NOTE: This is a draft and is subject to change.

If you complete the following four (4) decisions and chose to devote time and energy (on a scheduled basis over your lifetime) to do your LifeWork planning, edit your version of this document to write about and explain why LW planning is important to you. Then create a periodic Google Calendar event to get an email with a link to this document so you can review it, reflect upon and be re-inspired by it during the many times that you will either forget about LWPS and LifeWork planning or you will want to postpone that work or not do it at all.

Please read the explanation (with examples) of the six (6) step decision-making process post here or above (6 decision steps) before you click on the first question/decision below.

1. Should I do career planning? What is it?
2. If yes, should I do LifeWork (LW) planning? What is it?
3. If yes, how do I do LW planning? What system or process do I use?
4. Where does LW planning fit on my task list? How much time should I spend on it over what period of time?

Should I do career planning? What is it?

Starting left to right in the far left column "Six (6) Steps" read step "1. Awareness" across to the action under the "General action" column then the specific action in "The decision" column, then go to the next step "2. Know yourself" etc. until you reach the last cell in the last row where you "6. Reflect" upon your decision.

Create your version of this Google Template and edit it to fit your needs. Add more alternatives to "3. Explore" and "4. Evaluate". Provide a detailed explanation of your choice - "5. Choose".

Six (6) Steps	General action	The decision
1: Awareness	Become aware and engage yourself in the need to plan for and make a decision.	Should I do career planning? What is it? (This is decision 1 of 4 on this page.) Career planning takes time. And it can be hard work. Is it worth my time and effort?
2: Know yourself	Self-assessment: For this decision, I need to pay attention to aspects of me that might affect the way I make this decision and its outcome?	I always balk at new demands for my time and attention. Is this an intrusion that I should ignore or something of value that I should consider? If I see the value in career planning, I need to make a plan to do it. Since I may forget about it over time, I need to use a device like Google Calendar to remind me of that periodically by keeping this document "in my face". See 5.c below.
3: Explore	Identify alternatives.	Alt#1 is to learn more about career planning, commit to starting it, then evaluate if I want to continue. Alt#2 is to postpone this research and decision until later in my life.
4: Evaluate	Get information about identified alternatives.	# Alt#1: Read this post to learn more about career planning. Alt#2: Read this section of the above post to learn what happens if I do NOT do career planning.
5: Choose	Choose among alternatives and take appropriate action(s).	Alt#1 is my best choice because the sooner I learn career planning skills, the better able I will be to address my career transitions and decisions. I will set up this Google Calendar (GC) event to remind me to revisit this set of decisions.
6: Reflect	Review and reflect upon your decision. Modify, if appropriate.	I believe I have been honest with myself in Steps 1 and 2 (and throughout this process). I think I have identified ALL of the alternatives in Step 3. I think I have read and understood enough information to evaluate each alternative in Step 4. I made the right decision in Step 5 and I set up the GC event to automatically send me email reminders to review this page and my decision. I am (very) happy with my decision and choice of this course of action.

I've decided to do career planning. Should I go one step further and do LifeWork planning? What is it? (Top)

LifeWork planning is a lifelong process that will potentially increase my chances of finding my dream job - my LifeWork - each time I encounter a transition point in my life. I may take a few dozen hours to research (Phase 1) and define (Phase 2) my LifeWork. Then, using that knowledge of myself, I may take a few dozen more hours to (re)find (Phase 3) my LifeWork at each of the many transition points I will experience. But that is a very small amount of time to spend to potentially increase my chances of finding joy and happiness in my work and life.

