Over the past 18 months I have seen that there are so many things going on in my life that needed to change. I’m aware some of these things are out of my hands and no matter what I say or do, I con’t control the actions of some people. I’ll admit, it baffles me why they are doing what they are doing and their actions have made me ill, ill enough to have to be admitted to hospital. I have a number of long term chronic health conditions and they don’t react well to stress. Someone is hell bent on making my life stressful but they won’t bring me down.
IIn a weird sort of way their actions have allowed me to see where I want my life to be; what I want out of life and more importantly what I don’t want out of life. Some things really do need to be turned upon their head so to speak. After much thought I know where I want to be in 12 months, 5 years and even 10 years time. I’ve even thought even further in to the future where I want my life to be. By thinking where I want to be and how I am going to get there it has provided focus and is allowing me to hone in on the exact actions I need to take in order to get everything in life that I dream of.
Changing things in your life isn’t easy but if it was easy would we have the desire to make those changes? Our plans need to be exciting because they provide focus and aim for our lives. We need to focus on goals that cause us to stretch and grow in ways we never have before. In order to reach our goals, we must become better; we need to change and grow.
Our dreams or goals need to be inspiring, believeable and a goal that YOU can take action on in your life to achieve. If your goals inspire and stretch you, you are more likely to achieve them.
The foundation of reaching your goals begins with knowing where you actually are in life right now. you need to be honest with yourself and not just concentrate on things that will be eacy to achieve. Instead dig deeper in to your curret life and look at the negative influences and aspects and choose these to work on as well and the fun exciting things. If your action plan doesn’t stretch you, how will you grow?
Once you have decidd which aspects of your life you want to work you you will need to put in an action plan. I’ve been working on a few things personally the past 6 to 8 months and I’m starting with making my life more organised.
I know what my end goal is; to move back to Wales but there are a number of steps I need to do before I can move back. 95% of the things are need to do come down to finance. In order to move I need to get the best price I can for my house as I want to down size but also have money in the back for my future. I’ve looked where I want to move to and if I can get the right price for my current home I should be able to purchase some a decnt size house to potter around for the rest of my life and also purchase a rental property to give me a monthly income.
Sounds all straight forward, but it isn’t. My current home has a half built extention and because it’s half built it reduces the value of the house and means I could just end up with a smaller house to live in and then very little oney left over. This is not an option I am willing to go with. I need to finish the extension, well part of it. There are plans to:
- Add another 8ft on my kitchen
- A further 16ft on the lounge at the back, then put current lounge/dining room which is 28ft long back in to a 16ft dining room at the front with lounge still being 28ft at the back of the house once the extention is done.
- New sloping roof over the garage and utility
- Sloping roof over the lounge and kitchen extensions, plus the 8ft of kitchen which currently has a flat roof
- Sloping roof over porch and my office
- Bring my office wall forward 3ft to get the right pitch for the sloped roof
- Bring garage door forward 3ft (weel, new garage door!)
Rather a lot of building work as you can see. But plans have changed and I’m not going to be staying here and don’t think it will put added value on the house compared with what it will cost me to do all the work which we have planning permission for. However, the garage and utility plus the little roof over the kitchen and porch and office slopping roofs need to be finished as it’s actually been started. The foundations for the lounge and kitchen have also been dug but they are getting filled back in.
You can see from this picture the work already done, the roof is finished over the porch and office now; the roof needs finishing then the window in my office brought forward and the old front of the room knocked down.
Thiese 5 things have helped me so much over the past few months to move forward towards my dream life:
Write Your Dreams Down
It has been proven that if you want the best chance of achieveing your goals you need to write them down. By writing down your goals you have a constant reminder what you want. I have gone one step further in that I have actually printed a picture of the part of Wales I want to move to and have it hung on the wall by the stairs as a constant daily reminder of what I am working towards.
Find Somewhere Peaceful
Reflection is best done away from distraction. It gives your mind space to think. I try to take a small step each week. I’m under no illusion that this journey to moving back to Wales is going to be anything but slow; I’m seriously thinking 5 years. each week I sit down, on my own with my ‘master plan’ lay out in front of me on the bed in peace so I can actually think straight about what task I need to do next.
Evaluate And Reflect At Regular Intervals
Once you have set your life goals it is essential that you not only take steps to reach these goals but alsoevaluate and reflect upon how far you have come. It is also important to check that you are on the right path to reach your goal. Life can throw unexpected things at us at every turn in our lifes. You can’t always plan for everything that ma happen which is why it is important to review and reflect upon your plans and if neccessary make adjustments to your plans. As I said above I personally try to do this each week. My health isn’t brilliant and planning to far ahead can all go pear shapped if I’m suddenly stuck on bed rest for a few days as I’m not too well.
Look At What You Have Accomplished
Be specific. Be truthful. Be ruthlessly honest. I love crossing out mini actions of my master plan when I have achieved something. it may be somethng as simple as picking the phone up or going online and simply pricing materials. It might only take me 30 minutes on my laptop comparing prices but it’s one step closer to my dream of moving back to Wales and how satisfying does it feel when I cross something off the list!
It doesn’t matter if it’s something small or something a little larger that you have acomplshed, remeber all progress is good.
Continually Look Forward And Set Your Next Goal(s)
Stretch yourself according to what works for you.
I have split my large end life goal in to small steps; mini goals or actions. Some of these goals are dependant upon other people, finances or certain things just gong to plan. this means the end mini goal could be one or more different outcomes depending upon how the step prior to this go. This has enabled me to be able to look forward and set the next set of goals once I have achieved some of my aims.
When we evaluate and reflect upon what ha happened it will bring us face to face with who we are and what we have become. It also allows us to take time to dream and thus create a vision for what our future wil become. The journey to our dreams should not be fraught with stress and anxiety; our goals need to stretch us but not terrify the life out of us. Only when we take time out of our busy schedules can we get into the state of mind and quietness of heart we need in order to find that inner place where we see what we are and what we can become.
So what have I done to get to my dream goal of moving back to Wales with as much money possible in my pockets? I’ve basically followed the 5 points above.
I know what my end goal is and I know where I currently am; living in a building site! I’ve made a HUGE list of everything that needs to be done and exactly what actions need to be taken to complete these mini goals. I try to pick at least one mini action to do each week and I’m realistic with my time, energy and sadly finances that this goal won’t be an overnight success. This is why I’m not getting frustrated with what is or more importantly is not happening.
I know alot of this comes down to finances and when I was ill last year I lost quite a lot of work and this meant I also went in to my savings to pay for basic day to day living. The road to recovery has been a lot longer than I ever thought and my recovery has thown up new challenges. In order to make my move to Wales I need to get on top of my health as much as I can and in order to pay for everything that needs to be done I need to focus on my business as this is what will ultimately pay for my dream move to Wales.
Froom initially just wanting to move back to Wales I have also incorportated goals for my health and business plus some personal goals; experiences I want to try, places where I would like to visit and most importantly spending time with those around me. My dream goal of moving back to Wales has suddenly developed in to a life Master Plan incorporating much more than I initially invisaged.
What goal do you hav and what are you doing to achieve them? Will these 5 tips be useful in helping you progress to reach your dream life?
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