Create your own life road map
/When you go on a road trip, whether you use a paper map or a GPS, there are two key pieces of information you need - where you are and where you want to go.
Without those two points, you won't know which way to head, what roads to turn into, or how you're progressing.
And it's the same in life.
Don't leave your life to chance!
It's only when you're clear about where you are and where you want to go, whether it's what you want today, next month, the year, or 5-years+ to look like, that you'll feel more confident about the decisions you make and the action you take.
But so often when I talk with clients, they're not entirely sure about either of those points. While they'll have some ideas, they've never pulled them together, fleshed them out, or gone deep into them.
And the same might be true for you.
About now you might be saying "But Tracey, I really don't know where I'm at or where I want to go". Or maybe you're thinking you don't have time to stop and think about that now, you just need to keep going. #RealTalk neither of those are actually true.
In my experience, it's more likely to be because you've not done this work before. And that's not a criticism or judgement. I say it because this work isn't something we're usually taught.
Most of us have learnt that we just need to settle for whatever shows up in life. That putting our heads down and working hard is key. And that maybe, just maybe, somewhere in the future everything will work out okay.
But that's no way to live your life!
And you don't have to either.
Navigating challenges and making the most of the opportunities available to you so you live well, is possible – but you need to know where you are and where you want to head in order to do that well.
It's possible to live your life well
You might be familiar with my backstory, or maybe it's new to you, either way, I'll just briefly share a few things I've experienced and what made a positive difference for me.
In the space of just 4 years, my executive management role was disestablished and I was made redundant, I was diagnosed with cancer (lymphoma) and went through treatment (I'm 100% fine now!), and then my long-term relationship ended. Those are 3 of the big events considered to be the MOST disruptive in life. And yes, they sure are!
In each situation, I took the same approach ... I answered these questions:
1. Where am I now? What's going on?
2. Where do I want to be? How do I want life to be?
What I discovered helped me navigate the challenges and make the most of the opportunities that came along. It put me in an empowered position because I was consciously deciding what to do and being intentional about the action I took.
And you can do this too. In fact, you could do it right now.
Live well life tool: develop your own road map
Use the questions above to review your life in general or a specific aspect of it. Grab your journal or a notebook and write down what comes to mind as you work through them, and use what you discover to decide what you'll do next.
If you'd like to learn more and be supported to use this approach, join me in Life By Design. It's something we talk about and use a lot.
Whether you're somewhat happy with your life or want to change a lot of things, developing a road map for your life will be helpful.