Last week, I did a teleseminar for a group of 150 financial advisors. We talked about the importance of creating a written life plan.

Even though these professionals routinely create financial plans for their clients, most had never considered creating a life plan for themselves. It was a new idea. They wanted to know why I thought this was important.

You have a choice in life. You can either live on-purpose, according to a plan you’ve set. Or you can live by accident, reacting to the demands of others. The first approach is proactive; the second reactive.

Sure, you can’t plan for everything. Things happen that you can’t anticipate. But it is a whole lot easier to accomplish what matters most when you are proactive and begin with the end in mind.

In his bestselling book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen Covey talks about the space that exists between the stimulus and the response. In that space is the power to choose.

Many years ago, I had a boss that drove me crazy. He insisted on micro-managing me. He wanted to know every move I made. I had to furnish daily status reports with every call, every conversation, every project, etc. It really got to me. I tried to be patient, but I eventually quit. I just couldn’t succeed in that environment.

In this situation, I don’t think I gave him any reason to distrust me. This was just his management style. Everyone complained about it. He was simply a bad boss. Unfortunately, some are like that.