Resources about the value of LifeWork planning

Quotes

1. "True happiness...is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose." Helen Keller What is your "worthy purpose" or LifeWork?
2. "Real success is finding your lifework in the work that you love."... David McCullough
3. (when you find a quote you like, COPY/PASTE it here and add the link)

Articles

1. On calling and Life's Work
2. To Know Yourself is to Be Happy and Fulfilled
3. The spiritual, mental, social/emotional and physical value of LifeWork planning (896)
4. (when you read an article you like, COPY/PASTE it here and add the link)

Starting in the far left column "Six (6) Steps" read ... (same instructions as in Should I do career planning? What is it? above)

Six (6) Steps	The decision
1: Awareness	I've decided to do career planning. Should I go one step further and do LifeWork planning? What is it? (This is decision 2 of 4 on this page.) LifeWork planning takes more time than carrer planning. And it can be harder work. Is it worth my time and effort?
2: Know yourself	(Same as above.)
3: Explore	Alt#1 is to learn more about LifeWork planning, commit to starting it, then evaluate if I want to continue. Alt#2 is to postpone this research and decision until later in my life.
4: Evaluate	# Alt#1: Read this post to learn more about LifeWork planning. Alt#2: If I postpone doing LifeWork planning or never doing it, then I risk not experiencing more joy, happiness and meaning in my work.
5: Choose	Alt#1 is my best choice because I want to improve my chances of experiencing more joy, happiness and meaning in my work, in addition to being better able to address my career transitions and decisions. I will set up this Google Calendar (GC) (same as above) event to remind me to revisit this set of decisions.
6: Reflect	(Reflect as you did in Decision #1 6.a-e above.)

I've decided to do LifeWork (LW) planning. How do I do LW planning? What system or process do I use? (Top)

Six (6) Steps	The decision
1: Awareness	I've decided to do LifeWork (LW) planning. How do I do LW planning? What system or process do I use? (This is decision 3 of 4 on this page.)
2: Know yourself	(Same as above.)
3: Explore	Alt#1 is this LifeWork Planning System (LWPS). Alt#2 (I can not find another LifeWork planning.system like LWPS. I will continue to look. If you find one, please send me a link.)
4: Evaluate	# Alt#1: Read this post to learn more about the UNIQUE features of LWPS. Alt#2: Read the above post to learn more about alternatives to LWPS. (When I have some sites I'll list them in this area or on a post.)
5: Choose	Alt#1 is my only choice because there currently is no other LifeWork planning system like LWPS.
6: Reflect	(Reflect as you did in Decision #1 6.a-e above.)

I've decided to use LWPS. Where will LW planning fit on my task list? How much time should I spend on it over what period of time? (Top)

Now that you have deicded to commit time to do your LifeWork (LW) planning, please take a moment to summarize here - in your own words - why you are doing this. Then create a GC event to link to this document to remind you of why you are doing this because there will be (many) times when you will either not want to do LW planning or will have forgotten about it.

Below are some thoughts that you might want to consider including in that note to yourself about the value of LWPS and LW planning.

1. My LifeWork is work that gives me joy, and the work I enjoy doing is what defines my LifeWork. I want to make my dreams my LifeWork. Therefore, I need to integrate as many of my competencies that I enjoy doing into my work. In order to do my LifeWord (LW), I need to find a place to do it. To find that place I need to define my LW. To define my LW I need to do research on myself and the world of work. These are the three (3) phases of LifeWork planning: 1) (re)searching, 2) (re)defining and 3) (re)finding your LifeWork. Career counselers refer to these phases as 1) career exploration, 2) career preparation and 3) career decision making. LWPS offers me processes and templates to do my LW planning.
2. LifeWork planning also helps me to answer these questions: Who am I, what is my destiny, what was I meant to do, what is meaningful work to me?
3. But first I need to identify those competencies (and values, etc.) in my LW Plannning (e)Portfolios and summarize them in my One Page LW Profile.

So I don't forget to do LW planning, Pete suggests that I create recurring Google Calendar events to send me an email to remind me about doing LW planning activities and re-reading this promise to myself to value LW planning. Click here to view a Google Template about working with Google Calendar. Setup a weekly, monthly and/or annual recurring event and COPY?PASTE into the Description soemthing like the folllowing: "In this document (make it a link to your document) I have written about the value of LifeWork planning. I need to re-read it to get back in touch with that value to me. Then I need to return to this activiity (make it a link) to resume my planning."

