For years I have considered that there two vital life management activities: (1) the Weekly Review and Planning Session and (2) Goal Setting. The role of time management techniques, be they based on David Allen’s approaches or Steven Covey’s, are ways of ensuring you carry through with your weekly plans and longer-term goals.
A recent post by Michael Hyatt has caused me to think that there is a third highly important activity: the Quarterly Review. Mr. Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing, lists a number of important items to address in such a review. But, I am most impressed with his notion of a life plan based on “Accounts.”
The following quote from his post illustrates what he means by accounts:
Review my Life Plan. This is a written document that I have maintained for years. Daniel Harkavy at Building Champions was the first one to guide me through the process. Dan Meub has also reviewed it with me. I have added a tweak here and there, but the big idea is that you view your life as a collection of “accounts.” These are similar to bank accounts. They have a certain value. A few have a giant balance, a few others might have respectable balances, and a few might be overdrawn. I maintain eight accounts: God, Self, Gail, Children, Finances, Career, Friends, Ministry. (Yours will be slightly different.) For each of these accounts I have an envisioned future, a statement of purpose, my current reality, and my specific commitments. I plan to write about this in more detail in the near future.
I am embarrassed to admit that I heard of this approach years ago and never followed through with it. But, as with many things in life, it’s not too late to start and I plan to work on it beginning today.
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