Planning is a temporary workload for an infinite ROI.
Maybe thats a little too much technical speak but it could not be more true. Planning sometimes is avoided like the plague but the payoffs are infinite even if you do not follow the plan to the letter or even if you fail to complete a robust plan. So even if you’re failing, as long as you’re planning, you’re on your way. If you want to set your family up for success then intentional planning for your life is crucial. It forces you to write down your values and set priorities that align with those value.
The issue is that too much of our planning centers around short term events or periods and lack the bigger picture focus. We plan for vacations or we plan for weekends but we fail to plan for a longer stretch of time, and in turn succumb to a knee-jerk way of living. Intentionality is the key to making significant progress in anything. Like planning a cross country trip, the process starts with what the destination is. The basic steps then look something like the following.
- Pick destination
- Research points of interest between start and destination
- Plan timeline including number of stops and prioritize attractions you enjoy
You pick a destination and stops along the way based on a set of values. The criteria could include; what you enjoy to do as a family, the climate at the city, or people you will see there. All these align with certain things you value as a family. Now you likely did not write down what your values were or what you wanted to accomplish in a vacation but rather you had discussions around the vacation and what each person desired. Likely the discussions set certain “non-negotiable’s ”, such as the destination needs to be someplace warm. This is a value; for vacations your family values a warm location. This value setting is often done unilaterally by each person. This same value setting is used in any goal, it is the starting point for any plan.
If you don’t have a plan for your whole life laid out it does not mean that your life will fail. You may still reach a destination that you had in mind but you may not hit as many stops along the way or end up at the place you envisioned you might. The first step is knowing where you want to go, and that is determined by your values.
A good starting point for destination planning is to draft a vision statement for your family. It is a concise one or two sentence statement that summarizes what your family is about, what you value and what you strive to be. It’s important to note that its not set in stone, and priorities change over time, as do plans, but the vision statement gives you focus a adds clarity to drive decisions that you make day to day to end up at the destination you desire.
Getting started writing a vision statement is easy. Start by writing down things that your family already values and does. This list is not the ideal things you want but rather things that you already do and value, such as.
- family relationships
- traveling
- church involvement
- the outdoors
Once you have that list also write a list next to it of thing you desire your family to do and value that they are not doing regularly. Taking the two lists then order them by level of importance. Take the top ones that are most important to you and form those into a one to two sentence statement.
It does not have to be perfect but getting it into a single statement is powerful. The exercise forces you to be concise and to form an identity that will motivate you more toward your values. Take 30 minutes and sit down to craft a vision statement, discuss it with your wife, discuss it with your kids, and continually shape it. It is a powerful thing that will unconsciously alter your decisions and planning.
Shoot me an email with your vision statement at mike@2centdad.com
