We are coming to the end of our 20 articles on Your Best Life. The interesting thing is that not only have we and our whole life changed incrementally from when we started but also our (subconscious) sense of our Best Life has also changed. So why not plan another cycle towards Your Best Life?

We have now come full circle – to the R of CAR – Results. These Results are a new set of Current Circumstances. The difference is that this time around we have already defined our Desired results (in the middle part of A for Action).

What are some other Ideas that can help with your Time Management? Stephen Covey introduced the four quadrants of Time Management, the perspective of the week and rocks in a jar. After Stephen Covey came David Allen as the next Time Management guru and his GTD (Getting Things Done) principles.

Given that you have thought about and selected some elements, if not a holistic view, of Your Best Life, it is now time to look at making that life happen. Having begun with the end in mind (Covey’s Habit 2) it is now time to Put First Things First (Covey’s Habit 3).

At any point of time you have the creative capacity to imagine Your Best Life. But where do you get the ideas of a “normal life”, a “worst life” and a “best life”? Do those ideas come from your own experience? From the experience of your parents, teachers or religious leaders? From the media, advertising, movies or books?

The A (Action) step of the CAR Framework consists of three parts. We could label these parts Ready, Set, Go or Stephen R. Covey’s Habits 1, 2 and 3. Either way part two is about knowing where you are going. This is where we are.

It is time to get very specific about what Results you want. Even though we are in the middle of the Action step it is important as part of that Action to look ahead and consider the Results we want. Let us examine the three questions we originally set that relate to our desired Results.

The first of the three Action steps is what I have called Preparation to Act, and Stephen R. Covey would call Be Proactive – or Habit 1. It is now time to move onto Habit 2, the second Action step, which is Begin with the End in Mind. Let’s know what our target is.

Another way to Prepare for Action, is to ask ourselves, “What role will I play?” Will I be a spectator? Will I be a participant – a player? Will I be a supporter or a coach? Will I do the first thing that comes into mind? or will I think carefully and make the best decision – take the best action I can?

Now that we have a handle on – a perception of, an understanding of – Your Current Circumstances let us examine the first of our next set of questions i.e. “How do you feel about that?” Let’s get ourselves ready for Action.