How to Design a Rock-Solid “Whole Body” Plan to Create the Life You Desire
Take a deep breath and ask yourself, “Are you living proactively or reactively?”
by Steve Sisgold
What answer did you get or how did your body feel? Whether you live a life of design versus default a whole-body plan will help you get more proactive and take greater charge of your life.
Consulting executives in the corporate and business world has taught me that structure and planning has its benefits. When I left my full time sales management job many years ago, I decided to apply a corporate flow chart model to my new life. I appointed myself the C.E.O. of Sisgold Unlimited. I reasoned that having the title of C.E.O. meant that I was in charge of the all the parts of my life, so I called them divisions, just like a company would. A good CEO knows better than to neglect a single product or division of his/her company because success depends on his/her attention to the entire company. In my case my divisions included my mental, physical, spiritual, relationships, and creative parts of my life. I also added a twist to my CEO plan, by listening to how my body responded to any decisions, before I finalized them,
Is it really much different in this business called life?
With no overarching vision or plan you can be prone to making impulsive decisions and ignoring some very important aspects of your life. For me reacting by default instead of being proactive by design was problematic for a number of reasons. First, it makes for messes that then require time and energy to clean up. And second, it can lead you down unnecessary dead-ends if you follow impulses that leave your true priorities in the lurch.
Having your priorities and desires clearly mapped out in this way also assists you to stay on track and move in the direction of what you really want; design versus default. All of these elements together give you a rock-solid foundation from which to create the life of your dreams.
My Life Unlimited Inc.
I sat down one afternoon and examined my life and looked at the key divisions or areas that were crucial to the success of My Life Unlimited. Then, using my whole-body principles and processes, I generated a detailed plan for each area. The divisions include all the areas of your life that are most important to you: health, career, relationships, relaxation, fun, personal growth and so forth. Each division also has subsidiaries. These considerations will be of great use when you sit down to draw up your CEO Action Plan.
Your CEO Action Plan
Step One
Think of your family and friends, as well as your creator, or any other positive force, as your possible stockholders in your company. These people depend on you as the CEO to be accountable for every action and its results. Keep them in mind when you consider your commitments and make a conscious, intentional choice about what you can give yourself over to and get behind 100%. Also give some thought to what individuals you would invite to sit on the Board of Directors of You, Unlimited.
Step Two
Sketch out your own CEO plan. Draw a circle and place each division inside of a circle. Under that put action steps and dates of completion under each division. Here are some questions to guide you to make up your divisions and goals for each one. As you answer each one, listen to anything you notice that your body is telling you.
- PROFESSIONAL:
What are your professional and business goals? - FINANCIAL:
What are your goals with respect to income, investment, and savings? - EDUCATIONAL:
What knowledge, expertise or skills do you want to acquire? - NETWORKING:
What new professional contacts do you want to develop? - ORGANIZATIONS:
What organizations do you want to join and become actively involved in? - IMAGE:
What kind of image do you want to project? - FAMILY:
What kind of relationship do you want with your spouse, your children, your extended family, and your friends? - HOME:
What type of environment do you want to live in? - HOBBIES:
What interests do you want to actively pursue? - HEALTH/RECREATION/EXERCISE:
How will you keep yourself healthy, fit, relaxed and calm? - PERSONAL GROWTH:
In what areas do you need to develop yourself on a personal and spiritual level? - FUN:
How will you create fun and humor in your life?
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu
Publisher — Black Source Media
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu