Personal Growth

My Life 86 | A Bucket List

We’ve all experienced events and circumstances that shape and guide how we approach our life going forward.

This has certainly been true for me. Throughout my life and career I’ve enjoyed many incredible experiences.

In 2002, I made the most significant financial investment of my life. At that time I began thinking about two things – What do I want my life to mean? and What do I want to experience in life? To be clear, these are two very different questions for me.

BONUS: We’ve created a NEW Guide that will walk you step-by-step through defining what’s most important in your life and work. Today, you can get a copy of this transformational tool at the end of this article.

Plan Your Best Week Ever – Free Template

We all have a choice.

To tell you the truth, you’ve already made the choice. You are either living and growing on purpose – proactively according to a written plan. Or you are living reactively – subject to the needs and demands of your environment and those around you. It’s one or the other – accidental or intentional.

This post is part of the series – Get Your Life Back!
Take Control of Your Schedule
4 Tips for Managing Your Calendar More Effectively
Plan Your Year with Your Annual Plan
Create Your Best Week
You Can Keep Up With Your Email
The Secret for Managing Email More Efficiently

I have done both. And I can tell you from experience that it’s far more fulfilling to live with purpose – knowing what is most important and intentionally working toward it every day.

I’ve written previous posts about how developing my personal life plan, business vision, and business plan brought about dramatic improvements in my life and work.

Although I had very specific plans in place, I realized I also needed a tool to be more effective with my top priorities and decision-making.

One-on-One Meeting Template and Guide

Early in my career, my boss recommended that I meet regularly with each of my direct reports. In other words, I should do a one-on-one meeting with my team. He knew it would both improve their productivity and improve my relationship and influence with my team members.

I thought it was a great idea! And since I wanted the time to be as productive as possible, I spent weeks trying to figure out how to structure the meetings and when to schedule them.

Looking back – I wasted a lot of valuable time trying to set up and agenda for the “perfect” meeting. Which was a futile effort from the outset – because I was going to be part of the meeting – and I’m far from perfect!

So I did the one thing that I knew would get me going. I asked my assistant to put the One-on-One Meeting on my calendar. She scheduled them so I would have two weeks to get ready for my first meeting. So, here’s what I did…

5 Signs You Have a Frenemy

I had never realized it before – everyone has one or two.

A frenemy is someone who pretends to be a close friend but is actually a rival. Your frenemy is usually friend of friend or coworker that you get along with and enjoy. But they will cut you down at any opportunity with mostly backhanded compliments or and passive-aggressive jabs. At times they seem to root for you to do good – just not better than them.

The behaviors of your frenemy are often rooted in jealousy to any or all aspects of your life. While frenemies can be supportive and complimentary, deep down they possess an ulterior motive – to compete with or humiliate you.

My Annual Review Template – Free Download!

I asked her, “What do you want your life to mean?”

Sitting across the cafe table from our 8-year-old daughter, I waited patiently for her response. She spent the next 45 minutes telling me her dreams – for her life, for her friends, for her work, for her family.

She talked a lot about what she is doing at this point in her life – about today. As I listened, I was reminded –

The only way to have a great future is to have a lot of great todays.

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