Your plan for the New Year in 3 easy steps

by Joe Hearn | Nov 29, 2011 | Pursuits, Retirement

Well, another year is almost in the record books.  How did you do?  Did you accomplish what you’d hoped?  Did you achieve any key milestones during the last eleven months or did you find yourself a slave to daily maintenance (those things that take up a lot of time, but don’t provide a whole lot of meaning or get you any closer to your goals)?  If you’re like me, there were some of both, but you’d love to do better in 2012.  After all, the clock is ticking and retirement is a year closer!

In my last post I mentioned how I spend time at the end of each year thinking about life, reviewing the past year and planning for the next.  Doing this has made a huge difference and has helped me with key goals like running a marathon, starting a business, being a better husband and father, and writing two books.  Below I take a detailed look at my simple, three step process, but first…

More than just resolutions

Don’t confuse this article with the usual New Year’s Resolutions talk that you hear this time of year.  It’s more than good intentions and wishful thinking.  It’s about setting measurable goals in key areas of your life so that you can make huge strides in the coming year.   With that said, let’s jump right in.

Step 1: The annual review

I kick off my planning each year by reviewing the past year.  I look at what I did well and not so well; at what worked and what crashed and burned.  I’ll go through my plan for the previous year and see which of my goals I was able to accomplish and which are still in process. I’ll also look at a number of metrics that I use to gauge my progress, such as words written, books sold, and new clients served.

This review process gives me a good overview of what I was able to accomplish as well as what still needs to be done.  Once I know the “state of the union” I can move on to Step 2.

Step 2: Outline specific, measurable goals for each key category

After reviewing how I did the previous year, I spend time thinking about the things I’d like to accomplish in the coming year and what I’ll need to do to make those things happen.  For me, it’s easier to break my life down into major categories and then spend time planning and setting goals in each area.  My categories are marriage, parenting, faith, finances, health, business, writing, pursuits (e.g. guitar, photography, reading), and travel.  For each area I’ll lay out between three and six specific, measurable goals for the coming year.

Step 3: Strategy and tactics

Once the goals are in place, I spend time thinking through the steps (strategy and tactics) that I will need to take to accomplish each goal.  To stay on track and to make sure that I’m focused on milestones instead of just maintenance, I start each month by filling out a simple spreadsheet that I call my 4 x 4.  On it I list the four key goals that I will be working on over the next four weeks.  That sits on my desk each day as a reminder of the key things that I should be working on.

That’s it.  Pretty simple really, but don’t underestimate the importance of planning.  The type of life you want to live—one filled with meaning, accomplishment, and purpose—does not happen by accident.  You need to be intentional.  You need to know what kinds of things you value and work toward making them a reality.  Intentional Retirement is here to help, but as the old saying goes, “If it’s going to be, it’s up to me.”

A few more things to keep in mind as you plan…

Dream Big

When you dream big, something happens.  It changes how you think and how you act.  It changes the types of questions you ask.  It inspires and changes those around you.  Dreaming big has led to things like cures, computers and space travel.  Don’t limit yourself to those things that seem “reasonable” or “probable.”  Take a risk and dream big.

Start small

Someone once said that people tend to overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.  That is so true.  Don’t put so much stuff on your to-do list that you don’t know where to begin.  Big goals (like retirement) can take years to plan and execute.  Don’t try to do too much too soon or you’ll just find yourself overwhelmed and discouraged.  Outline your strategy and then take the smallest step possible to get started.  Then do it again tomorrow and the next day and the next.  Before you know it, you’ll have some real momentum.

Allow room for serendipity

Goals are great, but don’t be a slave to them.  Be open to opportunities that you hadn’t anticipated or planned for.  One of the coolest things that happened to me this year was not a part of my plan and I initially turned it down.  The Financial Planning Association asked me to write a monthly retirement column for them and I said no because it didn’t fit into my schedule.  Luckily I changed my mind and that opportunity grew into not only a column for them, but a column for the Omaha World Herald and a broader platform for my ideas on retirement.  Don’t be afraid to say yes.

