Have you ever wanted to just get away from it all and figure out what you want to do with your life? Today on Distinctions For Life, I’ll share some tips on how to make that happen and how to have great results.
If you stick around to the end I’m giving away free copies of the Complete Life Planning Retreat Guide.
10 years ago I did a series of videos about life planning. They were actually the last thing I did with DFL before it went on hiatus. You’d think that after 10 years I’d have a lot new to say. Or that the information would now be dated.
But looking back at them they hold up pretty well.
It turns out that despite all the incredible technological progress we’ve made in a decade, how to think about and plan your life hasn’t really changed.
And that’s a core distinction for life. While the world and technology changes, humans and human nature don’t. That is why the advice I give here can be timeless. Not everything, because I do talk about technologies that can make an actual difference in your life, but when I talk how to think, or how to look at life – that stuff doesn’t change.
There is a resurgence of the popularity of Stoic philosophy right now. Marcus Arilious being the philosophic celebrity in that area. People are reordering there lives in the 21st century based on letters he wrote. 3000+ years ago.
That’s because basic human nature hasn’t changed. Nor have our big questions. How should we live our lives?
It is the core question of religion and has been around since the beginning of recorded history and even before. The 10 commandments probably came into existence 5000+ years ago.
OK, I’m getting off in a really weird tangent here, but that’s what happens when you look at something you taught 10 years ago.
And it is relevant to the question of how to have a personal retreat. Or even to have one. You see we have so many options in life right now. We live an age of huge abundance. Almost everyone watching this doesn’t have worry about their food or water. They don’t have to spend their days trying to figure out how to survive.
Now now we have “first world problems”.
A big part of that is in the internal angst that come with the question “What am I going to do with my life?”
It may mainifest in other questions like, “Where should I go to school?”
Where should I live?
What should I do for a job?
Who should I marry?
The list of course goes on and on. What are the questions pulling on your psyche? Leave a comment below.
I’ve got some bad news for you if you are here to get the answer. That’s The Answer with Capitals.
There is no The Answer. There’s no one thing that when you learn it will make everything work in your life.
Rather you are going to figure it out over the course of your life. Some of you will do it by trial and error. Some on autopilot, only changing when you have to. A lucky few will seek and get divine intervention.
But a key to this is seeking the answer. Not the capital letter Answer, but the answer for today and tomorrow.
One of the big obstcales is the world we live in. Everyone is talking about all the distractions. The big tech companies using terminator style AI to get you to only focus on what makes them money.
Personally I think this is overblown.
Yeah, Facebook is evil when it comes to getting anything done. But humans are infinitely adaptable. We can overcome Facebook. We can see when it is too big a distraction and work out a way to overcome that.
And do you think Facebooks is more distracting than an empty stomach? People have struggled for centuries to just get to the end of the day with enough calories to get to the next day. Yet they still tried to figure out how to live their lives.
And of course how to run other people’s lives as well, but that is a topic for another day.
OK, Ron you may be saying, get to the personal retreat.
You have to take the reins of your life and start guiding it. You’ve got to break the bucking wild bronco of your life and get it under your control. Or horse whisper it if you prefer.
There are lots of ways to do that on a daily basis, and those are needed. We’ll talk a lot about running each day of your life.
But you have to know where you want your life to go. You can control the horse and then tell it to go to the wrong place.
The best way to get that focused, big picture view is go on a personal retreat. So let’s talk about what that is and how to do it.
If you are unfamiliar with the term retreat, it comes from various contemplative traditions, and means to get away and separate yourself from the world to focus on something. Often that thing is spiritual. To connect with God or the universe or what ever spiritual being answers your call.
People for thousands of years have made tremendous progress as humans by doing this periodically. Some found it so powerful for personal growth that they tried to live life separated from the world all the time.
Personally, I want to make a difference in this world. Which means I need to spend time in it. But sometimes I need to get away so I can focus on what is real and not just want is in front of me yelling in my face.
Hopefully if you stayed here this long, you actually want to do a personal retreat. I’m not one to just get you motivated and then leave you hanging. So I’ve got two great and free resources for you.
First the old DFL video series on personal retreats. Yeah, the video is crap because back when I uploaded them to YouTube you couldn’t upload HD video. But there is a playlist link in the description and in the card above.
Now at the end of that series I talk about the DFL Life Planning Retreat Guide. At the time it was a $40 ebook you could buy from me.
It contains tips on how schedule your retreat.
There are 5 modules that will guide you through exercises that will help you get perspective on your life and where you want it to go.
And for fun, two of those modules are based on great movies from awhile back. The Bucket List and Groundhog day.
Don’t you want to know about how those movies can help you plan your life?
Like I said, I sold this thing for $40 a decade ago, but I’ve decided to just give it to any of you willing to take the small action of clicking the link and giving me your email address.
Yeah, I know I’m awesome. Plus I don’t want to have to update that old Word doc to my standards in 2019. So get it now before I change my mind.
Question of the Day: Have you ever just gotten away and thought about how you wanted your life to be? Tell me about it below.
