In 2001, my wife and I wrote our first Intentional Life Plan. Five years out, we had jotted down: “Buy a farm.”
We managed to accomplish the goal in 2005; this week, we celebrated our 15th year living on our wheat farm. Looking back at that original life plan, we accomplished 91% of the goals we had written!
Writing goals down sets the universe––and you––in motion. You become more conscious of where you’re going, and it allows magic to come in and symbiosis to occur, opening things up rather than closing them.
Just having a general life plan floating around in your head is nice, but it’s not concrete enough and may not be as actionable. You may have in your mind, “We’ll sell our house and drive across country,” or, “Our kids will go to college,” or, “We’ll retire someday.” But if you don’t have specific years designated—and action plans and financial strategies to make them happen—they may not become reality.
Want to buy a farm yourself one day? By what year? What do you need to do to make that happen? For us, writing down “Buy a farm” set the universe in motion and got us both thinking. We then started looking at geographies and diligently spent four years finding our home. When we found it, we made an offer the next day.
A farm or new home may seem unattainable. But if you save for years and work with a financial planner, what seems unattainable today may be well within your reach in five to seven years.
Other magical moments:
- A couple who used our methodology and now has a life plan says it has made them much closer and more intimate than ever before: “It builds intimacy and focuses you to tell the truth to each other,” they say. That’s magic!
- A pair of friends took our workshop in Santa Monica, California, in June; one half of the duo writes, “I really got a lot out of your workshop. My friend and I have our first ‘check-in’ coming up, so hopefully we can stay on track.” That’s magic!
- Pay attention to the magical cues that happen as you continue to execute and evolve your life plan. “Cue sensitivities are signals that come to you when you notice something, and they remind you of something, bring back a memory, or reinforce a behavior you’re trying to work on or a habit you’re trying to create,” says Mel Lee, cofounder of “50, 60, 70, Now What?” “Cues are how you set up signals in your life if you want to change or add to it. It’s how people put habits into place. Most of all, cues help you notice what your dreams are.” That’s magic!
We’re all going to die someday: Let’s plan wisely and use our time well!
