The image below shows the Life and Career Planning Model© in its entirety as presented in the book Time To Get Real! In this blog series, we have presented one part at a time, isolated from the rest of the model, but when you see how the various sections work together, you can see how your Self and Work/Career sections can influence each other and your personal vision, and you can see how analysis of what you’ve learned can lead to the development of the plan, and when you take action on what you’ve planned, you will influence the Self and Work/Career parts of your life. They are all connected. You really cannot separate your work and career from your life outside of work. The ultimate purpose of using the Life and Career Planning Model© is to better understand your personal life and career and how they are integrated.

Lisa, a 38-year-old executive, had completed her life and career plan 18 months ago. Suddenly she was faced with an unexpected pregnancy. At about the same time, her husband, Sam, received a job offer that required a move to another city. Lisa had shared her life and career plan with Sam and he bought into it. Now the two of them were faced with decisions that might alter Lisa’s plan especially since her plan called for her staying with her company in order to achieve the next executive level. When the plan was developed, children were not in the picture. Lisa spent a good deal of time, both alone and with Sam, reviewing her life and career plan and discussing the potential Sam had as a result of his new job offer.

Several conclusions were reached. First, they were both very happy that a child was on the way. Second, Lisa did not want to give up her career and was willing to seek a transfer to another of her company’s locations near where Sam would be employed. Sam agreed that he would accept the new position and commute back and forth on weekends until their child was born. At that time they would sell their home and Lisa would transfer or seek a similar position at the new location. Lisa’s vision remained intact while Sam satisfied his own career desires. Both were now also focused on building a family, not just a career. Lisa revised her life and career plan and took it out another two years.

Seth was in the second year of his third two-year life and career plan, when his wife, Samantha, passed away. At 60 years of age, he was facing a very different lifestyle than his plan had depicted. In reviewing his financial plan, his current health status, and his family relationships he decided to redo his plan and to envision retirement within two years. Although it was much too early to think about another close relationship, he revised his plan to include consideration of such a relationship sometime in the second year of the new plan.

He discussed his plan with two key relationships, his son, Lynn, and his daughter, Jane. These key relationships were important to him, as were his four grandchildren. His son and daughter gave him some direct and very important feedback on the plan including telling him that he was still young and although they had lost their mother, they hoped he might find another warm relationship in his future. Seth revised his plan, his personal vision, including interests during retirement and set on a path to be as happy as he could be after a sad event because he knew his wife, Samantha, would want it that way.

Lisa and Seth’s examples are merely two of the myriad types of changes that could occur in anyone’s life. If you are lucky, your life road will be long and many changes or side roads will appear along the way. How you navigate that journey is a really important aspect of taking as much control as possible over your future.

When you buy the book Time To Get Real! and develop your own life and career plan, you now have a tool that provides flexibility to help you ride the waves of change. When you go through this process, it shows that you care about yourself and you care enough to invest in both the present and future you. You’re no longer in the group of individuals who sees their life happening to them. You’re now a member of the group that creates a new life for themselves through their plans and actions. You can be the person that you want to be and you will have taken a most important step toward who you will become. The model helps you to develop actions in a systematic way to achieve your life and career goals, and ultimately, help you find your happiness.

Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself -- George Bernard Shaw

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