STEP- UP YOUR GAME

ADVANCE BY CREATING A BUSINESS PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE

Here’s a seven- step program to help you create your strategic plan for a balanced life and joyful career:

1. Define your mission. Your mission is where your talents and passions collide with the needs of others and the world. Identify your skills, figure out what you love doing and think about how you can combine those to meet a need.

2. Imagine the success. Next, create a vision of what your life looks like when you’re fully using your gifts, doing what you love most and accomplishing what you set out to do. Your personal definition of success should include ingredients that bring pleasure into your day.

3. Name your critical success factors. Once you’ve defined your purpose and what success means for you, it’s time to go from dreaming to doing. To start, make a list of the elements you need to bring your vision to life. This step marks real progress toward creating your personal plan and builds forward momentum.

4. Find your sweet SWOT. With your list in hand, ask, “Do I have what it takes to get there?” Answer by identifying your SWOT ( strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) to size up what you have to work with — or work around — as you move into action.

5. Set goals for success. A vision is just a pretty picture until you breathe life into it. Determine what you need to do to make real, steady progress toward living your envisioned life. Create a set of prioritized goals so you can spend your time getting the results you want.

6. Perform a time and emotion study. Look at a day on your calendar, assess: • How well your current use of time aligns with your goals. • Where your actions and priorities don’t line up. • How to clear the clutter and make room for what matters.

7. Select successful strategies. Designing a business plan for your life allows you to live with integrity — where your actions reflect who you are and what you value. Select the actions most likely to help you achieve your goals.