By Karyn Patterson

“All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination.”

― Earl Nightingale

In the previous blog, we talked about goals and how to be SMART. Now, I want to get into the nitty-gritty of goal-setting by clarifying your life’s Grand Mission—or in other words, finding pure joy by discovering and utilizing your strongest gifts.

Setting goals that don’t align with your true nature is detrimental to your happiness, and even your health. So, let’s start creating YOUR life map by first discovering your most desired destination.

(Note: age is irrelevant. The 90-plus-year-old who writes his or her first novel or the child who already has big dreams are the ones who inspire me the most!)

Starting With the End in Mind:

Here’s the fun part. Let’s see if you are on the road that leads to your Grand Mission—or if you’re even “on the map” at all.

Your first assignment in this “planning” series is to take out a sheet of paper and draw a line lengthwise, so you have two columns.

In the first column, make a list of everything you NEED or SHOULD do. Whether that’s imposed on you from outside forces, or leads to an ideal, you want to work toward. You can love or hate these, but the key point is you see them as requirements. Write down everything you can think of.
In the second column, make a list of everything you WANT to do in life (some may cross over, and that’s great!). Have fun! Go crazy. Imagine the “impossible.” Write down things you’ll probably never do but sound awesome, like “own a bed and breakfast,” or “build an amusement park.” The whole point is to dream big, unrestrained.
Then, on the backside of the paper, you’re going to put two carefully chosen words anywhere in the top margin. It doesn’t matter where, but hopefully, these words will work as guideposts.

Your first word will represent the focus/mission of your entire life. When people are reminiscing about you at your funeral, what’s the one word you WANT to pop immediately into their heads? It might be a mentor, saint, or goofball. Only make sure it’s what YOU want it to be. (Get that “should” list out of your head for this part of the exercise.)
The second word will represent your focus for this year, something you lack to a degree but want to work on. For example: courage, a relationship skill (such as listening), or something you need to master to be more proficient at a big goal--maybe even your Grand Mission. (If you can’t decide on one or both words, you can save that step for later.)

Now, look for patterns in everything you’ve written thus far and scribble out some answers to these questions, using more paper if necessary.

Who are the people you are most driven to help/influence?
What do you WANT to do most (either on the wants or needs list or preferably both)? What feels most meaningful to you or fits your chosen “life words” best? Do you see an emerging pattern?
When do you want to achieve it? Set SMART goals, break them down into bite-sized bits and push yourself. To make this even more effective, tell someone your goal and deadline so you feel more accountable.
Where do you want to be? This can be viewed as physically or your long-term, Grand Mission goal. When you achieve your dream, do you want the freedom to move around and travel the world? Or are you content to stay in one place?
Live your own “why.” Why are YOU on this earth? Does your life presently align with what you want? Do you know/remember who you are, deep inside? For some, this is easy. But if you’ve been living under someone else’s expectations for a long time, you may have lost touch with the “real” you long ago. Look at your “whole life” word. Does that spark some insight?
How? How are you going to achieve your dream(s)? How do you want to serve? How much time do you eventually want to spend working per day? How much time would you like off for recreation? Do you need to make adjustments? (More on the balancing act later, but it’s good to consider now).

Finally, rank each of your “should” and “want” lists separately, marking your highest priority with #1, the next highest as #2, and so on. Use the six questions above and your two “life words” to help guide you, if necessary. Or, maybe with new insight, you will decide to change your word(s). That’s awesome! It means you’ve achieved greater clarity.

Having answered these questions and going through this exercise, I hope you have a clearer picture of your destination (and yourself!), so you can set those BIG goals and plan your life map. And when you’re ready to start planning your story, check out our fairytale and fable blog to jumpstart your story.

Karyn Patterson is a writer of the Editing Mee team. Karynis has been published in Writer’s Digest, written and published a pirate novel titled A Dead Man’s Tale, and has won various writing contests, and is one of the authors of our Collective Darkness Anthology.

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Planning your wildly precious life