The "I don't wanna's"

1. "I don't have time to do LifeWork planning"
   1. Read these articles
      1. "I don't have time." is often another way of saying "I don't want to."
      2. The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Beers
   2. You may not have time now, but there will be times when you will. Will you (remeber to) do LifeWork planning then? If not, then you don't know the value of it.
2. "LifeWork planning is too much work."
   1. No matter what resources I use to investigate, discover and find my next job, or my next occupation, or my LifeWork; no matter who I consult with; no matter what books I read or tests I take, I should/must collect - in ONE place - information about myself, and my educational and occupational alternatives and choices. The purpose and the value of LifeWork Planning Services (LWPS) is to encourage me to create that one place (and all of the supporting documents) via its processes and templates. Those processes may take a minimum of 25 hours and a maximum of 50 hours. If you spread that work over five (5) years for youth ages 13-19, that is an average of twelve (12) MINUTES per WEEK ¹.

¹ (50 hrs * 60 = 3000 mins/(5 yrs * 52 = 260 weeks) = 3000/260 = 12 minutes per week over 5 years)

Using the six (6) step decision making model to decide if LWPS and LW planning have value to me

(Edit this table - particularly the rows in "The decision" column - to elaborate on 1) your awareness of the question, 2) your self-assessment, 3) identify alternatives that I have not included, 4) get more information about those identified alternatives, 5) make and elaborate on your choice and 6) reflect upon your decision..

Six (6) Steps	The decision
1: Awareness	I've decided to use LWPS. Where will LW planning fit on my task list? How much time should I spend on it over what period of time? (This is the last and 4th decision on this page.)
2: Know yourself	(Same as above.)
3: Explore	Alt#1 If a youth or adolescent, you can spread LW planning activites over several years. If five (5) years, you only need to spend 12 minutes a week. Alt#2 If an adult, you may need to devote a full week to completing all of the activities. LifeWork planning should be VERY high on my task list and I should schedule some amount of time per (day, week, month, year) to work on it until I have ....... Alt#2 LifeWork planning should be high on my task list plan but ...
4: Evaluate	# Alt#1: Create a post (and make "post" a link to it) that describes your daily, weekly and monthly commitments. Read jar Alt#2: Read the above post to learn more about alternatives to LWPS.
5: Choose	Alt#1 is my only choice because there currently is no other LifeWork planning system like LWPS. Create a plan where I schedule some amount of time to do LifeWork planning.
6: Reflect	(Reflect as you did in Decision #1 6.a-e above.)

 

