Living Forward

Picture this: you're hiking on a beautiful trail in the Colorado Rockies, completely absorbed in the stunning scenery around you. The wildflowers are blooming, the air is crisp, and you feel utterly content. But then you realize something troubling – you can no longer hear the familiar sound of the stream you've been following. The forest looks different, darker somehow. You've taken a wrong turn without even realizing it, and now you're lost.

This scenario happens far too often in our daily lives. We get caught up in the busyness of work, family obligations, and endless to-do lists, only to look up one day and realize we're nowhere near where we intended to be. Maybe your health has deteriorated from years of stress and poor habits. Perhaps your marriage has grown distant despite your love for your spouse. Or you might find yourself successful professionally but feeling empty and unfulfilled. The drift is real, and it's affecting millions of people who never consciously chose their current destination. The good news is that just like having GPS on your phone can guide you back to the right trail, you can create a clear, written plan for your life that serves as your personal navigation system toward the future you truly desire.

The drift is perhaps the most insidious force working against your dreams and aspirations. It's the gradual, often imperceptible movement away from what matters most, caused by being unaware, distracted, overwhelmed, or deceived about what's really happening in your life. Understanding how drift works is the first step toward breaking free from its pull.

Daniel learned this lesson during a dangerous surfing experience on the Oregon coast. While out in challenging waves with some friends, he noticed Austin, a newcomer to surfing, being swept past a cape into the open sea by a powerful riptide. Austin was strong but lacked the water knowledge to escape the current that kept pulling him further from safety. When Daniel reached him, his advice seemed counterintuitive – instead of paddling directly toward shore, they needed to paddle parallel to it until they escaped the rip, then make their way back to beach. It took thirty exhausting minutes, but they made it back safely.

The consequences of drifting through life can be just as serious as being caught in a riptide. You might experience confusion when challenges seem pointless because there's no larger story to provide meaning. Financial and time resources get wasted as you zigzag through life without clear direction. Opportunities pass you by because you can't distinguish them from distractions. Most tragically, you might reach the end of your life with deep regrets, thinking "if only I had spent more time with my family," or "if only I had been brave enough to start my own business."

The solution is to become intentionally proactive about your life's direction. This means acknowledging where you currently are, deciding where you want to go, and creating specific action steps to bridge that gap. Instead of being a passive victim of circumstances, you can take responsibility for your choices and begin filling each day with decisions that move you toward your desired destination. The power to change your story lies in your hands, and it starts with refusing to accept drift as inevitable.

Creating a meaningful life plan begins with an exercise that might initially seem morbid but is actually profoundly liberating – writing your own eulogy. This powerful process forces you to confront the reality that your days are numbered and challenges you to consider how you want to be remembered when you're gone.

Mike was physically fit, incredibly funny, and sharp as a tack. Even cancer couldn't rob him of his sense of humor. But as Daniel sat with his friend in the hospital room, connected to a web of wires and tubes, Mike grabbed his hand and said something that would stay with Daniel forever: "This is my worst nightmare. I am not ready." The disease had spread to Mike's brain, and despite his strength and humor, he was scared. Later, as Daniel reflected on their last conversation during a spectacular sunset flight over the California coastline, he realized that what happens between life's sunrise and sunset – the space between beginning and end – is entirely up to us.

The truth is that everyone leaves a legacy, whether intentional or accidental. Your legacy comprises the spiritual, intellectual, relational, vocational, and social capital you pass on – the beliefs you embrace, the values you live by, the love you express, and the service you render to others. It's the you-shaped stamp you leave when you go. The question isn't whether you'll leave a legacy, but what kind of legacy it will be.

To design your legacy intentionally, start by identifying the key relationships in your life – your spouse, children, parents, friends, colleagues, and community members. For each group, write legacy statements describing how you want to be remembered. Instead of saying "I want my children to remember the times we spent together," be specific: "I want my children to remember times we laughed, times we cried, times we discussed things that were important to both of us, and times we just held one another and watched the sunset." This specificity engages both your mind and heart, creating the emotional pull necessary to motivate real change.

Writing your eulogy isn't about dwelling on death – it's about fully awakening to life. When you clarify how you want to be remembered, you begin making choices today that will create those memories tomorrow. You can't control how long you have, but you can absolutely influence what people will say about the time you were given.

Once you've clarified your legacy and identified your life priorities, it's time to create detailed action plans that will move you from where you are to where you want to be. This isn't about crafting elaborate business plans or complex project management systems – it's about creating simple, clear roadmaps for each major area of your life.

Michael discovered the power of having clear direction during one of the most challenging periods of his career as CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers. The Great Recession had hit the book industry hard, sales were down nearly 20 percent, and the company had already gone through two rounds of layoffs. The pressure was enormous, and every day brought new crises. When his boss called demanding a meeting during Michael's much-needed vacation in Colorado, Michael faced a difficult choice. His life plan gave him the clarity he needed. He responded, "I'm sorry, but I just landed in Dallas. Gail and I are headed to the mountains for a much-needed week of vacation. We need to try and find an alternative time for your visit." His boss wasn't happy, but Michael knew what he needed to do. His life plan provided the framework for making the right decision.

