Your Life Framework

For years, I struggled to maintain goals and stay on track for anything other than work projects. I often “drifted” between good ideas without a guiding purpose. To counter the drift, I developed my own life design methodology. I built the process around the Army’s Design Methodology, a framework I learned at the School of Advanced Military Studies. During the year-long course, we learned to apply the Army Design Methodology to complex problems, creating frameworks to address strategic challenges. Design thinking changed my professional mindset and has transcended into my daily life. Now, I apply a modification of the design methodology to my life. My Life Framework enables a tangible linkage between daily actions and a broader purpose and corresponding objectives. I’d like to share this life framework with you today.

Step #1: Frame the Current State and Desired Future State.

Early in the Army Design Methodology, planners conceptualize the operational environment. They broaden their understanding of current conditions, usually described as the current state, and visualize the desired future state. When done successfully, there are no “wrong answers” during this brainstorming period. They consider and explore all ideas.

Applied to your life framework, this step allows you to gain a deeper understanding of where you are and where you want to go. I find it most useful to start with a deep dive into how things are going in my life, currently. I begin with a blank sheet of paper, capturing ideas and linkages. I write and re-write, eventually deriving a handful of paragraphs. Eventually, I transfer these notes to my digital database on Notion. While establishing this baseline, I find it useful to think in larger “bins” or categories, a framework that becomes important later. Examples of these categories, often described as life domains, can include:

personal, financial, professional, spiritual, physical, marital, social, parental, family, recreational, avocational…

There isn’t a “right answer” to these domains or a necessity to include them all. Instead, I chose those which apply to me and forget about the others. These domains will almost always overlap, so be prepared for your results to be a little messy, just like life.

Next, I consider my desired future state in the context of the same domains. For this exercise, I do not constrain myself to a time horizon (”in five years, I want to…”). Instead, I maintain an idealistic and objective view of where I want to be. At conclusion, I have another handful of typed paragraphs of where I want to be, by life domain.

Action: Define your current state and future state in narrative form. If it helps, apply life domains as an initial framework for this work. Transcribe these notes to a digital tool for future refinement.

Step #2: Identify Challenges.

The next step in the Army Design Methodology is framing the problems or obstacles impeding progress toward the desired future state.

The same applies in your framework where you identify the challenges or obstacles in your life. Some are straightforward, like lack of financial resources, while others are more nuanced, like personal mindset and hesitancy to act. This is a tough process where you’ll address and wrestle with some big issues. Remember to focus on things you can affect rather than influences out of your control. Additionally, don’t limit yourself by establishing small challenges. Thinking big when it comes to identifying problems enables you to envision more powerful goals later.

Action: Capture a statement describing each challenge or issue you defined.

Step #3: Build your Life Framework.

In the Army Design Methodology, planners conceptualize the operational approach, describing the broad actions required to move from the current state to the desired end state. During this period, planners brainstorm solutions to the largest problems imaginable. As planners refine the operational approach, they often group these actions into lines of effort. This requires logically linking multiple tasks by purpose.

In the context of life design, this is the time to envision big, bold action, not the time to weigh whether solutions are feasible. Brainstorming freely is the key to success in this step. You can set aside overly aspirational ideas later. Great examples of action statements include:

• Move to Hawaii

• Get a new job

• Earn a blackbelt in Ju-Jitsu

• Read more

• Spend more quality time with my wife.

As you accumulate actions, begin to combine them, initially using the previously described life domains. Eventually, group these domains into broader categories which will become your lines of effort. Though there’s no correct number, 3-5 is usually the sweet spot. My lines of effort are Family, Professional, Physical, and Community.

Action: Build your Life Framework by identifying and grouping actions into Lines of Effort. Capture this framework on paper or a whiteboard initially, then transition to a digital tool so you can reference it in the future.

Step #4 Develop a Plan.

In the Army Design Methodology, planners transition from conceptual to detailed planning given a common framework and understanding. Theoretically, they now have enough understanding of the environment to act, then adjust as they continue to observe the situation.

The same goes for your life design! Now that you have a clearer understanding of where you are and where you want to go, identify relevant actions and move out! Refer to your operational approach and select relevant first/next steps for each line of effort. Since you have 3-5 lines of effort, you’ll end up with 3-5 relevant actions. Use these actions as the basis for short-term goals. Leave the rest for refinement and realization in the future.

Action: Identify 3-5 actions for future goal development.

I have used this methodology to build and maintain my life framework with successful results. It allows me to reflect, project, and visualize actions to achieve personal success. I use my life framework to derive tangible short-term goals and subsequent projects. Then, I align the allocation of time and day-to-day activities to the priorities I’ve established. Are you drifting? Take a week to employ this methodology and build your life’s framework.

Interested in help? Contact me at josh@powerslead.com to discuss a tool I’ve developed to maintain focus on what matters.