Becoming Your Most Authentic You

​“A goal without a plan is just a wish” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery (French Writer)
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Dreams, ambitions, hopes for a better future… we all have them. Correction; most of us have them (yes – there are those who are simply focused on survival; we aren’t talking about them. We’re talking about YOU). Some of us define this as meaning; success perhaps? What is meaning to you? What is success to you? If you could strip away all the superfluous stuff that life convinces us we need, what does living MEANINGFULLY mean to you? And how do you get there?

We’ve reached February and if you have kept a handful of your New Year’s Resolutions, give yourself a pat on the back. If you think coming up with resolutions is a Machiavellian exercise, think again; businesses strategize for the future. The board of directors get together where the vision of where to take the business is penned, goals are set, and timelines allocated. However we do little in terms of strategising our lives. In fact, some say that we take more time to plan a trip than we do to plan our life and career. We may want to travel more, learn a new skill, find a life-partner, feel fulfilled in our careers, buy a house – but if we don’t have a clear roadmap on how to get there, how do we expect to realise are dreams?

Creating a Life plan may simply sound like a draconian activity. Bear with me. A Lifeplan is about organising yourself, turning your wildest ambitions into bite-size goals, and improving your life from a work, personal and romantic perspective.
Can you think of anyone who has expressed they feel unfilled in their lives; like something feels like it’s “missing”? Perhaps that person has vocalised it, but you can see in their behaviour – they are apathetic, the lack motivation, they are grumpy as hell? Perhaps YOU are this person?

Well – it doesn’t have to be you. You are the single most powerful agent in your very own life which can change your entire destiny. With a little bit of preparation and a bucket load effort and motivation (and perhaps some good luck) you can live a gratifying, full, meaningful, congruent life.

Start of by exploring you. Who you are? What are your values? What gives you a sense of meaning and satisfaction in your life? After brainstorming this, identify the activities which make you really happy? What past instances have made you really satisfied?

Thereafter, start examining your dreams. Essentially, you’ll be brainstorming everything you might want to do – professionally and otherwise. Even if it sounds completely wild – pen it down.

The next part of this exercise we’ll call Choices. Narrow as many of these dreams down to a core list that you’d really like to experience. Remember – if you try to make ALL your dreams a reality at once, you are likely fail.

Finally – turn those chosen dreams into a vision of your future which is rich and satisfying. The trick is to set goals that inspire and motivate you to achieve the things that really matter. Remember – you need to plan HOW to reach these goals, and the trick here is to ensure that these BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) are broken down into smaller nuggets, and breaking those into even smaller achievable goals. Celebrate the small victories every time you reach one of those – no matter how big or small.

Need some more clarity on how to ACTION the above? Consider getting in touch with us; we have a team of expert coaches who are ready to assist you in actualising and becoming your most authentic you.