Would you agree that the process of creating your own life is not a passive exercise? The word “create” implies taking action.

There's a basic principle in physics that what you don't organize, nature will disorganize. It’s the Second Law of Thermodynamics and is referred to as “entropy” - the tendency to go to from order to disorder. You can see it play out in your day-to-day life. If you don't look after your house, it will deteriorate. If you don’t maintain your car, it will deteriorate. Anything made of matter and energy will undergo entropy because without order, the universe naturally slides towards disorder.

The reverse is also true – with effort and by expending energy, you can create “negative entropy” and go from disorder to order and from chaos to structure. In other words, entropy will occur on its own; negative entropy requires effort and energy. .If you prefer to watch the video, click below. ↓

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Now, how does this apply to create the life you want?

• If you don't fill your DAY with high priority actions that inspire you and that are in the direction of what you dream about, entropy and disorder will occur. I am certain that you are the only one responsible for organizing your day. If you wait for somebody else to do it, you’ll tend to live in the shadows of others.
• If you don't fill your SPACE with high priority items and bring about order and organization, chaos will ensue.
• If you don't fill your TIME with high priority actions that inspire you, your time will fill up with low priority distractions that don't. You will have seen this play out when you have no agenda for the day and unexpected things have showed up and wiped out your day completely. You are then left wondering where the time has gone and why you haven’t achieved anything you perceive to be of value.
• If you don't put your ENERGY into things that inspire you, you might end up draining your energy on things that don't.
• If you don't put your MONEY into assets that accumulate, I guarantee that you're going to have unexpected bills that will depreciate your potential wealth building.

So, any area of your life that you don't empower, you're going to be overpowered?

Exactly. If you don't empower yourself INTELLECTUALLY, you'll be told what to think. If you don't empower yourself in BUSINESS, you'll be told what to do. If you don't empower yourself FINANCIALLY, you'll be told what you're worth. If you don't empower yourself SOCIALLY, you'll be told what propaganda to believe.  If you don't empower yourself PHYSICALLY, you'll be told what drugs to take. If you don’t empower yourself SPIRITUALLY, you might fall for some antiquated model or dogma. You are the one responsible for empowering all seven areas of your life in order to master your life.

People around you have their own values and are going to impose them on you. There might be opportunities to try to fulfill what they want and they might try to sacrifice your priorities to get it. So you cannot expect somebody on the outside to be dedicated to your fulfillment. If you don't do it, they're not going to do it for you. So you are wise to say “no” to things that are lower in your list of priorities and “yes” to the things that are really important in your life.

I guarantee that if you structure and plan your day, it will be easier to say “no” to people because you have a full agenda. If you don’t have anything scheduled, it's easy to get inundated with the unexpected and become less efficient. It’s also when you tend to let distractions take over – the Internet, social media or lower priority items. This is such an important principle that you would be wise to take note of.

Would you then agree that creating the life you want involves detailed planning instead of sitting back and waiting to see how your life plays out?

There's an executive function in your forebrain that's involved in mitigating risk; planning strategically; thinking about what could go wrong in advance and planning for it; and making sure that no matter what happens, you win. If an individual fails to plan, they are more likely to fall into entropy. People who plan tend to go farther than people who don’t; and people who plan and delegate tend to go farther than people who don't plan and who just do the work.

So, if you're not taking the time to plan and structure your day, while also delegating lower priority tasks, you’re likely to have less of a fulfilling life, less productivity and less overall achievement.

When I was 17 years old, I met Paul Bragg. He's the one that inspired me to write out what I wanted to do with myself, my family, my community, my city, my state, my nation, my world, and beyond. No one had ever told me to do that. It was the first time I had ever stopped and written down what I would like to do in all those areas. And then he said that whatever we think about, visualize, and take actions toward is what happens. And if you don't write it out, you'll probably let the people on the outside take command of you and let the world on the outside dictate your destiny.

When the voice and vision on the inside is louder than all opinions on the outside, you begin to master your life.

Why do you think so many people fail to plan? Or make plans but never stick to them or see them through?

The main reason why many people are afraid to plan or don't stick to their plans is because they've injected the values of others into their life. They may not be setting real goals in real-time or living by their highest values.  In many instances, they may be attempting to live by other people's values. As a result, they often end up self-defeating and beating themselves up. It then becomes more challenging to set a goal because it's painful each time it doesn’t come true.

A real goal that is congruent with your real highest values, is strategically planned, is pursued with metrics and consistent application of energy towards it, and you build momentum to achieve it. If every single day, you work towards the thing that you actually would love in life, you're more likely to get it. As long as it's something that is really high on your list of values.

Where do you recommend people begin creating the life they want? What’s a good starting point to building a solid foundation?

1.  Make sure you have a list of your highest values. Go online and do the FREE Value Determination Process - do it again and again and again until you're certain that they really are YOUR values.
2. Write down a mission statement of what you want to dedicate your life to.
3. Take the time to write down your goals in each of the seven areas of life - true objectives, not fantasies. And keep refining them. And then start plotting your progress and keeping metrics.
4. Start a gratitude journal documenting your daily achievements and opportunities – gratitude can change your life.

There are also seven questions you would be wise to ask yourself, which I explain in The Breakthrough Experience:

• What is it you would actually love to do?
• How would you get handsomely paid to do it?
• What are the highest priority actions you can do today to take you one step closer to fulfilling it?
• What are the obstacles you may run into and how can you solve them in advance?
• What worked and what didn't work today?
• How can you do it more effectively and efficiently tomorrow?
• How did whatever you experienced help you get there?

If you ask those questions and write down your answers, you will begin to start mapping out the master plan for your life. Every year, I do the Master Planning For Life program, which has been one of the most significant exercises I've ever done. It's helped me develop my mind. It's helped me develop my international business. It's helped me get my financial independence. It's helped me have a global relationship dynamic. It's helped me have a social leadership role. It’s helped me have vitality. And it's helped me be inspired and create a spiritual movement in the world.

So, I'm certain that it paid off and it still pays off.

Nobody's going to get up in the morning and dedicate your life to you, except you. So, it's up to you.