Six (6) Steps	General action	The decision
1: Awareness	Become aware and engage yourself in the need to plan for and make a decision.   (more)	Is there value in using LWPS to do my LifeWork Planning (LWP)? It should be noted that there are actually two (2) questions here: 1) Do I want to do LW planning and 2) Do I want to use LWPS to do that planning? I'll try to address and answer both. Upon scanning the LWP process on the LWPS home page, LWPS seems to offer a a set of processes and templates to help me to (re)search, (re)define and (re)find my LifeWork. However, it seems to require a lot of work over one's lifetime. Is it worth my time and effort?
2: Know yourself	Self-assessment: For this decision, I need to pay attention to aspects of me that might affect the way I make this decision and its outcome?  (more)	I never had any career/LifeWork planning when I grew up, so this is new to me. I don't know what is involved. I can be easily distracted and I tend to procrastinate, so, if I decide to use this system and do LW planning, I will need to keep this document "in my face" to make this work for me. (See 5.b below.)
3: Explore	Identify alternatives.  (more)	Alt#1 is to continue to learn more about LWPS and LWP and keep this question/decision open for the moment. Alt#2 is to hire a counselor later in my life to guide me to do LWP. Alt#3 is to research and compare other resources offering LWP. Alt#4 is to admit that this is not for me and to do nothing more about it.
4: Evaluate	Get information about identified alternatives.  (more)	Alt#1: The sooner I dive into LWPS and LWP, the sooner I will learn more and be able to make this decision. Alt#2: A counselor is only going to ask me to do most of the work that I need to do to find my LifeWork. Alt#3: That research time would be in addition to actually doing LWP. It would be faster to just do LWP. Alt#4: Do I really want to make this admission since I REALLY do want to find my LifeWork?
5: Choose	Choose among alternatives and take appropriate action(s).  (more)	At this moment, I believe Alt #1 is my best choice. I will set up a Google Calendar event to remind me to revisit this decision. I will COPY the link to this Google doc and PASTE it into a date/time along with text "Revisit my decision to do LW planning and decide if there is value in continuing to use LWPS to do my LW planning." I will select "email" notification to automatically email the reminder to me.
6: Reflect	Review and reflect upon your decision. Modify, if appropriate.   (more)	Have I been honest with myself in Steps 1 and 2 (and throughout this process)? Have I identified ALLof the alternatives in Step 3? Did I get enough information to evaluate each alternative in Step 4? Did I take an appropriate set of actions after I made my choice in Step 5? Have I set up an automatic mechanism (5.b) to remind me to check back in a few months to see if this was a good decision?

 

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Click your browser's BACK/Return arrow to return to the post that brought you here, or return to ...

• Tab D1 - "LifeWork planning is important to me because ..." - in "My LW (e)Portfolio"
  
• Create "LifeWork planning is important to me because ..." in Age~13 LW planning activities
  

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(LWPS post #2150 version or Google Template (GT) version) ... Link to all LWPS GTs.

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LifeWork Planning Services (LWPS) web pages and Google documents by LifeWork Planning Services is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

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V 0.1 - 7/12/10 - is the current version of this Google Template. KEEP THIS LINE so you can click here (now and in the future) to see if there have been any changes and decide if you wish to use those changes.

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Delete everything from this line down if you wish.

Please read theses instructions below before you work on this template.

1. Read this post about my issues with Google Docs and Google Templates. Not show stoppers but annoying.
2. In Google Docs, click "Insert" then "Page Break" wherever you want to force a page.
3. Create your version of this Google Template (click "Use this template" above).
4. Edit your version to make it your own. I've added some thoughts above that you can use.
5. Since you may tire of this process and may even forget about it, I recommend that you create a Google Calendar event to send you an email reminder that includes a link to your version of this GT.
6. Print this document and keep it with you so you can reflect upon what you have written and make any necessary improvemetns. When you have access to the Internet, edit the digital version to make those changes then reprint it.
7. These instructions and the TOC below are located at the bottom of this document so you can easily print just the top portion to carry with you and file in your LW Portfolio notebook which we will talk about later.
8. Delete these instructions if you wish.

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Changes

1. V 0.1 - 7/12/10 - Created
2. Click here to offer your suggestions/comments to improve this document.

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Google Template Details

V 0.1 - 7/12/10 - A work-in-progress that is 60% done and SUBJECT TO CHANGE: This Google Template is invoked at http://lifeworkps.com/hubbard/weblog/147.html#lwepc-2 . It is intended to help you articulate the value (to you) of using using LifeWork Planning Services (LWPS) to do your LifeWork (LW) planning. >>> This template is one in a series of many that is offered by LifeWork Planning Services (LWPS) located at http://lifeworkps.com. Search for "LWPS" to find all of the other templates in this series. Your LifeWork is work that gives you joy. And the work that you enjoy doing is what defines your LifeWork. Use LifeWork Planning Services (LWPS) to "make your dreams your LifeWork".

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Notes to me (Pete)

1. Merge pasrts of these posts into this GT (896, 1814, 3842)