-1.png)
We all have hopes, dreams, and aspirations in life. But how many of us actually achieve our goals? Often, we spend a lot of time thinking or talking about what we want, but we don’t take steps to achieve it. It’s not because we’re lazy. It’s because we don’t know where to start, and we don't have a plan.
Life planning, however, can serve as a roadmap or guide to making those dreams a reality. And, depending on how detailed you go, a good template can help you accomplish everything from goal setting to taking actionable steps toward reaching those milestones.
Below are a few situations where life planning can help you:
- When your life feels out of control
- When you're struggling to make decisions
- When you're feeling lost and lacking direction
- When you're going through a life change or entering a new phase
In this article, we'll go through a step-by-step guide and customizable life planning template that will help you get started with your life planning journey.
What is life planning?
A life plan is both a guide and a reminder of what you want to achieve in your life. It helps you follow your dreams, align your actions with your goals, and meet your personal and professional objectives. There’s no reason why you can’t achieve your goals as long as they’re realistic. Often, what holds us back is the fear of failure.
But with that said, what exactly is it? Well, it doesn’t have to be incredibly detailed. Instead, it should serve as a general guide and be flexible. However, as an individual, if you either want or need something more detailed, that is entirely up to you. If you want something that includes weekly suggestions and specifically defined goals, include them.
Whatever provides you the motivation to succeed and accomplish the life you want, do it. Whether your life plan is a digital version such as a Google Sheet or PowerPoint, something you print and fill out (see below), or even a bullet journal, the important thing is to pick what works for you.
One important thing to mention, however, is that, as you know, life is unpredictable. Your life plan should leave room for unforeseen possibilities, changes, and crises. Just like changing your life goals is allowed, so is editing your life plan.
Know your vision statement
Before diving into your plan and template, it can be helpful to create a personal vision statement. A personal vision statement is a concise, powerful declaration or statement that captures both who you aspire to be and the lasting impact you want to create in your lifetime. In short, it's your dream life. Unlike a life plan, it doesn't have to be measurable; you don't have to have action steps attached or a roadmap for how you will accomplish it, either short or long-term.
Instead, it serves as your personal North Star, combining your values, unique strengths, and deepest aspirations into a clear statement that guides your decisions and actions across all areas of life, from career and relationships to personal growth and community. Once you have a vision statement, you can get down to the nitty-gritty of smart goals, calendars, action steps, and your personal template.
5 benefits of having a life plan
A case study at UCLA by psychologist Emily van Sonnenberg asked students to keep an intention journal. Each morning, they wrote down their intentions for the day. Sonnenberg found that students who wrote down their goals achieved them 92% more often than those who didn’t.
This result proves the power of planning and looking into the future. Let’s take a more detailed look at the benefits of life planning and how it helps you achieve your goals.
1. A life plan helps you make your dreams a reality
A life plan gives you the confidence to take action and overcome your fears. Your vision will become clearer and more attainable when you break it down into actionable steps that move you steadily toward your goals.
2. A life plan helps you prioritize
Making a life plan helps you identify your priorities and focus on yourself. This way, you only focus on things that move you in the direction of your dreams—whether weekly, monthly, yearly, or by decade. For instance, weekly planning sessions could become powerful tools for staying on track and adjusting your course, ensuring each small step aligns with your bigger goals.
3. A life plan helps you make better decisions
Knowing your goals and values can guide your decision-making process. This helps you make decisions that are in line with them. By setting measurable milestones (and SMART goals) along your journey, you can track your progress and ensure you're moving in the right direction rather than just hoping for the best.
4. A life plan keeps you motivated
Writing down your goals is essential for staying focused on them. Place your life plan template somewhere you can see it and read it every day to stay motivated.
5. A life plan makes you feel empowered
A life plan gives you a sense of control over your destiny. It reminds you that the ability to achieve your dreams is in your hands. By aligning your actions with your core values, you create a meaningful path that feels authentic and purposeful.
