Life Project - What it is, characteristics, objectives, examples and steps to achieve it

We explain what a life project is and what it will depend on to be able to achieve it. Also, steps and tips to achieve the goals.

What is a life project?

A life project is a long or medium-term personal plan that is intended to be followed over the years. It is designed in order to meet certain objectives or specific goals and is based on personal tastes, values or abilities. Many people set their life project based on a university degree, a job, a partner or starting a family.

A life project usually begins to be thought of when a certain maturity is reached, especially after the age of 20: when the person can define what they like, what they dislike, what motivates or challenges them.

The search for a life project is a process that occurs throughout life and can vary according to the objectives or needs of each person. It is essential that the project and the proposed objectives are based on what each individual truly is and what he wants to transmit to the world.

The search for a personal project implies effort and self-knowledge; It means setting goals that lead to action and doing everything in our power to achieve them.

Possibly on the way to the project there are variables that the person will not be able to control: setbacks, lack of money or time. However, if the individual concentrates on what he can work on, he may be closer to completing his project.

The idea that each person has about their future depends in part on education: the values acquired at school and at home can be the initial impulse or motivation necessary for self-improvement and the search for projects.

The idea of the future also depends on personality and the possibility of trusting in the capacities and potential of each one to believe themselves worthy and capable of fulfilling all the proposed objectives.

The life project implies achieving an objective for which certain steps must be followed to achieve it. For example: Stanley wants to be a great engineer, graduating with a good average so that he can later work in an important company. What he will do is study to graduate on time, work hard to get good grades and then gain experience to be able to enter the desired company later.

Some essential values that will help in achieving personal goals are respect for life, for others, for the environment, for oneself, solidarity, perseverance, honesty and trust.

Objectives of a life project

• Define clear objectives and goals to make sound decisions.
• It reveals and establishes what the person wants for their life.
• Seeks the development of self- knowledge and self-management .
• About tools to achieve personal goals.
• It allows you to discover personal tastes , values and abilities.
• It aligns the decisions of the individual with their true being.
• Allows you to visualize a future . How do I want to be? Where do I want to be? With whom?
• It focuses the energy of the individual on what he wants to achieve.

Steps to achieve a life project

1. Self-knowledge

What things do I like? What things do I dislike? What are my skills? These are some of the questions that every person can ask themselves when defining who they are and where they want to go.

Self-knowledge is one of the most important steps to define a personal life project; since to the extent that it is aligned to what the individual is, the path will become easier and the reward will be greater.

It is essential that the individual is convinced of the objectives and goals to be achieved and thus finds within himself the energy to achieve them. This may seem like a difficult and long road, but it will be rewarding and help to realize the next steps .

2. Review projects

It is important that the person review the objectives that he once set himself to see if they respond to his interests and concerns today . Is this my project from today or from when I was a kid? Is it my project or is it my parents'?

Over the years, it can be noticed that the people with whom you have traveled a long way (at school, at the university) begin to go through their own projects and discover their life plan. Parents have a life plan, siblings have another life plan, high school friends, others.

Differences should not afflict, but rather motivate to meet one's own. Having a life project that each one assembles to measure allows one to achieve a more serene and happy life aligned with what each one is, regardless of whether or not all the proposed objectives can be met.

3. Set your own objectives and goals

In this step, it is necessary for the person to analyze their life today (seeing what they want to change, what they want to leave as it is) and their true needs. Thus, he sets goals and thinks of goals that will lead to them. It is important to visualize how everything you want is going to be achieved and not stop believing in the power of imagination: it has been proven that visualizing situations and ideas helps to be more positive and persevering.

4. Take action

The action implies that the individual puts everything of himself to achieve the objectives. This also means developing a tolerance for frustration when plans don't go as expected. Varying the small objectives or goals that make up the life project is part of this task. There is a series of values that are fundamental when facing the execution of objectives:

• Optimism: If this characteristic is achieved, life will be easier. Optimism allows you to always see the good side of everything that happens. Being an optimistic person is a matter of daily exercise.
• Self-confidence: Self-confidence can be affected by situations that have gone through but, like optimism, it is necessary to exercise it. The person must begin to feel confident in what they are, accept themselves and from there they will begin to feel different and capable of achieving everything they set out to do.
• Patience: The life project is a process that will not be achieved overnight, since it is necessary to go through life to achieve each objective. To achieve each proposed thing, it is a matter of being patient: this journey is not for the anxious.

When the goals are achieved, new doors and new objectives will be opened. Continuing with Stanley's example: when he gets the job in that desired company, his next objective will be to move up within it and obtain a management position. Perhaps, once he achieves that goal, he can change companies and aspire to another high position.

Examples of life project

• Professional life project.
• University life project.
• Life project with a partner.
• Life project at the family level.
• Life project in the academic field.
• Life project in the musical field.
• Life project in art.
• Work life project.