The Purposeful Planning Method, Chapter One
How to Plan Your Day, Beat Procrastination, and Regain Control of Your Time
Copyright © 2019 by Matthew C. East
All rights reserved.
CHAPTER ONE
Why You Should Read This Book
"Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: If you are alive, it isn't."
— Richard Bach
Chances are we've never met. But because you picked out this book, I can almost guarantee you are self-driven, aspirational, and looking to achieve goals across many areas of your life.
You may also be frustrated and feel like you should be achieving more each day. If that's the case, I applaud you for recognizing the opportunity for self-improvement and taking action by reading this book. The Purposeful Planning Method will be perfect for you.
I'm an avid reader and listener of nonfiction books. I particularly love the classics. I always find it incredible how simple their core message is, especially considering the complex topics they cover. You can summarize most of these classics in a single sentence. For example, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie has sold over fifteen million copies. The one-sentence summary: Stop talking about yourself; instead be genuinely interested in other people by listening and asking thoughtful questions. That’s good advice.
The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey has sold over 5 million copies and continues to sell over 400,000 copies a year. Summarized in a sentence: The best way to build wealth is to get out of debt and invest your money. Again, solid advice.
Neither of these concepts is revolutionary or sophisticated. On the contrary, they're simple. Their simplicity and common-sense approach are two reasons their message resonates with so many people. Similarly, this book's message is simple and easily summarized. Here it is: planning and prioritizing helps you spend more time on the projects, activities, and relationships that are most important and meaningful to you.
Of course, that's something you likely already knew. So, why continue reading this? Although the concept of planning your time is simple with obvious benefits, actually doing it isn't. Just like getting out of debt and investing your money makes sense financially but can be very difficult to do. Just like asking great questions instead of talking about ourselves is excellent advice but challenging to do.
The point is, this book isn't designed to convince you how important it is to plan your day. You already know planning is critical to your success or you wouldn't have chosen to read a book titled, The Purposeful Planning Method. This book is vital to your success because it provides a methodology to ensure you successfully plan and approach each day with clarity, purpose, and focus.
Imagine how it would feel to begin each morning:
With a clear plan for achieving your most important priorities.
With a sense of calm, knowing you have time to do everything meaningful to you.
How would it feel:
To develop habits and routines that support your dreams?
To have plenty of time to pursue your passions?
To have plenty of time to nurture the critical relationships in your life?
If you felt zero guilt when relaxing and enjoying leisure activities?
If you never had to worry about procrastinating?
What if you:
Had ample time to reach your peak level of health and fitness?
Could spend as much time as you wanted each day on your meditative and spiritual practice?
Always felt present when spending time with your family and friends?
Had plenty of time to enrich your marriage each day?
Were achieving your goals in all areas of your life?
Most people who read this book are thriving in one area of their life. The problem is that most are falling short of their potential in other areas. For example, you may be excelling in your career, but your health and fitness has suffered. Or maybe it's the opposite; you're thriving with your health and fitness, but your career isn't as successful as you know it could be.
The Purposeful Planning Method will provide a way to thrive in every area, including:
Career and Business
Relationships
Family
Social
Finances
Spiritual
Health and Fitness
Chapter Recap
This book provides a methodology to ensure you successfully plan and approach each day with clarity, purpose, and focus. It will teach you exactly how to plan and prioritize so you can spend more time on the things that are most important and meaningful to you.