Planning a Life Worth Living (PAPERBACK)

Introduction 1
Preparation 5
Priorities 15
Goals 21
Clarity 29
Planning 33
Tracking 41
Conclusion 47
Glossary 49
Bibliography 51
Index 53
Author’s Note 54
About the Author 55

Introduction

Life has a way of getting out of control.

You really want to get something done, but at the end of the day, or weekend, you haven’t quite got there. Nor at the end of the week, or the end of the month.

And before you know it, another year has gone by and you still haven’t done it.

Maybe you want to get a degree, but don’t have four years to set aside to attend campus full-time. Perhaps smaller spaces within the fabric of your life might allow one or two units a semester; part-time or online.

Or you might want to take an overseas trip; Paris let’s say. You’ll need to save some money, research the best flights, accommodation and sites to visit before assembling an itinerary. Plus look into visas and any vaccinations required to visit.

Or you might decide you want to buy a house. To succeed, you’ll need a deposit, mortgage finance, and some kind of plan for choosing a property in an area you can afford.

These are all long-term goals, that need to be broken into shorter-term goals. Most commonly, annual goals based on New Year’s Resolutions.

Or maybe they’ll be for just a month or two, like slimming down for Summer, completing NanoWriMo, or running a marathon.

You can’t achieve these goals without allocating time and money to them.

And you’ll need to make choices about what you’re willing to let go, so you have the time and money to achieve them.

It might be that you’re one of those lucky people who can give yourself a Word of the Year and do perfectly well with just that.

I can’t. If I didn’t incorporate structure into my life, I would never get anything done.

Or you might get along perfectly well with a cast iron set of habits, day in and day out. And if that’s you, I envy you too, because I get massively derailed by the slightest thing.

This book lays out the process I use each year for my annual planning; business and personal lives.

• Lay out my Vision, Mission and Values.
• Decide my Priorities.
• Choose some Goals.
• Schedule time to “work” on them, and if necessary, set up a budget.
• Track how I’m doing.

I originally wrote parts of this book for the original Holistic Personal Finance, (now updated and republished as Ms Blaelock’s Book of Holistic Personal Finance), and Ms Blaelock’s Book of Minimally Viable Housekeeping.

This book’s for people who don’t want or need the financial or household management aspects, but find they need to change their life, and need help sorting through their options.

In the original books, I included some sample families, and I’ve left them in to give you some idea of how you can adapt the processes for your needs.

I hope you find it useful.

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