LIFE PROJECT: PARTS, WHAT IT IS FOR AND EXAMPLE - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

A life project or life plan is a set of goals, ideas, strategies and desires related to what a person wants to do at different times of their existence. It is one of the main tools to define your own goals and achieve the maximum chances of achieving them, so it is of great importance for any individual.

The life project defines, among other things, what the person wants to achieve in different areas of his life and what steps he will take to achieve these goals. Therefore, it fulfills a role as an instrument of direction, in addition to serving to motivate the individual towards achieving their goals and orienting their actions towards it.

Within a life project all kinds of elements are included, related to the different areas important to the person. Thus, in a life plan you can include goals and plans related to family, relationships, work, studies, health or spirituality, among other things.

There are many ways to create a life plan and many models to raise it. However, one of the most important is that of Robert Dilts, one of the main promoters of neurolinguistic programming and life planning projects. In this article we will see how to implement this method.

Parts of a life project and its characteristics

Robert Dilts is a researcher specialized in neurolinguistic programming (NLP) and creator of one of the most famous models for developing a life project. The main idea behind it is that changes, goals and objectives can be carried out in six different areas, each with specific characteristics.

These six levels are organized according to the ease or difficulty with which they can be modified. In order to develop a life plan correctly, it is necessary to take into account what levels can be worked on, and in which of them would be the necessary steps to achieve the goals that have been proposed.

Within Robert Dilts' life plan model, the six levels are: environment, behavior, abilities, beliefs, identity, and spirituality. Next we will see what each one of them consists of and how they can affect the life project.

1- Environment

The first level is that of the environment. It includes all the external conditions that surround the behaviors, including the place but also other elements such as the moment or the people involved in what we do.

The environment is the easiest factor to change when we want to achieve a goal for our life plan, since we only have to move from one place to another to modify it.

Even so, its effect on the other levels can be very large, so learning to choose the best environment or change one that does not empower us is a very useful skill to achieve what we want.

Examples of environments are where we live, where we study, or where we work.

2- Behavior

The second level that must be taken into account to carry out our life plan is that of our behaviors. It includes both the actions we carry out proactively and the reactions we have towards what happens in our environment. Some experts also include in it the behaviors that we have decided not to do but could have done.

This is the level of the scale over which we have the most control, in addition to being the first one that depends entirely on ourselves. For this reason, much of the changes in our life and the pursuit of our goals begin here.

Examples of behaviors are what we decide to study, what sports we play, what we do in our free time, or what kind of people we spend our time with.

3- Skills or competencies

This level is also known as the "how" level. It includes all the capacities that we already have, in addition to those that we want or have to develop in order to be able to pursue our life plan correctly.

A person who is operating from this level will think above all about what he has to learn to achieve the results he dreams of. However, acquiring new skills is much more complex than changing our behaviors, so modifications at this level are much more expensive.

Examples of skills are public speaking, speaking English, programming, writing, or learning laboratory techniques.

4- Beliefs

The belief level is also known as the "why" level. This includes our thoughts, our values, and the reasons behind our goals, actions, and behaviors.

Beliefs are much more difficult to access than behaviors or skills, but they tend to have a very pronounced effect on the results we obtain in different areas. Therefore, in order to carry out our life project it is essential that our beliefs are aligned with it.

5- Identity

Identity has to do with the set of beliefs that we harbor about ourselves. From this level the sense of "I" is derived; And depending on how this is, our life project will change to a great extent.

Changing our own identity is something that can only be done indirectly, working on our beliefs, behaviors and abilities. However, modifying it until it is aligned with what we want is essential to be able to pursue our life project correctly.

6- Spirituality

For Robert Dilts, spirituality was on a level above even one's own identity, as it could not be explained logically. At this level, the feeling of being part of something bigger than oneself would be included, although in this sense it is not necessary to be talking about religion.

Thus, elements such as family, one's community or belonging to a charitable cause could be considered part of the level of spirituality. A large part of our life project is derived from this, so it is important to know its content as much as possible.

What is the life project for?

To focus

Having defined a life project, a "mission", is something fundamental today. Due to all the options that exist, if we are not clear about what we want, it is very likely that we will end up stagnant or lost, getting carried away with the flow.

