A life plan is that which helps us to create all kinds of projects that support our personal development. Even though there are things in our lives that we do not control, having a notion of continuity is important in order to fully experience what the world has in store for us.

In this article we’ll look at various tips on how to create a life plan and how it can be applied.

Creating a Life Plan

It may be paradoxical, but many times we think we have very clear opinions about all kinds of issues, but we have no idea about what we will do with our own lives.

That is precisely why developing and applying a life plan is interesting: it allows us to find a project with which we can almost always identify even though everything around us changes over time.

Of course, sometimes there are moments of crisis when a life plan no longer makes sense. But these periods of uncertainty do not have to invalidate the very idea of having goals and strategies to approach them; they simply require us to create a new life plan. From this it also follows that any moment is good for starting one of them, regardless of one’s age .

So, let’s see what steps need to be taken to create a life plan that is tailored to our goals.

1. Analyze your life expectancy

In the first step, we have to stop and think about what we believe can be a realistic margin of change about our living conditions . If we become obsessed with objectives that we can only achieve by being billionaires, for example, this will only make us fall into frustration again and again, or postpone the pursuit of our goals so much that we will gradually forget about our life plan.

2. Determine your values

No life plan will prosper if it goes against our values. That is why we must be clear about which are the ones to which we attach the greatest importance. To do this, it is best to make a list of the main values that you consider relevant, and then order them according to their importance . If you have trouble thinking of several, you can find examples in this article: The 10 types of values: principles that govern our lives

3. Determine your needs

Think about what fills you most, but not simply selecting your desires of the moment, but those general objectives that you believe can encompass your great life projects. Do the same as in the previous step: make a list of needs and order them, prioritizing those that are most relevant to you. Keep a maximum of three of them, since if you try to aspire to several, you may not be able to get too involved in all of them.

On the other hand, he thinks that the best goals are those that involve the happiness of many people, since your footprint remains longer and more stable than the cases where you are the only person who appreciates it. Anyway, beyond this observation, it is perfectly valid to direct a life to a goal that will make the only person who enjoys the fruit of years of work.

4. Transform your needs and values into chains of action

Based on your objectives and values, develop a series of chains of actions that will take you from the present situation to your goals. That is, go from the abstract of your goals and values to the concrete , the strategies and methods that can take you where you want to be in several years time.

A good way to do this is to go through several layers of abstraction, generating general objectives and then building sub-objectives from that.
On the other hand, try to set yourself deadlines to make your commitment to the life plan increase.

5. Reflect on the role that other people will play in your life

It would be a mistake to make a life plan without taking into account the rest of the people around us and who will surround us in the future . Do you want to get away from certain negative influences? Would you like to spend more time with those you love and appreciate? How will you combine that with your goals?

6. Apply your life plan and monitor it

It is not enough to carry out the necessary actions to develop the life plan. We must also continue to ensure that the objectives we aspire to have a meaning for us. The simple passage of time and our own process of maturation and learning means that these needs can change spontaneously , and that is why we need to be alert so as not to continue blindly with these plans.

Bibliographic references:

  • Lerner, R.M. (2002). Concepts and theories of human development. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
  • Pink, D. H. (2010). The surprising truth about what motivates us (1st ed.). Barcelona: Centro Libros.