Young People and Strategic Life Planning
September 25, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
The youngest group of participants that I have facilitated life planning with was a group of middle school students. Some might think that someone in middle school is too young to even understand what Strategic Life Planning is all about.
I was fortunate to know the principal of a middle school whose wife and daughter had planned their life in one of my workshops. From their experience he knew I had a dream of facilitating youth to validate my belief that young people could understand life planning and would benefit from the process. A group of 10 students were chosen to experience this planning.
Over a period of a few weeks, the participants were taken through the process. I still remember their faces and the dreams that each had, and still consider the group one of the most successful. It seemed the timing was perfect. I remember one young lady who when first joining the process wanted to be a rock star. Her dream was not founded on any substantial ah ha or conviction. After completing the session, she discovered she really wanted to sing and that many roads in life could lead her to that opportunity. Had she been left with her original thought, she was sure to feel a failure or disappointment about life if she had failed to become a rock star.
She may be a rock star today….but even if she isn’t, I am sure her life dream has come true and she is singing someplace.
The Realization
September 8, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
I had a great experience this week. It was almost exactly one year ago that I met this impressive young man in a Strategic Life Planning workshop. He was about to leave for college having just graduated from high school. There were about 16 people in the session all anxious to bring some understanding to where they wanted to go and do in their lives. Planning sessions are always such a great experience as participants start to discover their purpose and direction for the life.
This young man was exception at his understanding of “what” it is all about – our life and living. Everyone in the session was impressed with his insight and that it got the concept of choosing his life while others had struggled for years.
As we completed the day, I asked if he would stay in touch and let me know how his plan worked and his journey of life as it continues to unfold.
The phone rang and on the line was this young man. He wanted to share his past year’s journey and first year of college. As he shared his successes of his plan, I could hear the confidence in his voice of taking control of his destiny. I knew he was on his path and would not return to accepting a life of default. He finished his call promising to stay in touch and continuing to update his life plan as the goals and dreams almost effortlessly were completed.
As I hung up, I realized as I have realized hundreds of times with stories such as this one, I am so happy that I discovered my purpose in life and live it each day through planning my life and living my plan. I will never wonder what I was supposed to be doing while on this earth.