In the next week and a half I have three LifePlan’s that I will be conducting here at my house. I can truly say my LifePlan absolutely changed my life!
It gave me clarity in areas that I hadn’t had in a very long time…if ever. The great Tom Patterson put it this way –
“God has a plan for your life.
In creating who you are, God
simultaneously built into your life
what you’re to do. When you
discover His intent — and fully
embrace His design, His plan, His
master-thought for you — you will
be able to live the life you were
meant to live.”
Doing my LifePlan not only helped me to discover my purpose in life, but it also helped me to eliminate the “options” of things I COULD do in life.
Once I knew the direction I was supposed to go in, going that way wasn’t difficult at all. In fact, God has blessed it immensely!
A client asked me some questions about it just the other day. Here’s a part of what I sent him:
If we only did your LifePlan to see if it was time for you to change vocations, we would be doing you a disservice. LifePlan isn’t about job change.
It’s about gaining full perspective of your life by going through a lot of what’s happened and pointing out all the God moments or patterns.
We discuss what’s right, wrong, confused, and missing with your life. For me I discovered how with certain people in my life I have given up my authority; some of those people were leaders, some were people who were very close to me.
Because of that, I have caused myself to acquiesce at times that God wanted me to power through and be the man He created me to be. Now that I know that, I have been considerably stronger and choosing to not give up my authority. Instead, I’ve found myself being a ton more effective because of it.
From that we derive what your TRUE talents and heart is. (We discussed those at coffee and how important they are.) Where are you strong so you can focus on those areas instead of any other unneeded areas.
I think this is vital for your CURRENT role. If you stay right where you are, I think you need to refocus your leadership and talents so you operate in YOUR full capacity.
This points us in the direction of the Life Dashboard. We discover your gas and brake pedals. What are the things that drive you to be the best you that you can be. And what causes you to come to a complete stop.
Trust me when I say, this is very surprising when it’s completed. With it you are able to go forward working on the gas pedal, and managing the brake pedal.
We also spend some time discovering what refreshes you. I didn’t realize how important this was until I realized the things in my life that HAD refreshed me.
And now it is VITAL that I do these things so that I can be the best husband, leader, influencer, friend, and most importantly, Christ follower.
These are just a few of the incredible things that come from doing a LifePlan. Are you ready for yours? If so, click here.
Question: How important is it for you to do what God has for you?
Chris,
As your client above said, it is vital to know and to execute to God’s Holy Will. If you’re not doing it for Him, who are you doing it for?
If I keep this in mind, it helps me to keep things ordered properly, relating to my wife, (soon to be seven) children, parish activity, and at the office leading my team.
Have a blessed week!
In Christo Rege,
Marc
https://marcsviewonstuff.wordpress.com
So true. I think so many times we’re worried that what He has for us is not what we want. But I have yet to see that be true. The fear is what keeps us from doing the greatest things.
Thanks Marc!
That’s right. We fear what we might have to give up or what we “have” to do that we miss the benefits and joy that come from following His plan.
Ahh,…the hardest part…determine what is most prudent. Do you take the apparent risk knowing you are currently meeting your familial responsibilities, for something better? That is where I am right now career-wise and praying for guidance.
Absolutely vital for having true peace and to bloom to the fullest I need to listen to God and then follow. He has a plan we just fail to down load it.
Chris Thanks -Great Question
Amen brother!!
That’s so true.
It is immensely important to me, to do what God has for me!
LifePlan is definitely one of the first things I want to save up for once we’re finished with our debt snowball. Sooooo….you still going to be coaching people through it in a couple of years? 🙂
HAHAHA…I bet you’ll be there sooner!
and yes. 😀
YES!! 🙂
Here’s hoping! 🙂
You can never be ‘in the groove’ if you’re not walking daily with God and seeking His will for your life; He’s got the best “Lifeplan” for each person. At a bend in the road in my life and too many paths to try to comprehend before me…trying to discern what the next step God has for me in His design. Thanks for this post and thanks for what you do!
Even if you think you’re doing what God has planned, it’s important to take a step back and look at your whole LifePlan periodically to make sure everything you are doing is in line. And maybe you are in the right job but need to change direction a little. Great reminder and exciting work you are up to Chris!
It’s definitely a daily walk. If we are just a degree off, we can’t really see it in the moment. But, before long, we will start to distance ourselves from the path we were on.
I would add, it’s how your job fits into your overall plan. It’s amazing how some people don’t make that connection.
Great post. This is really important. I just received word that a friend of mine passed away this weekend suddenly. A heart attack. My recommendation is to get a plan together, and execute it. Have fun, drive hard, and play hard. You just never know when God is going to call you home.
I think Mr. Keane sums it up well:
Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the future, but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.
Bil Keane
I love that quote too Steve and your post. Best to make your life awesome now.
🙂 (This is my first “Blog Comment Smiley Face” ever, Chris!)
I beg to differ Jeremy. In 2011 I noticed that you commented on a blog and left a smiley. I’ll find proof. 🙂
There’s the smiley police…
Foiled again! I would have gotten away with it too, if it were’t for that pesky Matt McWilliams.
