23: Your Annual Action Plan

This episode puts all the pieces together from our personal leadership series into your annual action plan. I discuss in detail how I’ve used the Creating Your Life Plan ebook from Michael Hyatt to bring value to my life.

During his 2005 commencement address at Stanford University, Steve Jobs said: “For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘no’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.” See his full talk at this link.

A piece of my vision that I had written down last year was: “The Coaching Skills for Leaders podcast and blog generates multiple comments weekly from listeners who have used the show to better their leadership and coaching skills.”

The action step behind that was: “Produce a consistent coaching podcast and blog that dramatically increases our audience’s skill level in self-leadership, coaching, and personal productivity.”

My Values (see episode #20 for a full overview on how to get clarity on your values)

• Meaning: Investing my time and talent into things and people that personally inspire me in the world.
• Sustainability: Putting my effort into things that will provide lasting, positive change in the world.
• Vision: Creating the future by building things twice.
• Empowerment: Give others the confidence to learn, grow, and contribute to the world in sustainable ways.
• Love: My passion and desire to treat people like fellow human beings.

Priorities:

1. Faith
2. Health
3. Bonni
4. Baby
5. Learning
6. Career
7. Extended Family
8. Friends
9. Service
10. Finances

An example of my vision for children: “I want my children to remember me as a guiding light in their lives who empowered them with love of God, family, learning, discipline, and friendship. I want them to look back at their time as children as a time filled with many life lessons, joy-filled days, and discipline that served them in their lives as adults. I want them to feel like they were empowered to be whoever God created them to be and that their mom and them always came first in my life. I want them to remember that my love helped them become beautiful and whole people, who would then go on to love their own families and spread God’s love in the world.”

Current Reality:

• We don’t have a baby.
• We will have a baby soon.
• Neither of us know what the heck we are doing.

Specific Commitments:

• Spend at least one hour daily (outside of care time) that is focused on connecting with our son through cuddling, play, and other ways that he is ready to explore the world.
• Begin introducing books, reading, and storytelling to him as soon as is practical so that he begins to associate learning and growth with a happy and successful life in this world.
• Work with Bonni to determine a meaningful name for our little boy.
• Finish reading “Raising Cain” to establish good practices to support his growth emotionally.
• Attend as many doctor appointments as possible to continue my education as a father and build a long-term relationship with our pediatrician.
• Complete reading the American Academy of Pediatrics book section on the first year of life that was recommended by our pediatrician.
• Step in as the primary care giver at least one day a week so that Bonni has time to rest, even before she returns to work.
• Determine a guardian for our little boy, should Bonni and I both die when he is young.

Another of an action item this year from my career section:

• Create at least 100 Coaching Skills for Leaders podcast champions by the end of 2012 (people who contact me to say that they’ve gained something from the show or otherwise demonstrate through actions that they are big fans of the show).

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