How to make a life plan: a step-by-step guide
Making a life plan doesn't need to be complicated. You don't need to know every detail of your future right now. However, setting up a basic planning template can help you start organizing your thoughts and mapping out your path forward.
1. Create a vision (aka your vision statement)
To get started, imagine your dream life. If you aren't sure what that looks like, think about what you value most. How would you like to feel in your ideal future? Be as specific in the details as possible. This is where your vision statement, which we discussed above, comes into play—it serves as a daily visual reminder of what you're working toward and keeps you motivated even during challenging times.
Picture yourself already there and write out your vision. Use the following questions to inspire you:
- What do you see, smell, or hear?
- What does the light look like?
- Who are you with?
- How do you spend your days?
- How much money do you make?
- What have you accomplished?
- Where do you live?
- What are your emotions and feelings?
- What do you do for a living?
- How much money do you earn?
- What is your daily routine?
Once you have written your vision, think about what you need to do to achieve it. Make a list of steps, such as gaining a new certification or reaching a certain income level. Try to be realistic, but at the same time, don’t hold yourself back from dreaming big. You can also take what you've written and create a vision board.
2. Perform a self-assessment
A self-assessment of your achievements so far in life gives you a starting point for your life plan. Take stock of your successes and failures. Look for the lessons learned and experiences you don't want to repeat. Identify your strengths and weaknesses.
By performing a thorough self-assessment or a personal SWOT analysis, you can create a realistic action plan that builds on your proven strengths, addresses your areas for growth, and utilizes past experiences to make better-informed decisions about your future steps and timeline.
When doing your self-assessment, look at different areas of your life, including:
- Relationship with parents and siblings
- Relationship with friends
- Relationship with partner
- Job & career
- Service
- Education and growth
- Mental and emotional health
- Physical health
- Spiritual health
- Hobbies and free time
- Environment
- Retirement, savings, and finances
Grade each area on a satisfaction level of one to 10. Remember it's about how you FEEL about how you are doing in these areas and not how you rate comparing to others. This will help you identify your strengths as well as your areas for improvement.
3. Prioritize your life
Now that you have your vision and areas for growth, it’s time to prioritize. At this stage, you don’t need to set detailed goals or deadlines. The aim of this step is to decide what should be first.
Whether that is in your career, personal or family life. Prioritize based on the grade we gave to each area. If the score is less than 7, it's perhaps a priority for the mid or short-term.
4. Identify your values
Analyzing your past can help you identify your values. Identify what you value in life that brings you joy or meaning. Rather than what you value in general.
One way to identify values is to remember moments when you were angry. The purpose of anger as an emotion is to help us propel the things we care about. Anger arises when something we value or care about is broken, or someone is trying to break it.
5. Establish HARD and SMART goals
Whenever you're goal setting, HARD and SMART goals are key to ensuring that you take the action steps needed to stay focused and achieve those goals.
Once you’ve identified your vision and have taken stock of your priorities and core values, the next step is to set effective goals. Aim to set both medium and long-term goals that are both realistic and achievable.
Identify different goals for the areas of your life you evaluated in your self-assessment. Make sure they align with your priorities and values in both the long term and the immediate future.
Use the SMART method to set effective goals.
SMART stands for:
- Specific: Each goal should be specific. For example, rather than “save money,” your goal should be to save a hundred dollars a month.
- Measurable: Establish how you will measure your goals.
- Attainable: Make sure your goals are realistic and achievable.
- Relevant: The goal should be relevant to your long-term vision and compatible with your priorities and values.
- Time-bound: Set an ambitious but achievable deadline for the completion of your goal.
HARD stands for:
- Heartfelt: Goals should connect emotionally to your values and passions for greater motivation.
- Animated: Vividly imagine success to make goals feel tangible and inspiring.
- Required: Focus on essential priorities to stay committed and overcome challenges.
