Writing a Personal Philosophy and Mapping Your Goals


A desire without a plan is simply a wish, but a desire with a definite plan becomes the foundation for success. Coming up with a plan can be a daunting task. It starts with coming up with a personal philosophy on life and the things we value. How can you come up with any kind of plan, if you don’t have a vision of what you want to accomplish? Furthermore, how can you come up with a vision if you don’t know what kind of values and fundamentals you want to represent in that vision. The following describes a plan of ACTION that will assist you in coming up with a personal plan and philosophy to help guide your life.

Open up a Word document, Excel, Power Point, or simply pull out a note pad and pen (you have to write it out, its important). Write down what you value in life (love, happiness, compassion, honesty, etc). Now take those qualities and create a vision for yourself. Mentally paint a picture in your mind of what a future that embodies your VALUES and write them out. Vividly describe the ideal, don’t simply think I would like a nice house, pick an exact house you want to live in, the area, the city, down to the style of tile you want in your kitchen. Take a picture of what you want and put it on your paper, pictures serve as a powerful visual guide and are stored in your subconscious waiting for fulfillment.

Now take time to write about both your VALUES and your VISION. The great thing is this is a personal document, while it should be unique, you are allowed to jot down ideas from other sources. Take your favorite quotes and insert them into this document. I personally have about three pages written on the subject of personal attitude. Some ideas about attitude I found from books I have read and others are my own. You are allowed to put anything you want in the document it is your creation.

By establishing your values, you create a beginning. By creating a vision based upon those values you create your goals. The goals should stem from your vision. Here is an example (a rather materialistic one) that puts it all together. Let’s say you value wealth, professional esteem, and a position of power. From there imagine yourself at a definite point in the future living (47 years old) a life that compliments these values. For example you may see yourself owning a jet for personal and business use. Your vision vividly describes a few goals. First, will need financial resources to buy the jet.

1. Goal: Have $6,000,000 in the bank by age 47, by investing a certain amount monthly and earning a huge salary.

Next vision, you see yourself in charge of a large company influencing many people and leading them into success. You will need to climb your way up the corporate ladder to obtain our next goal.

2. Goal: Become CEO of XYZ company by the age 42.

These two goals should adequately satisfy our materialistic friend. However, you can see how these goals can actually create a variety of sub goals, beginning to form a strategy map. For example, achieving the $6,000,000 may take investing a certain amount of money each month as well as obtaining a certain cash flow.

Achieving your goals should not be left up to change or luck, the foundation starting with forming a personal philosophy. Start today.