Appendix
Template for Creating Your Action Plan
Step 1 (“Heart”): Create Your Pie Chart
I
dentify your overall life goals by drawing a pie chart in which you divide the pie into slices, with each slice focusing on a specific goal that is important to you. The size of each slice will reflect its importance to you. I recommend that you start by dividing the pie into at least three large, main slices, representing three major life categories, for example work, career, and well-being. Each of these three main slices should then be divided into smaller slices, with the smaller slices representing goals you want to achieve within the major life categories.
For example, the “work” category may include goals (slices) such as getting better results at work and developing your expertise. The “career” category may include goals (slices) like getting promotions, earning salary increases, enjoying your job, having job flexibility, working part-time at some point, and retiring at a specific age. And the “well-being” category may include goals (slices) such as becoming or staying healthy, being happy, growing spiritually or psychologically, having financial security, spending time with your friends and other people you love, participating in your religious or other communities, and investing in things you care about. Don’t worry about making the slices of the pie the perfect size, because perfection isn’t the goal of this activity
.
Step 2 (“Head”): Identify One Goal You Want to Work On
Question 2.A.
What is the goal (the one slice from your pie chart) that you most want to work on?
For example, you may want to focus on developing a particular expertise, or getting a promotion, or spending more time with family, or taking care of your health.
Question 2.B.
Why do you want to work on this goal?
Consider your priorities, what others need from you, the feasibility of the changes you want to make (e.g., costs vs. resources), and the trade-offs that you’re willing to make at this time in your life in order to achieve your longer term goals.
Step 3 (“Hands”): Action Plan Worksheet
Goal
: [Write the
one goal you have chosen to focus on here. Then fill out the table with information about the specific actions you will take to achieve that goal, and answer the three questions (3.A, 3.B, and 3.C) below the table.]
Question 3.A.
What will I stop doing so that I can focus more of my time and effort on my most important goal?
Question 3.B.
What can I automate to make it easier to achieve this goal?
Question 3.C.
In what ways will the actions I take positively affect multiple parts of my life?