- Difficult: Set challenging goals to foster growth, resilience, and a sense of accomplishment.
6. Outline an action plan
Your action plan should detail a step-by-step process that will help you work toward your intermediate goals.
Identify the daily actions that will add up over time and help you build momentum. Schedule them in your calendar and commit to taking action every day. Place your action plan somewhere you will see it — for example, above your desk. Don’t forget to celebrate every milestone and reward yourself for your achievements.
7. Adjust as necessary
Remember, your life plan is a tool that guides you toward your goals. However, we all experience setbacks at some point, and that’s okay. If you miss a goal or take longer than planned to reach it, don’t give up. Revise your life plan and make adjustments as needed.
The right questions to ask when making a life plan
As you write your life plan, ask yourself the following questions, and keep your answers in mind:
1. What results do you want to achieve?
As you create the vision of your dream life, try to be as specific as possible. Think about the results that accompany your desired outcome.
For example, let’s say your goal is to become a director in your company. Ask yourself why you want to achieve this goal and what difference it would make in your life.
Some of the possible results may include:
- Greater financial stability for your family
- Having greater influence and impact in your sector or field
- Fulfilling a lifelong dream
- Building more confident
- Being able to pay for things or experiences that you otherwise couldn’t
2. What actions will achieve those results?
Once you know the results, work backward to define the steps that will help you make continuous progress toward that objective. Make sure you identify any actions that might require support. Make a list of trusted friends and loved ones and ask them to help you. Your planning template will help, but ultimately, having support is what will help you focus long-term.
3. How will you stay motivated?
Writing a life plan can be fun and exciting. It can also increase your motivation levels. But one day soon, something may happen that deflates your motivation.
Maybe you’ll come up against an unforeseen challenge. Perhaps you’ll fall out with your best friend. Or maybe you’ll just have a day that feels off. Whatever it is, you’ll lose your motivation. You’ll want to throw in the towel.
This is why you must prepare to ask yourself, "How do I intend to keep moving in the right direction when things get tough?" Having SMART goals will help. Then, when working toward a big goal, break it down into smaller goals. Celebrate and reward yourself for those achievements. Ask your trusted friends and loved ones to help you stay motivated when the going gets rough.
4. How will you measure progress?
Setting milestone goals is a good way to measure your progress. Going back to our previous example, becoming a company director is not something that’s likely to happen overnight. The best way to measure progress would be to break it down into smaller goals.
These goals might include developing new skills that are required for the role of director. For example, an intermediate goal could be to complete a training or certification.
Another progress goal for an aspiring director could be to steadily climb the ranks. If you start as a project manager, your next goal could be to become a senior project manager.
Set yourself deadlines to meet each progress goal. This will help make sure you implement your life plan within the specified time frame.
Some people want to plan every aspect of their lives. You might decide to plan in some areas, but not in others. It’s your life plan, so it’s up to you what to include. To inspire you, here are five of the most common areas to include in your life plan and template:
1. Health and well-being
Health is true wealth. Without it, nothing else matters. Whether you’re healthy, unhealthy, or somewhere in between, health and well-being should be on your life plan.
Even if you’re fit and healthy now, it’s always wise to plan ahead — your future self will thank you for it. Whether it's simply including it in your template or adding it directly to your weekly calendar now, taking that tiny action step will help you focus in the future.
Ways to include it in your life plan:
- Set a healthy eating goal, such as intuitive eating
- Aim to drink at least two liters of water per day
- Identify a healthy weight
- Take 10,000 steps per day
- Sign up for a fitness class
- Hire a personal trainer, nutritionist, or health coach
2. Relationships
Whether you’re single or in a committed partnership, there are always ways to improve your relationships.
All relationships start with the relationship you have with yourself. If you’re bitter or self-loathing, those qualities can influence your relationships. Beyond that, there are ways to learn to be a better partner, friend, parent, or relative.
