How To Make A Road Map
Successful companies have road maps. Ultra successful people have advocated about having a life road map.
A road map is a long view of where you are going and how you are getting there. It is a high-level visualization of the big picture for your life.
As Steve Jobs put it “you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”
Planning for the long term may be difficult as we are busy dealing with everyday life and doing the best we can today.
However, without a plan, you are leaving your future to chance and uncertainty.
How Jeff Bezos views his future, “if you think about the long term then you can really make good life decisions that you won’t regret later.”
He also adds that for every big decision he makes he always projects himself forward. When asked about his leap from Wall Street to founding Amazon, he states, “I wanted to project myself forward to age 80 and say, ‘Ok, I’m looking back on my life. I want to minimise the number of regrets I have.’ And I knew that when I was 80, I was not going to regret having tried this.”
A major key in creating your road map is knowing your why first. Knowing your why will make it clearer for you to start your road map. (For more on knowing your why, check out our blog “Start With Why”).
Here are 3 Steps In Creating Your Life Roadmap:
1. Decide on your timeframe (when)
When exactly do you want to achieve this goal?
“Someday” does not cut it. Someday can easily turn into never.
Goals should be time-bound. Give yourself a deadline to create urgency and boost motivation.
2. Document your vision/destination (what)
This vision is personal to you. This is what you truly want for your life.
Your vision should be specific, clear and relevant to you.
Jot down the major steps that you need to get to your vision. These steps do not have to be final. The steps you write down can be reviewed, refined and you can make necessary tweaks as you see fit.
Now that you created your road map, set it where you can see it as a reminder of your life’s big picture.
Check out more examples of road maps at How Sked Works.
Will you create your road map?
We would love to see your road map. Tag us on Facebook or Instagram by using #SkedSquad.
