In my previous post entitled, “Define Your Life: The Having, Being, Doing Dreamline,” we talked about setting goals in three areas of your life. The next step, that we will talk about here, is to define the actionable steps to accomplish these goals. The more specific that these steps are, the better.

In the previous article, I gave my actual dreamline. In this article, I will add to it by supplementing it with actionable steps.

My Dreamline (Updated With Actionable Steps)

Having:

I want a nice house for my wife and future kids

• Find a realtor and begin search for homes
  
• Determine how much money will be necessary for a down payment
• Determine what assets will need to be liquidated to pay for a down payment
• Start pre-approval process for a home loan

A second “passive” form of income

• Research niche products that I identify with that I could sell online with minimal effort
• Research potential services that I could sell that would not eat up much of my time
• Continue growing my blog to see if monetization can become a reality

A blog with 10,000 visitors a day

• Provide more content in different formats (audio, video)
  
• Analyze what content is most popular
• Research strategic relationships that will send visitors my way
• Optimize advertising and search techniques

Being:

A fantastic husband

• Spend an extra couple minutes each day asking my wife about her day face to face
• Plan a fun date night each week (doesn’t have to be expensive)

A great mentor to the 7th grader I spend time with each week

• Tweak my schedule so I can make each meeting
• Find a creative way to encourage him to continue to work hard

An efficient employee (my day job) maximizing productivity to allow time for other things in life

• Set specific productivity goals
• Check email once an hour instead of constant-checking to eliminate it as a distraction
• Find other distractions and get rid of them

Doing:

Run the New York Marathon in 2008

• Run 2-3 times a week
• Work out my legs at the gym at least once a week
• Be able to run 13 miles by July 2nd

Take a road trip with my wife

• Find a destination to travel to in the southeast region of the U.S.
• Find “mini-destinations” to stop and visit on the way to the end-destination
• Block the trip on our schedule

Take one trip domestically and one trip internationally this year (and every year)

• Since we already went to New York this year and will be traveling to Paris in July, research destinations for next year
• Find international location with a favorable exchange rate

Outperform the S&P in 2008 with my investments

• Am currently up over 25% year-to-date, so unless my investments take a sharp turn lower, I should meet my goal this year.
• Focus on outperforming in the future by continuing to target and research strong potential long term investments

Read several books on becoming a father

• Ask for recommendations from friends and family
• Visit bookstore and purchase books

A “Living” Plan

The dreamline concept is a great exercise in my opinion and is one I plan to use throughout my life. It is a constantly changing plan to be tweaked as circumstances change.

I will continue to blog about the dreamline and the results that come from it. It should be interesting to see if I reach my goals more frequently by being proactive with this type of plan. I would strongly encourage you to try it out.

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