A few weeks ago, I spoke at the Building Champions Experience. I spoke on the topic of “Making a Greater Difference Outside the Office.” I specifically focused on how the discipline of life planning had made that possible for me.

Note: I originally learned about life planning in 2001 from Daniel Harkavy. He is the CEO and founder of Building Champions and the author of Becoming a Coaching Leader: The Proven Strategy for Building Your Own Team of Champions.

Last week, Gail and I attended the Building Champions Experience in Sunriver, Oregon. One component of the conference was focused on creating a life plan. I first did this about eight years ago, but it was Gail’s first time through. We began by visualizing our own funeral.

I realize that this may sound morbid, but it is incredibly helpful. In the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen Covey exhorts us to “begin with the end in mind.” Starting with your own funeral is the ultimate form of this.

My pastor recently took a three-month sabbatical. I imagined him sleeping in until ten every morning, followed by extensive periods of crossword puzzles and personal grooming. But he assured me that his time off was really more professional in nature: he studied up on the Emergent Church and did a biblical tour of Turkey.

Am I jealous? No, of course not. Resentful is probably a better word. Not that I dislike my job, but the idea of taking three months off to focus on just-for-me time, well, that’s hard to stop fantasizing about. In fact, I already have it planned: the German lessons; the family rafting trip; the Executive Strategy conference; the monastery retreat; the writing seminar; the culinary tour of Spain—I would keep very, very busy working just on me.

The week between Christmas and New Years is one of the most unproductive times of the year. While retailers are as busy as ever, many businesses just shut down. Even businesses that stay open run on a skeleton crew. Many employees take the week off, benefiting from the additional holidays for an extended vacation.

However, as a leader, this can be an incredibly productive time—a quieter time—when you reflect on the past and look forward to the year ahead. Today, I want to focus on reflecting on this past year. It is important that we complete that before we move on to the future.

Andy Stanley is one of my favorite authors. I listen to his leadership podcast religiously. We also had the privilege of publishing his new book, The Principle of the Path: How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be [affiliate link]. In a few minutes, I’ll tell you how to get a copy FREE, along with a few other cool gifts.

Most people believe that somehow, if they can just find the right system, they can get everything done. I think this is a myth bordering on an outright lie. You can’t do it all. Time is a limited resource. This is just something you have to understand and accept.

By all accounts, Steve McNair, the Titans famed quarterback, was a gifted leader. He led the Titans to the playoffs four times and eventually to Super Bowl XXXIV. He was loved by teammates, fans, and the media. In Nashville, he was a local hero.

But off the field, his life gradually unraveled. He was arrested for DUI and illegal gun possession in 2003. Four years later, in 2007, he was again arrested for DUI, along with his brother-in-law. He was traded to the Baltimore Ravens in 2005 and then retired in April 2008 at the age of 35.

Inside of every tragedy, there’s always a little comedy. Last week, in the wake of the sad news about Michael Jackson’s untimely death, his former attorney, Brian Oxman, appeared on Fox & Friends. He made some startling claims about Michael’s prescription drug use.

Then he said, “I warned everyone that I could. I said to family members that one day, that Michael Jackson was going to wake up dead.”