Day 25: Making Plans

Today marks the halfway point of my 50-Day Life Transformation Challenge. I've set a goal to completely revamp my life by the time I reach my 40th birthday. During the first 25 days, I focused on making changes to my daily routine, life situation, habits, and mindset. Starting today, I'm diving into the nitty-gritty: these changes will be tackled with specificity and focus. So, here we go!

If you were to ask me what had the most significant impact on me in the last 25 days, I can give you a clear answer: creating my life rules (which, by the way, are constantly being modified or supplemented). Writing down certain principles you want to live by can lift a significant burden off your shoulders. It makes decision-making much easier. They serve as an anchor in everyday life and a compass you can repeatedly reorient yourself with.

Perhaps you've experienced this too: we sometimes lose ourselves in the day, our goals may fade, and a sense of hopelessness creeps in. This can even happen on the same day. You might wake up highly motivated in the morning with ambitious plans, but a frustrating phone call with an unhappy customer in the afternoon can shatter it all. You feel demotivated and lost. This is where your rules come in handy. They help you visualize your big picture, who you are, what you intend to achieve, and what your values are. They can quickly guide you back on track, reminding you that that one annoying phone call is just a tiny pebble on the path of your life.

But also essential for me are my rituals to hack my mood. Fulfilling basic needs is undoubtedly one of the most important tools to improve your emotional state.

Meeting your needs is directly related to your mood (if you're hungry, your mood drops, if you're tired, you can't concentrate well, etc.). You have the power to actively work on improving your state and are not helpless.

Into Practice: The Life Plan

The first half of my challenge was focused on improving the basics, like habits, mindset, etc. Now, in the second part, I want to concentrate on practical aspects, which means the specific improvement of all circumstances.

To do that, I've created a concrete life plan. I've detailed how my life will look in precisely one year across all aspects of life:

• Career
• Financially
• Relationships
• Friends
• Health
• Education
• Family

You can, of course, add any other areas you desire. Write a few sentences for each in the first-person present tense, describing how your situation will be in a year. The more specific you are, the better.

For example:

"I read for an hour every day and jot down the points that touch me the most in a notebook, which I regularly revisit to read."

or:

"I contact my friends at least once a week, share about my life, and make plans to meet up with them."

or:

"I've transformed my startup into a steadily growing company. I've hired my first sales employee. All customers are satisfied, and we're meeting the challenges."

The more detailed and specific you are in visualizing your situation in a year, the better.

Regularly Review Your Life Plan

I will now work with this life plan, keeping it close at hand, reading it, and adjusting it constantly. My goals within it are ambitious, but I want to visualize them as perfectly as possible to derive concrete action steps and tasks.

The more concrete the plan, the clearer it will be what needs to be done to implement it.