One of the first comments I routinely hear in my Career Development seminar is, “I want to be more successful, but I’m not one of those ‘planning’ types.  I believe in just going with the flow.  I wanna see where life takes me.”

This paradigm is very common - we tend to think most subjects are all or nothing - one way or the other.  Have you ever thought about the possibility that it’s not about one versus the other, but rather a wonderful balance of the two?  Let me give you a personal example of what I’m talking about.

I live a very inspired life.  I flow from moment to moment relying upon my inner being, or true self, to divinely guide me as to the best action to take in each moment.

I bet that comes as a shock to many of my readers.

I also live a very planned life.  I plan my day, week, week-end, month, quarter, year, next five years, ten years, and even further down the road.

Confused?  Keep reading.

You see, I envision what I want.  I focus on the kind of life I want to live.  I visualize my dream home, the amount of money I want to make and accumulate, and the type of work I want to do.  Then, I live that.  I am a very deliberate creator.  Let me give you some examples of exactly how I go about achieving this.

First, I decide what I want.  Yes, it changes, and quite often as a matter of fact.  Some things remain constant, though.

Once I’ve decided what I want I write it down.  I keep a special journal with each of my goals written on a separate page.  With each goal I have a sort of “deadline,” or more accurately, a time frame within which I would like to realize its accomplishment.

Next, I work my way backwards from these target dates, listing each step as much as is possible from my current perspective.  I don’t always know each step, so I just list what I know right now and trust that the rest will be revealed to me at the proper time.  (Are you starting to get a feel for where inspiration comes in?  Hint, hint.)

Then I pull out my Franklin planner and add the action required in the appropriate weekly/monthly time slots.

Before I do my weekly planning, I review my goals and make sure any necessary action has a time slot assigned to it.  This process feels slightly intuitive for me at this point, but I’m not necessarily receiving any divine guidance during the process.  The most important aspect of weekly planning is that it helps to identify areas where I am over-committed, or not focusing on my top 20.  I do a quick check to make sure that at least 24 hours of my time will be spent on my top payoff activities.

At the end of each evening, I review what I’ve listed as action items for the next day.  I take just a few minutes, and I’m talking 2-3 minutes, to visualize how I want the day to “play out.”  I like everything to flow in an easy and relaxed manner. I make a tentative schedule in my mind of how the day will run.  I don’t think of it in terms of an hourly time.  In other words, I do not sit and think, “I will get up at 6 AM, start writing at 7, drive to Maysville at 8:30, eat lunch at Noon,” or anything like that.  I think more in terms of, “I like to write first thing in the morning and I know I need about 90 minutes, so I’ll start at 7 AM.  I’ll leave for Maysville at 8:30 so that I have plenty of time to allow for traffic.  I expect everything in my seminar to flow smoothly.  After lunch I’ll work on my website and submit some posts to the carnivals.  Then I’ll fix dinner, have a nice relaxing dinner with BJ, and then water the garden.”

All of my major goals are addressed.  Now, here is where things start to get interesting.

Once my day has started, I very quickly start tuning in to my higher self.  You know what it’s like – you get an e-mail or a phone call from someone demanding immediate attention.  Or a new opportunity arises and you know you need to act on it now.  Whatever the situation is, I allow my intuition to guide my actions.  The amazing thing is that all of the important items are almost always accomplished.  On the rare occasion that one is not, it flows easily into the next day.

Now, be careful here.  There is the potential for procrastination and laziness to creep in for certain personality types (you know who you are!)  I am not talking about taking a two-hour lunch break so you can gossip with your buddies.  I am talking about getting up from your desk and going for a walk when you feel a strong urge to do so.  The difference is that once you learn to listen to the wisdom of your spirit, taking that walk will yield amazing results – like a brilliant idea on how to solve the issue you were frustrated with in the first place.

The universe has a way of making that 10-30 minute stroll productive.  You will not actually lose any time.  Spend that time chatting with your co-workers about the horrible office politics, however, and not only will it be time wasted, but your vibration will be lowered and you will accomplish even less.  Starting to get the picture?

Most of the time, my day flows very similarly to how I envision it.  I’ve learned to be very deliberate, then, about what I envision!  Intention is truly amazing!

Our “reality” is so very temporary.  Our days make up our lives.  Each one should be lived according to our deliberate intent.  We mold our future, today, hour by hour, minute by minute, right now.

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Posted under Education, Inspiration, Law of Attraction, Leadership, Motivation, Success