What do you want?

“What do you want?”

I call this the four words that move you forward. I find that most people have never really taken the time to sit down and ask themselves this question, and then not only see themselves with what it is they really want, but imagine their future with no limits. Can you do it?

Now ask yourself – if you had a future with no limits…

* What would your days look like?
* Imagine you have no demands placed on you, and you too have the power of choice with you at all times. What would you be doing?
* Where would you live?
* Who would be with you?
* What car would you drive?
* Where would you travel?
* What would you see?
* What would your perfect day look like?

Don’t even try to tell me you don’t have time to do this important exercise. I won’t buy it and neither should you. That’s like trying to reach a destination without a map. Your vision for your future is tied up in answering the question “what do you want?” It is the beginning of your roadmap for success.

Once you have your vision in mind, you need to take an inventory of where you currently are. Take a hard look at your life — general, personal, financial, spiritual, community, family, every area that’s important to you. Take a personal inventory of each of those areas. Explore your strengths and weaknesses, and determine what you are happy with, and what you are tolerating in each area, that you might want to change.

To make an inventory, simply take out a notebook and start writing for each category. Rate yourself in the following areas:

General Personal Inventory

Family and Home

Financial Inventory/Career

Physical/Health

Mental/Emotional

Social

Spiritual

Now that you have the beginning of your personal inventory, ask yourself the following questions for each of the categories:

* What things are going well for me right now?
* What things are difficult for me right now?
* What are my strengths? (What am I good at?)
* What are my weaknesses? (What am I not so good at?)
* What am I tolerating in this area that I no longer wish to tolerate?

What you want is the current status of your life basically laid right out in front of you.

What does a peak performer do next? Having a clear and honest vision of where you are now, where you want to go and what you want for your future, in your personal and professional life, is a phenomenal and foundational first step. But you can’t stay in the dreaming and visioning stage. The next step is to make it real. And you can’t do that without a plan.