How to Map Your Own Path

If you haven’t yet downloaded the Women’s Money Fund Your Freedom Toolkit, now is your chance. The toolkit provides a complete plan to help you achieve the freedom you want.

One of my favorite pages in the toolkit is the Map Your Future worksheet. This worksheet is designed to be a printable page that you can post on your wall and help you reach your goal.

To help you get started, I’ve asked Sam to share her page. What does freedom look like to Sam? It’s taking a year-long sabbatical

Here is her Roadmap to Taking a Year Off:

Map Your Path

Now I’ll help you create yours. 

General Guidance

The way to read the road map is that the top row is who you are now, the bottom row is who you will be when you reach your freedom. The top row is about what you must do to get to your definition of success.

Again, you have to know what your ultimate goal is. Is it early retirement? Is it a dream job? Is it traveling the world? Or perhaps it’s working part-time?

Start with your end goal in mind and start creating your map.

Step-By-Step Instructions

Here’s how you can use the roadmap to help you map your own path.

1. Sign up for the newsletter and download the toolkit.

Once you’ve signed up for the Women’s Money newsletter, you’ll be redirected to download the toolkit. The Map is on page 7 of the toolkit. 

2. Start with the end.

I recommend starting with the end of the roadmap. The last question is: what do you want to do with your freedom?

For Sam, she wants to have more time to be creative.

3. Who Will I Be?

This is about who you will be once you’ve reached your goal. Remember, the second row is about the future you.

4. Success Indicators.

The success indicators help you determine how you will know when you’ve achieved your defined goal.

For Sam, she will have saved $100,000, but she also wants to develop a significant side income while enjoying a healthy lifestyle. 

5. Now move to the First Row. What are the weekly habits you must form to reach this goal?

You can create daily or weekly habits on your map. But think about what you need to do to start becoming the person you want to be. 

6. What must you do to achieve change?

These are the smaller things you need to do to reach your weekly habits.

7. Core Values.

Perhaps the most important box is thinking about how you need to show up every single day. Why is this most important? Because even if you don’t reach your goal, your values are who you are.

This is the legacy you will leave behind. So think about who you want to be someday and who you want to be today.

The truth is who you will be someday depends an awful lot on who you are today.

The Bottom Line

Be as specific or inspirational as you’d like with your roadmap. Print it and post it where you can see it and ask yourself daily if you are on your way to success.

Have you ever created a roadmap before? What has been your experience? Do you think it helps to map your own path?