The Life Goals Continuum
If you were to describe your life, what would you say? I hope the answer is “Wow! What a ride!”
Introduction
Remember that I asked you to indulge me for a little bit, and things would become clear? Let’s keep going.
Take a look at the graph attached to this post. If you think of our life as a graph, we will see that over time we form a line from the bottom-left corner at birth, moving to the right as the years go by. For our purposes, the bottom left corner equates to today, the beginning of achieving your dreams and living your best life.
The life goals continuum is custom-made for each of us
Notice that the vertical scale is labeled “Achievement” and the horizontal scale is labeled “Time”, with retirement being a point in time about three-quarters of the way to the right.
The angle of that line, as well as the retirement point, is variable, and both are determined by each of us and our desire to live our lives, achieve, and make a difference. The angle of assent for each person is different, depending upon what each of us wants to achieve in life. A higher angle equates to higher achievement; a lower angle equates to a simpler life.
I happen to believe that living life to the fullest means living with meaning and purpose, achieving, enjoying all the world has to offer, and helping others along the way. For those of you who know Hunter S. Thompson (Note 1), we may not want to live the way he did, but I think his point here is well taken.
In reality, the line is not linear as portrayed on the graph, but rather it curves up and down over time, just like the financial accomplishment line. In all cases, the upper right end of the line represents the end of our life. Typically, a continuum is a line that goes on to infinity. Obviously, our life ends at some point, but because we don’t know when that is, we leave our accomplishment line as open-ended.
Let me make an important point here (as you know, I like to repeat things so they sink in…). As previously mentioned, the vertical axis of this graph is labeled achievement, and the angle of the continuum is custom-made for each of us. Some people are more ambitious and want to accomplish a lot throughout their lives. Others may be more content to live a simpler life. Again, that is the beauty and differentiator of this blog, the course and my book. Each of our life plans is tailored to fit our individual needs and wants. No one else. There is no right and wrong. I know this term is often overused, but in this case, it is just true.
Bringing the life goals continuum to life
I’ve asked you to indulge me for a little bit, and now comes the point of indulgence. As you probably know, asking someone to indulge them means to be tolerant or patient, even though you cannot see the purpose or the endpoint. That’s what I’ve asked you to do, and again, it will all become clear soon.
Take a few minutes to overlay each of your goals (yes, every single one of them!) on this continuum and see how they all line up. Long-term goals are higher on the chart, and short-term goals are lower, in the order you want to accomplish them and corresponding to the date you want to achieve them. Ideally, you have prioritized your goals so they are spaced out well, giving your life order, balance, and tranquility. If we are not careful, all these things we want to do can cause us stress. Again, be realistic. Be challenged, yet orderly. You will probably need a separate, larger piece of paper to do this, or use numbers to represent each goal so you can fit them all on the continuum, as we did previously. Do you get the idea?
Remember the word “balance?” This exercise may cause you to revise one or more of your templates in the name of seeking a better balance in your life.
When you are finished, stop and admire your work of art. You have accomplished something meaningful, something few people ever even think of doing, much less actually do. On one sheet of paper, you have everything you want to do in life. The origin is at the bottom left. That’s today. In the upper right is the end. In between represents all you want to do from now until the end of your life. If you like what you see, we can proceed. If not, take some time to get it to where you like it, perhaps ponder it and sleep on it.
That’s all for this week!
The Lifetime Goals Continuum
Afterburner Success Partners
http://absuccesspartners.com/
What’s in it for me?
If you want to get ahead in life, if you want to achieve your dreams and live your best life, you must take meaningful, deliberate action that follows a proven path. Getting ahead is about learning what to do and then doing it over time.
Call to Action
Just. Do. Something. Make a decision on what you want or need to do, define the path, and get after it. Do it today.
Recommended Resources
See notes below for either of my books.
Up Next
Completing the lifetime goals template.
Notes
Please note that as an Amazon Affiliate, I may earn a small commission on the sale of any of these recommended resources.
Hunter S. Thompson, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_S._Thompson
Achieve Your Dreams: A Complete Guide to Live Your Best Life, by David Giustozzi: https://amzn.to/3IxEFgy
Everyday Cooking for Everyday People Like Us, by David Giustozzi: https://amzn.to/437OhVQ