Have a vision for your life

Imagine trying to put together a puzzle without the picture on the box.  It would be incredibly difficult because you wouldn’t know the end goal.  The same is true of your life. Your goals are important, but you need to have a vision for where you want those goals to take you.  What are your dreams for the future?  What is the vision you have, not just for retirement, but also for the rest of your life?  If you can’t answer that question or if your answer doesn’t really inspire you, then stop everything else you’re doing and really think that through.  It’s your life.  No one else is going to know more about it or take it more seriously than you.

Celebrate along the way

Don’t forget to celebrate along the way.  Take time to enjoy your incremental progress and reward yourself for a job well done.

Good luck with your planning!  Let me know if there’s ever anything I can do to help.

Joe

Commander’s Intent (a.k.a. Eisenhower’s advice for your retirement)

by Joe Hearn | Nov 23, 2011 | Pursuits, Retirement

“In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”  ~Dwight Eisenhower

Reading that quote, you might think that Eisenhower didn’t have much use for plans.  In reality, though, he was both a meticulous planner and brilliant strategist.  I doubt he ever entered a battle without some sort of detailed plan.

I think his point wasn’t “Don’t plan” but rather “Things rarely go according to plan.”  It’s impossible to prepare for every conceivable contingency and variable.  Rather than trying, he relied heavily on a concept called Commander’s Intent.

Commander’s intent (or CI) is the end goal of the operation.  It is the final objective or desired outcome.  For all practical purposes, it is unchanging.  Subordinates, staff and soldiers can modify tactics and strategies to fit the realities on the ground, but the commander’s intent is the driving force behind every decision.

Why am I talking about old generals and battle plans?  Because there’s a lot we can learn from the parallels between planning for battle and planning for retirement.

With any major undertaking (like retirement), it’s impossible to think through every possible contingency.  That’s especially true the further out you try to plan.  Raise your hand if ten years ago you predicted the housing bubble, the failure of Lehman/Merrill/et al, or the European debt crisis.  There are plenty of retirements smoldering at the foot of that wreckage.

Rather than trying to predict the future twenty years hence and then rigidly adhering to an obsolete plan, it’s better to have a plan that can adapt and evolve.  That way, you can change tactics, while keeping your overall mission intact.

Key to having a flexible plan is having a deep understanding of your end goal (your personal CI, if you will).  Be as specific as possible.  Really think through things like where you want to live, what you want to do, and whom you want to do it with.  Once you know what you really want out of life, you can get up each day and make logical choices that get you closer to that goal.

If you fail to really understand your retirement goals, two things will happen.  First, you’ll find yourself copying other peoples’ tactics without fully understanding the strategy.  You’ll quit your job at 65 because that’s what your friends are doing.  You’ll take up golf or move to a warmer climate because that’s what they do on TV.  Rather than blazing your own trail with a plan that works for you, you’ll follow someone else down his or her road.  Inevitably you’ll look up one day feeling lost and asking yourself “How did I get here?”

Second, when uncertainty comes—a health scare, job change, or investment volatility—you won’t know how to react because you don’t have a clear understanding of the final objective.  Any action you do take will likely make things worse, because it’s not made in support of any overarching goal.  Without a clearly defined commander’s intent, the uncertain and unexpected will leave you feeling rudderless.

Unfortunately, I talk to people all the time who made this mistake.  What can you do to avoid the same fate?

The year-end plan

Circling back to Eisenhower, planning is indispensable.  At the end of each year, I spend time over several weeks thinking about life, reviewing the past year and planning for the next.  It’s a time where I can think about big goals and major priorities.  I have always found it valuable, because it not only helps me to be more intentional with life, but also ensures that each year is spent in support of the overall plan.

I’ll write more about my process in a future post, with the hope that you can adapt it to your own circumstances.  For now, I just wanted to encourage you to start thinking about what you really want out of life so you can build your plan around that.  It’s time to begin taking your plans very seriously.

