7-ways-figure-next-phase-life/