Know the motivations

Knowing what things are that move us and are important to us, knowing ourselves well and being able to change our skills, behaviors and environment to achieve our goals can help us end up enjoying the life we ​​want, no matter how complicated it may seem in some occasions.

Helps define strategies

Planning a life project not only includes the goals you want to reach, but also the strategies necessary to achieve them. Being clear about the steps to follow to reach a certain goal is the surest way to approach it.

It is a form of self-knowledge

The planning of a life project is at the same time a process of self-knowledge. When a person raises their plans for the future, they must start from a recognition of their personal context, their abilities and their values.

Develop responsibility

Learning to plan also involves developing responsibility. Building a plan helps you understand that the future is shaped by everyday decisions and actions.

Avoid risky behaviors

The existence of a life project tends to avoid risky behaviors such as the irresponsible consumption of alcohol, drugs or unprotected sexual relations.

This occurs because when people are clear about their plans for the future, they are less likely to engage in behaviors that could put their goals and aspirations at risk.

Facilitates decision making

For a person who does not have a clear life project, it is usual to get confused when making important decisions for his life.

Starting a university career, taking a job or going on a trip, are options that appear much clearer when you have defined the horizon towards which you want to advance.

How to do a life project step by step

There are many different ways of approaching the task of doing a life project, but one of the most effective is to follow the Robert Dilts model that we have already seen. However, to apply it to this task it is necessary to use the levels from the most abstract to the most concrete, in the way that we will see below.

Know spirituality, identity and values

The first thing you have to be clear about to design your life project is to know your spirituality, your identity and your values ​​in depth.

How would you like your children or your grandchildren to talk about you once you are gone? What are the really important things to you? If you knew that you couldn't fail, what would you try to do?

There are many techniques to determine what your ideal life would be like and what really moves you. Discovering this is the first step to be able to develop your life project, since from here is where all the other actions that you must carry out in the following levels will come from.

Know what skills you need

Once you know what you want, the next step is to think about what skills you need to develop to get there. For example, if you wanted to be a successful doctor, you would probably have to study in college to acquire all the skills you need to be able to pursue it.

Know what behaviors you need

From the skills level, conclusions can be drawn about what behaviors must be carried out regularly to achieve the proposed objectives. Continuing with the example of medicine, our student would surely have to spend time every day preparing for his exams and practicing what he learns in class.

Decide if you need to change the environment

Finally, in many cases modifying our environment so that it is more favorable to our life plan can greatly help us to achieve what we have set out to do.

Example of a student's life plan

Ana is a high school senior who wants to work for NASA. After thinking a lot, he has realized that he wants to contribute to the world and help humanity move forward, and for that he has proposed to get them caught in what for him is the best company in the world.

At first you realize that your biggest problem is that you don't believe your goal is possible. However, after working on his identity and beliefs, he ends up being convinced that if he works hard enough, he will be able to get selected to work at NASA.

The next step that Ana has to take is to consider what skills the people who enter this organization have. Among other things, you have to be able to master subjects such as calculus, programming, logic, physics, and technology. Since you don't know much about any of these topics yet, you decide to take action and pursue a career in aerospace engineering.

Once inside the career, he practices and studies every day (habits and behavior), and meets more and more with people who share his ambitions and dreams (environment). Little by little, she develops the skills she needs to fulfill her goal, and once she finishes her degree, she gets a job in her dream company.

References

1. "Dilts' Logical Levels" in: Skills You Need. Retrieved on: February 26, 2020 from Skills You Need: skillsyouneed.com.
2. "Using the Pyramid of Neurological Levels in the Human Resources Motivation Management" in: Research Gate. Retrieved on: February 26, 2020 from Research Gate: researchgate.net.
3. "A brief history of logical levels" in: NLPU. Retrieved on: February 26, 2020 from NLPU: nlpu.com.
4. "Life project: definition, importance and steps to create one" in: TintoHub. Retrieved on: February 26, 2020 from TintoHub: tintohub.com.
5. "My life plan: 7 tips on creating goals and finding purpose in life" in: Project Life Mastery. Retrieved on: February 26, 2020 from Project Life Mastery: projectlifemastery.com.