What Are You Going To Do When You Grow Up? - A Lesson In Proactive Life Planning

- by Randy Gilbert

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "The future belongs to those who plan for it." I stumbled onto proactive life planning as a key to success later in my life. In this article I reveal 3 proven strategies for pulling your life together and giving it meaning. You can do life planning now, no matter what your age.

While serving in the Coast Guard I worked for several years in Washington, DC. It always amazed me at how easy it was to get lost there. I know from experience why people say that Mr. L'Enfant designed Washington's streets to be intimidating.

One day, a "Coastie" friend and myself had a meeting downtown. Mistake number 1 - I agreed to drive. Mistake number 2 was even worse - I assumed my friend knew where we were going; but all he knew was the building name.

Being the typical guy characters, neither of us wanted to stop and ask for directions. We were two intelligent officers and we didn't know where we were going. Our chances for success were close to zero.

I'm afraid we were not alone in our foolishness. In fact, some people driving through life don't even know where they want to go. If you are in that situation, then your chance of success IS ZERO.

But, take heart. The following strategies can boost your chances for success to 100%.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Key Strategy # 1 - Take Control of Your Mind
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
People who know what they desire in life are those who are able to take control and know their own minds. You were made in the image of God and He gave you solitary control over your mind for that purpose.

Thinking is work, but it can be fun and even adventurous, especially when you find a subject or activity that you like. When you control your thinking you can dream. If you let yourself dream of what you desire in life, then you are sure to find true happiness and success.

If you have not explored your own desires and dreams, start now by getting a piece of paper and writing them down. It's like stopping and asking for directions, which is what my Coastie friend and I finally did in Washington DC.

Ask yourself, if I had everything I needed; money, time, and support; what would I want to do, be and have? Do this exercise and you will learn how to take control of your mind. It might seem uncomfortable at first, but it will help you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Key Strategy # 2 - Add Clarity To Your Dreams
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Successful people recognize the patterns of success and follow them. One such pattern is to plan what you think and do by adding clarity to your dreams. It's like writing a story about yourself and then acting it out.

My wife works with migrant children, teaching them English and catching them up on academics. One teaching method that has been very successful is puppetry. She coaches the children on developing the characters of their puppets by asking questions; simple at first, and then more thought provoking.

The questioning continues and clarity is added until the characters are unique and interesting individuals. Then the children can name them, make them, and easily put them into stories.

Add clarity to your dreams. Ask yourself questions that help you to be specific about who you are. When you are unique and interesting, you can write your life's story with confidence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Key Strategy # 3 - Motivate Yourself To Pay The Price
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
People who have a passion for living motivate themselves to pay the price for their dreams. If you aren't willing to put in the effort to make them happen, they will remain dreams.

As Americans, we believe that the 'pursuit of happiness' is an inalienable right of each person. You can pursue happiness and motivate yourself to become successful by linking your dreams with positive emotions. In so doing you proactively build a strong positive mental attitude.

Use the following mental exercise to strengthen your desire for success. Fix a particular objective in your mind and then link the rewards of accomplishing it to the following emotions: desire, faith, enthusiasm, nurturing, love, and hope. These positive emotions will reinforce your desire and give you the energy and enthusiasm you need to pay the price for your dreams.

In conclusion, there is wisdom within you; an intuition about what is best for you that you need to tap into. Spend a little time each day in quiet thinking so you can continuously add clarity to your dreams. Pursue happiness by emotionalizing your dreams until you have a burning desire to achieve them. It is not selfish; it's Proactive Life Planning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About the Author - Randy Gilbert is the author of SUCCESS BOUND, from which portions of this article are extracted. Randy is highly regarded as an authority on Proactive Thinking, which is why he goes by the name "Dr. Proactive." You can contact him at Randy@DrProactive.com. To read summaries of each chapter, see the reviews of other authors and leaders, or to buy his new book go to http://snurl.com/rgilbert.
Copyright 2001 by Randy Gilbert. Permission is granted to copy, reprint, or host this article on a website, so long as the entire article is used and the author's name and contact information remain unchanged, and "Used by permission" is denoted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~