Written by: Sallie Wagner, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Do you have a strategy or strategies for your life? If not, you definitely should. If you do, now’s a perfect time to reassess and confirm that it’s the right strategy and that you’re still on track for what you aspire to accomplish in life.
Interestingly, the notion of the strategy was originally used in a military context. The word “strategy” is derived from the Greek word “strategos,” or generalship. So strategy, in that sense, means the art of the general.
Continuing in that same line, according to the Oxford Dictionary, military strategy is when you position your resources so that you determine the place, time, and conditions of engagement with an opposing party. Meaning, you’re in control of how things unfold.
Translating this into everyday life, a strategy would mean that you’re in control of your resources time, money, energy, physical/emotional/mental abilities, and so forth to such an extent that you’re able to call on them at will to meet the needs of a particular situation.
And so, in that regard, strategy implies that you have goals in mind that make it possible for you to anticipate the particular situations in which you may be required to call upon all your resources.
In turn, goals imply that you have systems in place that will enable you to achieve those goals.
I have previously (in other articles) described the interplay between goals and systems, with the goals being likened to a destination, and the systems being likened to the road map for how to get there.
Think of the strategy as the overarching vision for why the goals are important to you and the reason why you want to go to that particular destination. You don’t just randomly decide to go somewhere, you have reasons, you put thought into where you’re going and what you hope to accomplish on the journey.
Obviously, this requires some introspection. You don’t just decide on a life strategy on a whim. It takes time.
So, as you consider your strategy, ask yourself, why is that particular thing, that particular destination in life, important to you? Is it important because you deem it to be worthy of you? Or is it important because somebody told you it should be important?
Many times, we choose a particular path in life because it’s expected of us – expected by others, expected by ourselves. Yet, if we’re honest with ourselves, we have to admit that’s not the path we want at all.
Like the story of the drive to Abilene. The family was sitting around, and someone suggested they go to Abilene. All agreed, and off they went. Upon their return, they discovered that nobody really wanted to go, they all just went along because each of them thought everybody else wanted to go, when, in reality, they all would rather have stayed home.
Is your life like a trip to Abilene, going along a certain path, following a certain strategy because it’s what you think everybody else wants for you? Or what you think you should want for yourself?
Or is your life genuine and authentic, following the path that you have chosen for yourself because it is meaningful and valuable to you?
The answers to those questions are important. The answers matter.
It’s the difference between living by design or default. Living by conscious choice, or on autopilot.
Once you discover the answers to those questions, you’re ready to explore your life strategy.
For example, your life strategy may be to have maximum impact in your particular area of expertise. Or it may be to leave a wonderful legacy for your family. Or it may be to live a long and healthy life. Or any number of noble visions for your life.
Then, within each strategy, you may have several goals. And within each goal, you’ll have systems to make sure you move consistently in the direction of the goal.
For example, if your strategy is to live a long and healthy life, you’ll likely have a physical fitness goal for that. You’ll have a goal that includes nutrition. A goal that includes mental and emotional well-being.
And, breaking those goals down, you’ll have systems that support you as you work toward each goal.
And in this way, with strategies, goals, and systems, you’ll be the general of your own life, as you marshal all your resources to live the life that you consciously choose. As you live by design, not by default.
Sallie Wagner, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Sallie Wagner – speaker, author, lawyer, real estate broker, What’s Next Strategist, and Life Alchemist! Sallie employs Emotional Freedom Techniques, evolved Neurolinguistic Programming, and trauma-aware modalities, so clients launch into action for rapid, concrete results, as they ditch unwanted habits, behaviors, fears, phobias, limiting beliefs, and decisions.
Sallie spent the majority of her law career in the corporate world. In addition to her other business initiatives, she currently provides broker and contracts compliance services to real estate brokerages throughout Florida. She also owns and operates a real estate school.
