We have decided what we want. Now we have to make room for it in the life we are already living.
That is where the difficulty begins. You can write that you want more time with your family, better health and a business that gives you freedom, and mean every word of it. Then Monday comes, the business needs something, and the evening you were going to spend with your family disappears again. You still want the same things. Your day has gone somewhere else.
In my mind, you need to have a plan for each of the Six Primes of the Excellence Nexus: Body, Mind, Heart, Soul, Wealth, and Impact and Legacy. But of course, these six primes are not disconnected. They are connected by one underlying purpose, which is your life goal: to live happy, healthy and prosperous.
In Thursday’s essay, I asked you to think about the life you want, why you want it, whom you want to serve, and the money and time it will require.1 Bring that page with you. Include the questions you could not answer. We will need those too.
Today we will work backwards, all the way to the present moment. I also want to do the arithmetic with you, because a number that looks impressive on paper can leave surprisingly little money for the life you had in mind.
Which move deserves your attention now?
In my experience, life moves ahead forcefully, powerfully, and fast when you focus your efforts on the highest-leverage move. Do this repeatedly, and your life will progress faster than you thought possible. More than that, progress and momentum will compound.
This is what I call leverage: making the right move in the right way at the right time.
Look at your page. Where would a change make several other things possible?
Suppose work follows you home because every customer problem comes back to you. You want to earn more, get some evenings back and be properly present with the people you love. Taking on more customers immediately would also give you more of the problem you already have. I would first look at why everything needs your attention. Perhaps the person doing the work needs a clear decision they are allowed to make without asking you. That is something we can investigate and test.
For someone else, the right move will be a conversation they have avoided. Or attending to their health before asking more of a body that is already struggling. Your plan has to begin with your actual circumstances. Six important parts of life do not oblige you to launch six demanding projects this week.
Write down the move you think would help most, and finish this sentence: If this changes, it will also help ________, because ________.
Below, we will turn that first decision into a complete working plan. You will work backwards from five years to today, calculate what your chosen life will cost, and set out your first twelve weeks of action. I will take you through a business example, including the expenses and demands on your time, so you can see how the parts fit together before doing it for yourself.