Your action plan for each life account should include five key sections. First, write a purpose statement that defines your role and responsibility in that area. Second, create an envisioned future written in present tense, as if you're already living it – this engages your subconscious mind to work toward making it reality. Third, include an inspiring quote or verse that resonates with your purpose. Fourth, honestly assess your current reality without pulling any punches. Finally, make specific commitments that are SMART – specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and time-bound.

Remember that small, daily investments compound into significant results over time. Like ants building an entire city by moving one grain of sand at a time, your incremental daily decisions and course corrections become the story of your life. Don't underestimate the power of consistent, small actions aligned with your larger vision.

Having a beautiful life plan document means nothing if you don't implement it. The biggest obstacle most people face isn't creating the plan – it's finding the time and energy to live it out. If you feel like Lucy and Ethel at the chocolate factory conveyor belt, frantically trying to keep up with life's demands, you need to create margin in your schedule for what matters most.

Creating margin requires mastering three essential skills. First, you must triage your calendar like a battlefield medic, protecting the basics that align with your life account priorities, eliminating nonessentials, and rescheduling what's important but not urgent. Second, schedule your priorities before other people schedule theirs for you. This means creating an "Ideal Week" template that blocks time for your most important activities and using an annual time-blocking system to claim important dates before your calendar gets hijacked by others' agendas.

The third crucial skill is learning to say no with grace using William Ury's "Yes-No-Yes" formula. Start by affirming the person making the request and protecting what's important to you. Then give a clear, matter-of-fact no that sets boundaries without leaving the door open with maybes. Finally, end with another yes that affirms the relationship and offers alternative solutions when possible. This approach helps you avoid sacrificing either important relationships or your own priorities.

Daniel faced this challenge during the Great Recession when his coaching business was struggling. Instead of frantically working harder, he made the counterintuitive decision to take a sabbatical with his family in Mexico. This time away, guided by his life plan's priorities, gave him the space to create the Building Champions Experience – a new product that not only saved his company but positioned it as a leader in the executive coaching industry. Sometimes stepping back to gain perspective is the most productive thing you can do.

Remember that your time is a zero-sum game. When you say yes to one thing, you're simultaneously saying no to something else. The more successful you become, the more you'll find yourself saying no to good things in order to say yes to the most important things. Your life plan gives you the criteria for making these crucial decisions.

A life plan sitting on a shelf gathering dust is worthless. The only way your plan will actually transform your life is if you create a systematic process for regular review, adjustment, and recommitment. This ongoing practice is what separates those who merely create plans from those who actually live them.

Start by reading your life plan daily for the first ninety days, speaking it aloud to lock each aspect into your heart and mind. After this foundation period, establish a weekly review process – your opportunity to get above the daily blizzard of activities and see how you're progressing against what matters most. This fifteen to thirty-minute weekly appointment with yourself should include reviewing your life plan word for word, processing loose papers and notes, reviewing your previous week's calendar for missed follow-ups, and examining your upcoming schedule for needed preparation.

Quarterly reviews provide the thousand-foot view, allowing you to make incremental adjustments rather than losing an entire year before realizing you're off course. During these longer sessions, revise your current realities and draft new specific commitments, then translate these into five to seven specific goals for the upcoming quarter. Schedule these far in advance – about two years out – because if you wait for a break in your schedule, it will never happen.

The annual review is your opportunity to take a deep dive into your entire plan. This is when you question previous assumptions, evaluate what you've accomplished, and determine where you want to go in the next year. Consider whether you need to add or delete life accounts, whether your priorities have shifted, and how your envisioned futures might need updating based on your current life circumstances.

One of the most valuable weeks of Daniel's year is the week between Christmas and New Year's, which he spends at a little cabin on the Oregon coast. With storms raging outside, he lights a fire, makes tea, and dedicates a full day to reviewing his life plan and making changes for the year ahead. This consistent practice of reflection and revision has helped him navigate major life transitions and maintain focus on what matters most. Your life plan is a living document, and regular review is what keeps it alive and relevant to your ever-changing circumstances.

The most profound truth about life is that you have far more control over your destiny than you might realize. As the wise old man in the Himalayan story said about the bird in the boy's hands, "The bird is as you choose it to be." Your life, too, is as you choose it to be. You can continue to drift and take your chances, likely ending up far from where you hoped with regrets about decisions or inactions that shaped your journey. Or you can take responsibility for this gift called life and begin living with intention and purpose.

The choice between drifting and living forward is yours to make, but it requires definitive action to see positive results. As J.P. Morgan wisely observed, "The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you're not going to stay where you are." Every day presents thousands of opportunities to change the story of your life through proactive, intentional, and beneficial decisions.

Your next step is clear and immediate: block out a full day within the next two weeks to create your written life plan. Don't wait for the perfect moment or until your schedule clears – that day will never come. Treat this commitment like the treasure it is, because that's exactly what you'll discover when you take control of your life's direction. The transformation begins the moment you decide to stop drifting and start living forward.