Creating a Dash Plan
Do you have a dash plan?
Do you need a dash plan?
Do you even know what a dash plan is??
When I was in my teens, I pledged I was going to live a simple life. I would live by the ocean, and sell t-shirts on the beach. That’s what I told anyone who would listen.
20 years later, that vision of a simple life was virtually forgotten. I grew up, went to college, and when I graduated, I got a job. Eventually, I convinced myself I was important. Before I saw it coming, I was trapped. Trapped in a corporate world that gave me “more”. The problem was that I forgot to consider what I needed more of. I thought I needed more money, so I could live, but more money only got me more stuff. What I had failed to realize was that I needed more of something that wasn’t money.
Was it more time, more experiences, more quality of life? I wasn’t sure. What I did know was that my health and well-being was suffering. I had given up on my dream life, and embraced a busy corporate existence. Instead of living by the sea, I managed to visit the sea once or twice a year, on vacation. Instead of simple, my life became complicated. I was working 60-70 hours per week, and became almost completely unable to shut down, or relax. I was driven by results, and became obsessed with success. Spending 70, 80, 100 nights per year on the road, living out of hotel rooms, I was ignoring my health, and drifting away from my family. I was convinced there was no way out, this was simply what I was supposed to do, until I reached retirement age.
Then one day, I visited my family doctor. With uncontrollable blood pressure, he referred me to a cardiologist. After a battery of tests, the cardiologist sat me down for a very frank discussion. He said “Shawn change your lifestyle, or you’re going to die… much sooner than you would like”.
As I reflected, it became apparent that my life severely lacked balance. I lived to work. Beyond that there was little. Sure, I had a house, cars, family, but no identity. I defined myself only by the title printed on my business card.
That is when I discovered that I needed a Dash Plan. In essence, I set out to create an identity that defined me not just by the title on my business card, but by all 3 pillars of a balanced life… Self, Community (Family), Career. My most important discovery was that the foundation of a healthy family life, and healthy career lies in first creating a healthy self.
To create my healthy self, I needed to create a dash plan that would enable me to bring perspective to me about who I was, and what I wanted from life, beyond my career. It was my “what am I doing this for” moment . In my dash plan, I gave myself permission to rewire my conditioned beliefs in the ‘9-5 to 65 model’ in order to leave the corporate world, start my own business, and use the freedom I gained to pursue my dream life.
Now you’re probably asking “so what’s this got to do with me?”. Let me ask you… when you were in your teens, is the life you’re living today, the life you envisioned? Perhaps another way to look at it… if tomorrow was your last day on earth, would you die full of great memories of the life you lived? Or would your mind be more consumed with regrets of the things you didn’t find the time to do?
Living your dream life is not something that comes easy to everyone. Momentum, fear, conditioned beliefs, are but a few of the many challenges you will encounter. In my book, Without A Compass, Charting Course to a Deeper, More Meaningful Life, I discuss how I overcame obstacles in order to alter course, in pursuit of living my dream life.
It started with a good Dash Plan!