What’s the meaning of life? is so rhetorical sometimes, so open to interpretation. It’s a question we ponder—a question that rarely has a concrete answer or solution attached. But what if you change that question to What’s the meaning of my life?
Allison Rimm can help answer that question, and she can do it in eight strategic steps designed to guide readers to realize their life potential and to help them achieve their ultimate goals.
“It is my mission to help others transform their skills and aspirations into a fulfilling life,” she says. “A life where our work is well done, our cherished ones well-loved and our potential realized. That’s what we’re all after, and it doesn’t just happen.”
The Joy of Strategy (bibliomotion books + media, September 2013) is a business plan for life. It takes more than pondering the idea of what your life could be; it takes strategy to get to where your life should be.
“Because we’re not after just any success,” Rimm says. “We want soul-satisfying success.”
So, first thing’s first. Get organized—get strategic. These are Rimm’s steps for a life plan that balances all of the important things, like a career; relationships; and mind, body and spirit:
1. Mission: Find your purpose
“Your personal mission is nothing short of your purpose here on earth, and you’ll start your personal plan by spelling it out,” she says. She acknowledges that it sounds lofty, but she says the questions What do I love to do? and What am I good at? are a start to finding your mission.
2. Vision: Imagine the sweet smell (sound, look and feel) of success
“You can’t figure out what stands between where you are and where you want to be and how you’ll travel the distance until you can clearly see your destination.”
3. Name your critical success factors: What you need to succeed
“By writing it all down, you are taking a tangible step toward making your vision a reality.”
4. Find your sweet S.W.O.T. (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats)
“This is the point in the strategic planning process where we finish looking at who we are and prepare to think about what we do.”
5. Set goals: What you need to do to get the results you desire
“Your goals and priorities represent what you want to do in the short-, medium- and long-term. When you complete this step, you will have a well-balanced view of what you want to achieve and how you would like to be spending your time.”
6. Perform a time and emotion study
“A strategic plan for your life requires being mindful about what you want to achieve in your heart of hearts and deliberately using your limited resources (time, money, energy and attention) to get the results you want.”
7. Select successful strategies
“When there’s not enough time to do everything, it’s important to put your efforts toward those activities that are most efficient, effective and enjoyable.”
8. Get going! Your simplementation plan
“You will take one small step at a time until you build up some momentum and become an unstoppable force moving toward your vision.”
Rimm wants everyone to be able to look back on life and feel joy and total satisfaction. She says you don’t have to, and shouldn’t, leave your dreams to chance.
“The beauty of this process is that it meets you where you are and takes you where you want to go.”