Perhaps you want to be a better listener. Maybe you want to be more patient with your kids. Or maybe you yearn for a deeper connection with your partner.
Ways to include it in your life plan:
- If you’re in a relationship, schedule quality time with your partner to avoid getting stuck in a rut.
- Plan trust-building and intimacy activities that strengthen your bond with your partner.
- If you’re single, set aside time each week to work on the qualities that you think would make you a better partner in the future.
- If you’re looking for love, set yourself targets. For example, you might want to go on dates with two new people per month to improve your chances of meeting someone.
3. Career
Whether you're happy with your current job and career, it probably won't stay static for the rest of your life. And if you're someone who is creating SMART goals and life planning templates, you're probably someone who is looking to grow and mature.
If you’re unhappy with your current job, you need a plan to change it. But even if you’re happy with where you are now, you still need to plan for your future growth and development.
And if you’re an entrepreneur, you already know planning is a prerequisite for meeting both business and life goals.
Ways to include it in your life plan
- If you want to change your current job or make a career change, set a goal to send out a certain number of job applications per week.
- If you’re happy with your current job, imagine where you would like to be in five years or 10 years from now. Then, define the steps and time frame required to achieve those results.
- As a business owner, set annual objectives for your business. Consider working with a business coach to help you achieve them.
4. Finances
Financial planning is closely linked to your career aspirations. Set realistic financial goals according to the profession you choose.
When setting financial goals, think about your priorities and values. For example, if spending time with your family is important to you, you might decide to prioritize more free time over more money. Or looking for a company that prioritizes employee wellness.
If that’s the case, financial goals should be aligned with our values and with other priorities we choose to have.
Ways to include it in your life plan:
- Set yourself a monthly budget and stick to it
- Become familiar with the earning potential in your industry
- Set long and short-term goals
- Consider working with a financial advisor
5. Community
One of the secrets to a long and healthy life is to be part of a community. According to research, loneliness is as bad for your health as smoking. Yet only 53% of Americans have meaningful in-person interactions on a daily basis.
Ways to include it in your life plan:
- Schedule regular get-togethers with friends and family
- Volunteer in your community, such as at a care home
- Participate in religious or spiritual groups
How to create an accountability plan
Creating your life plan is the easy part. The hard work starts when you have to implement it. Sooner or later, you’ll face obstacles that will test your commitment.
It might be a professional setback, such as not getting the job you want. Or it may be a personal challenge, such as a breakup or health issue, that slows your progress toward your goals. An accountability plan can help you stay on track. Here’s how to create one in three steps:
1. Find an accountability partner
Share your life plan and milestone goals with a trusted friend, family member, or mentor. Ask them to help you stay motivated as you work toward your goals. They can do this by being your accountability partner.
An accountability partner is someone who helps you stay motivated and overcome challenges when they arise. If you don’t have a friend or family member who can help, you might want to consider working with a coach.
2. Measure your progress
Agree on regular check-ins with your accountability partner. These could be weekly, monthly, or quarterly, depending on your objectives. On the agreed date, give them an update in writing or in person.
Check on your SMART goals and measure your progress. Have your accountability partner celebrate any wins with you.
3. Revise as necessary
A life plan is a guide that helps move you toward your goals. It should be flexible enough to adapt when something isn’t working. If you struggle to meet your goals, work with your accountability partner to adjust your life plan and set more realistic goals.
A life plan template to help you get started
A life plan is a personal document. Each one is unique since we all have different priorities, goals, and values. You can customize the below life planning template to suit your needs. Alternatively, use your creativity to create your own.
.jpg?width=618&name=MyLifePlan%20(1).jpg)
Life planning helps you keep going
Staying motivated through life’s challenges is not easy, but it is possible. Small daily actions add up to significant changes over time. Life planning can help you keep putting one foot in front of the other until you achieve your goals.
Working with a coach is a proven way to achieve and even exceed your goals. Discover how BetterUp’s expert Coaches can help you reach them even faster.