Have a great Thanksgiving.  Thanks for reading.

Joe

Don’t wait

by Joe Hearn | Nov 7, 2011 | Pursuits, Retirement

In the recent media coverage surrounding the death of Steve Jobs I read a quote from Walter Isaacson (Jobs’ biographer) about how mortality motivated Jobs:

“He talked a lot to me about what happened when he got sick and how it focused him.  He said he no longer wanted to go out, no longer wanted to travel the world.  He would focus on the products.  He knew the couple of things he wanted to do, which was the iPhone and then the iPad.”

My question for you is this:

Why wait?

Why does it so often take a terrible tragedy, a frightening diagnosis or a certain life stage (e.g. retirement) before we begin to take our dreams and plans seriously?  Shouldn’t all of our years be devoted to doing the things that we really care about?

In all fairness, Steve Jobs was a pretty focused person even before his illness, but facing death seems to have resulted in an even more drastic re-ordering of his priorities. We all know our days are limited, so why not be more intentional with the time we have?

Jobs alluded to this idea in his 2005 commencement address to Stanford University students:

“For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”

As you start your day today, think about that quote.  Think about what you really want out of life.  What will fill you with a sense of purpose?  What will make you happy and provide meaning?  Whatever your dreams (retirement or otherwise), start taking them seriously.  As Jobs so eloquently said:

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Thanks for reading.  Have a great week.

Joe

The power of deciding (+ the 100 day challenge)

by Joe Hearn | Sep 22, 2011 | Pursuits, Retirement

Quick Summary: The things you want to do are only difficult until you really decide to do them.

One of the things I write about here at Intentional Retirement is pursuing big goals.  If you’re anything like me, sometimes staring a big goal in the face can be challenging, scary, complicated, and overwhelming.

Because of that, it’s sometimes tough to get started.  I’ve found that the easiest way to overcome this “beginner’s inertia” is this:

~Actually decide to do what it is you want to do.~

It sounds simple, but deciding is the hardest part.  I don’t mean hoping or dreaming that you’ll do it.  Those are vague and passive.  I mean actually deciding.  Deciding is specific and active.

Until you decide, you can’t plan; you can’t act.  Let me give you a small example.  I’ve written before about my goal to get our daughter to all 50 states before she graduates.  A few weeks ago we found out that she had a three day weekend coming up due to some teacher meetings.  We kicked around the idea of getting out of town, but nothing really came together.

Fast forward to Tuesday of last week.  I woke up that morning and said “We’re going to Colorado this weekend.”  That simple decision shifted me into tactical mode.  I looked at three different areas I had been talking with a friend about and decided on Colorado Springs.  I went to www.avis.com and rented a car (ours are a bit small for road trips).  I went to www.vrbo.com and rented a house for our stay.  I made reservations for several things that we wanted to do, like a train ride to the top of Pike’s Peak.  Wednesday night each of us packed a bag and when we picked up our daughter from school on Thursday we hit the road.

If you look at that sequence of events, the most important thing I did was decide that we were going.  After that, everything was logistics.  Most dreams die for lack of a decision.  Keep that in mind as you plan your adventures for retirement.  Dreaming is one thing.  Deciding is another.

Practical Application: The 100 Day Challenge

I’ll give you a practical application to test your new decision making powers.  As of today, there are exactly 100 days left in the year.  Think about the goals you had for the year.  Think about things you’ve dreamed about doing in the not so distant future.  Pick something off your “to do” list and make the decision to do it before year end.  If your goal is travel related say to yourself “I’m getting on Expedia today to buy a plane ticket to ____________.”  If your goal is to save more for retirement, call the human resource department today and increase your 401(k) contribution.  If your goal is to get in shape, decide that today is the day that you’re joining the gym.

Take the challenge and I think you’ll discover what I did.  Deciding is the hard part.  Once you do that, you’ll be amazed at how easily everything else falls into place.

Thanks for reading!  If you enjoyed this article, forward it to a friend.

Joe