It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)
Last week I talked about doing a Time Audit. Read it HERE
* Were you able to do it?
* What did you learn from it?
* Were you able to make any adjustments or corrections?
A Time Audit is something you should do at least once a year. You'll be surprised by the things that creep into your schedule that will keep you from doing what's most important to you.
This month I'm showing you parts of 4 tools that come from the Paterson LifePlan Process. We started with THE FOUR HELPFUL LISTS. Last week was the TIME AUDIT. Today we're going to talk about RISK.
Today I want to share a simple exercise that's part of a larger DASHBOARD. You create a dashboard so you can easily measure how you're doing in some areas of life. If there's a problem or a crisis, you immediately pay attention to it, much like the dashboard on your car.
If there's a warning light that comes on in your vehicle, most of us wouldn't ignore it. We would immediately pull over and try to figure it out, or we'd get it to a mechanic to help fix it. If you ignore the warning, it usually doesn't end well for your car, or for you!
Pay Attention to your Dashboard!
Here's a simple tool for you to use to identify some areas of your dashboard. If you're interested in doing the full LifePlan with the complete toolbox, contact Russ.
It's a simple RISK ASSESSMENT.
4 STEPS:
First, IDENTIFY WHERE YOU'RE GOING
- What are you working towards in life? What's important to you? Why do you get out of bed in the morning? This is your life purpose! Define that.
Second, IDENTIFY SOME RISKS TO YOU ACCOMPLISHING THAT
- What are some things that might keep you from fulfilling your life purpose? What are things that can get in the way or distract you from that?
Here are a couple of samples from my dashboard a number of years ago:
* Poor Physical Health
I was in a place where I couldn't keep up with the demand of work physically. I was tired all the time, I didn't have energy, I was overweight, and I wasn't eating well. This was a real risk to my life, my calling and my purpose.
* Unstable Finances
We were in some transition financially and it was difficult to plan, it was difficult to even survive. We needed to do something to bring some stability to our financial situation, or it could affect everything.
* Fear of Isolation
I was working away from my organizations office. I was spending a lot of time alone, and that was unhealthy for me. I needed to create a local network of people to engage with instead of leaning into being on my own.
3 practical and real illustrations from my first LifePlan. The Plan helped me create a roadmap to address each of these areas, and I'm happy to say that today all 3 of these are off of my Risk List. Now there are other things on that list, but I was able to identify these and develop an action plan around letting these risk impact my life in a negative way.
On a blank piece of paper, identify some real risks to your purpose, your calling, your passion, your purpose. What could keep you from fulfilling what you were created to do?
Third, IDENTIFY YOUR TOP 5 AND PRIORITIZE THEM
- Don't let the long list scare you. Identify the top 5, and put them in order of greatest risk to the lowest risk. This helps you put them in perspective.
Fourth, ADDRESS THEM
- What can you do to address each of the Risks that are facing you? Develop a plan to address them, and eliminate them. Determine which risks can be controlled by you and which risks can't be controlled by you.
Risk can be defined as "a situation involving exposure to danger".
Today we're talking about RISK that has the potential to keep you from getting where you want to go. There is GOOD RISK, but we'll save that conversation for another day.
Many times we're caught by surprise because we're not paying attention to the things that can potentially derail us from living the life God has created and called us to live.
"Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing" Warren Buffet
"Risk is good. Not properly managing your risk is a dangerous leap." Evil Knievel
"All of life is the management of risk, not its elimination." Walter Wriston
