When you look at your life today, are you where you thought you'd be 5 years ago? Do you wonder how you ended up here? How did you connect all the dots to make everything happen? In today’s fast-paced world, months and even years can blow by without notice. As the saying goes, “failing to plan is planning to fail.” That’s why we’re sharing the Essential Planning Approach with you!
The Essential Planning Approach is an idea based on Greg McKeown's principles of Essentialism. If you’re not familiar with Essentialism it is the disciplined pursuit of less, but better. The Essential Planning Approach is a quarterly meeting that uses the rule of three. Every three months take three hours to discuss, plan and document these three priorities – career goals, financial goals, and life goals. It may seem silly making an appointment with yourself, but a recent psychology study shows that you are 42% more likely to hit your goals by merely writing them down. Your odds increase even greater by sharing those goals with a significant other!
As Essentialists, we want you to identify your calling and hit your highest point of contribution. We've put together a sample agenda on our resources page that you can use for your quarterly meetings. The agenda outlines how to conduct the meeting and gives you some sample ideas on what to discuss. There are not “right” or “wrong” topics, but it will work best if you follow the structure we’ve created. If you're curious as to how a "real life" meeting has gone, listen in on our latest podcast where we interview Matt who just completed his very first quarterly meeting!
Final Thoughts
Good luck and we'd love to hear about your first quarterly meeting!
“A goal without a plan is just a wish” -Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Listen to our Essential Planning Approach Podcast
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