Thank you for sharing Chris. To answer your question, the MOST important imho.
Hi Chris,
We have a responsibility to ourselves, our family, and to God to get a solid understanding of who we are, what excites us, and what we stand for; but the responsibility doesn’t end there, we also must lean into it. It’s what makes us unique, confident, and on purpose.
God gifted us with our features and qualities. Bringing them out in service to others is our gift back.
It is vital to know what God has for us. I don’t think we can know the ultimate destination, but God gives us (at minimum) a direction and the next step. While this can be a great comfort and help, it’s sometimes hard because some people like to see farther down the road.
God’s direction in my life helps me to have greater focus and passion doing whatever it it that He has also gifted me in (which is another thing that you need to discover, if you haven’t already).
As you mention, it’s important to look at your life as a whole. If you try to segment your life (career vs. family vs. finances, etc.), you are doing a disservice to yourself, your family, God, and everyone else to associate with.
I don’t think you can ever be truly happy if you aren’t doing what God wants you to be doing. We all have very unique, individualized personalities, and I believe that is because we all have unique and very individualized purposes and reasons for living where and when we do.
Determining what God wants us to do will be the work of our life. I feel like its kind of like following bread crumbs, you never see the whole picture, but you keep following the bread crumbs and you get closer and closer!
Great post Chris!
I’m starting to save my pennies as of now to sit down with you and do this!
Save your Mountain Dew money and you’ll be there in no time. 🙂
Touché! Sadly, I’ve cut back enough it’d still take awhile!
This is why I write! It is the only way to a meaningful life. Thanks Chris!
What an amazing blessing that stewardship of our talents is both the greatest act of service and in itself the greatest reward!
Some people tend to think that if we let God’s plan for our life happen, he’ll ask us to be missionaries in developing countries. Some of us will be led in that direction, but not everyone. A friend of mine moved to Malawi where she will be lay missionary with her husband and two young daughters for three years. They are the last people I would’ve thought would do that, and they’re loving it because it aligns with God’s plan.
I have found that He uses my gifts where I am, if I let him. His plan for my life is that I feel loved by Him and in that I will find fulfillment. I learned from a spiritual director that we are supposed to seek God’s will, not discover it. He’s not into playing a guessing game with us. He’s already shown us in many different ways what he wants us to do.
Thank you, Chris for using your gifts to help us all figure this out!
Thank you for this, Lily. “Seek” not “discover”. I hope I can understand the difference in a tangible way. It was bothering me to think that God was hiding his plan from me (my inference, not Chris’s implication).
The LifePlan is one of the most exciting things you’re doing now, and it’s something near and dear to my heart. I’ve written about finding your God-gven purpose a lot and ever since I aligned my life to what I believe God wants me doing, life has been incredible in soooo many ways. I think doing the LifePlan and living as God wants us to is the only way to live and the most powerful and enriching way to go.
People think a LifePlan is hard… I think it’s so much harder NOT to have one!
Chris! I recently made a huge career change. Recognize anyone in the photo here? Yep. I left a band “Big Daddy Weave” with a HUGE #1 song, “Redeemed” in the middle of it’s peak on the charts to do what I was created to do: Speak to groups about making W.I.S.E. decisions that will allow them to have the life they were created to live. I was miserable traveling and doing very “good” things while I knew God had created me to do what was “Great”. So, now I am doing that and it is awesome!
Jeff, you’re a great encouragement to us all. I can’t wait to see more from you!
Chris, this is so interesting! I’ve followed my natural bent into art and often questioned the decision because I earn so little money. Why am I using the world’s standard (money) to determine whether or not I’m on the path God has designed me for??
Creating a life plan almost 7 years ago changed the entire direction of my world! My life coach insisted upon it – although it was tough to do – and took more time than I wanted to spend. And I had dig deep into my own soul to discover what it was I really wanted – was created – to do. A life plan changes everything. It should be done before a business vision or business plan because it gives clarity, focus and a road map for everything else.
I believe that through life we all get a chance to do what God has called us to do. Some of us realize it sooner than others and get to enjoy it here on Earth… Some are called to have a one on one with the Boss because they didn’t find the way while staying here. Well, some are also called sooner because they’ve done an amazing job and He wants to say that sooner than later…
Something in the post and comments made me think about it in this particular way…
Always great to remember the importance of truly knowing ourselves and our God given talents and abilities.
Great to see you creating new content. A life plan seems right up your alley. I think there’s plenty of growth in this area. I use Michael Hyatt’s Life Plan and Building Champions. Right now, I’ve gone off track, but that’s because I’m changing my life!
Chris – I simply say thank YOU.
I am looking forward to doing this with you Chris! You were such an inspiration November 2009 when I met you at EntreLeadership in Cancun Mexico! and I have been an avid supporter and follower of your blog ever since. As I told Joel Fortner, I am at one of those crossroads again in my life and career and I think the timing of this will be God driven!!! Can’t wait to connect and move forward…even if there is some apprehension in doing it. Keep up the good work Chris, you are outstanding!!!