Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 235 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Your Life Plan Blueprint – Goal Strategy

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 235 of our Trek, and we are continuing on our current Trek Your Life Plan Blueprint. Yesterday we explored the four checkpoints needed after establishing goals based on the 10 key principles. It is now time to head out on a new trail which is the third phase of the WESPER framework which is strategy.

As you are creating your life plan that fulfills your life purpose, you must establish goals as part of your plan. An important concept that you must understand is that establishing goals does not complete them. Strategy is the core of your blueprint which enables you to do planning which leads to execution and review.

I am incorporating all of these concepts along with worksheets into an easy to use workbook, and I will let you know when it is complete. If you have any questions, or would like additional information as we go through our daily trek, leave a comment on Wisdom-Trek.com or email me at guthrie@venturecg.com. If you miss any of our Wisdom-Trek episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal.

We are recording our podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Temperatures remain quite cold, and we are having some light snow today. It is not predicted that we get any significant amount, but it is really pretty. I am thankful that I can work indoors and enjoy the view from our 2^nd-floor office with its large windows.

I am making slow but steady process on the woodwork in the library. Since our work schedule is quite heavy during the day, I am using my hour exercise time first thing in the morning to work on it. There is a lot of movement while I work, so I am still able to get in a workout while completing the work.

Let’s head on the trail for day sixteen of our Wisdom-Trek Life Plan process which we refer to as…

  Your Life Plan Blueprint^©

I mentioned earlier that our next step in the WESPER framework is creating a strategy for your goals. It is the catalyst for planning, executing, and reviewing those goals. Let me ask this question…

1. What is strategy?

Strategy refers to a game plan that enables effective pursuit of a specific goal or result. It is a set of underlying principles which determines your action plan toward achieving your end goal or objective. WESPER itself is the framework or underlying strategy for successful goal achievement. The “S” in WESPER refers to the specific strategies that pertain to your goals.

Strategy is a core part of Your Life Plan Blueprint for a rich and satisfying life. Think of strategy as the compass, trail map, or your GPS that shows you the best trail to lead you to your goal or plateau.

In war, generals gather together to devise strategies to secure an ensuing victory. In the world of business, companies invest millions in research to develop strategies to win in the marketplace. In stock markets, the most successful traders spend years studying market trends of the past, identifying strategies and applying them.  If you were to trek up Mt. Everest, you would need a detailed strategy to ensure success. It is really not much different when it comes to any of your goal achievement.

Strategy is the one step that most people completely miss in the process of life planning and goal achievement, which then leads to their failure. Remember that for every goal, there is always a certain strategy or blueprint underlying it that guarantees its success. If you are able to identify and create the proper strategy, your chance of successfully completing the goal is guaranteed.

2. Strategy is underutilized.

The ability to precisely follow instructions is viewed as the epitome of a good student/citizen/employee. Most school and work environments teach people to do, not think. Most school systems and work environments have only one method of teaching. We receive good grades or marks, if we apply those methods to our learning. Other methods, even if it leads to the same or better output, are discouraged. Styles of thinking or behavior that do not conform to the norm are viewed as defiant or insubordinate. As a result, many people are great in execution but weak in strategizing.

I have worked with many people who are unaware of the importance of strategy and try to follow a structured set of goal planning tools. Instead of studying their goals first and developing a strategy, they establish goals and then jump right into the execution of their goals. Without the proper strategy and plan, a cycle of self-sabotage, lack of self-worth, lack of confidence, and negativity immediately follows. In the process, people waste their energy, get burnt out, and put themselves in a worse situation than before.

3. Develop your strategy.

The most solid strategy that you can develop is to look holistically at Your Life Plan Blueprint within the WESPER framework. To create the best strategy, you first need to determine and have a solid understanding of what your purpose in life is. This purpose does not have to be grand or world changing, but it should positively impact your world. Your purpose will then drive the overall 7-year objectives within the 7 areas of your life. Your Life Plan Blueprint is unique to you alone. No one else in the entire world has your blueprint, which is why you must develop your strategy.

As King David wrote in Psalms 139:14, “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.”

Once you establish your 7-year objectives, start creating your strategy for yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily activity goals. Think about how you can break down each objective into smaller and smaller goals. How does each step tie into Your Life Plan Blueprint?

All activity goals should support the next higher level. For instance, your daily tasks must support your weekly goal, which must support your monthly goal, which must support your yearly goal which must support your 7-year objective, which becomes your life plan.

Conversely, each 7-Year objective needs to be broken down to the smallest daily task. Work top down breaking your objectives into ever-smaller pieces until they become daily bite size nuggets. No matter how huge your objective is, there will be an underlying set of nuggets which will allow you to conquer it. This will create a successful strategy that is unique to you.

On our trek today, we looked at an overview of the strategy phase within our WESPER framework.  Over the next two days on our trail, we will dig deeper and explore the 10 guidelines to develop your strategy. We are hiking the trail with perseverance as we lay the foundation and build Your Life Plan Blueprint. This framework integrates into our concept of Wisdom-Trek as we look at life as a trek, taking one step at a time. So, encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

That will finish our podcast for today. As you enjoy your daily dose of wisdom, I encourage you to help us promote Wisdom-Trek in the following four ways:

1. Leave us feedback about the podcast on Wisdom-Trek.com so we can continually improve.
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4. Please share Wisdom-Trek with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter or in person so they can come along with us each day.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!