I have read, and am reading, for the third time, “Your Next Chapter: Rewriting Your Life Success Story” By Evelyn D. Watkins. This book is for every person who has hit a dead end, brick wall, or lost love. It will provide you with practical methods to rescue yourself, begin writing your new story, and celebrate your subsequent success. The goal is to have this book be an interactive support tool which by book’s end will have produced a working plan for your new success story.

I am going to develop a program called “My Next Chapter: Rewriting My Life Success Story”, and facilitate it with the use of this book. As I write a curriculum for the class, I would like to share my personal thoughts and ideas with you; My Next Chapter, I guess we could say. So from now on, my blog post will be related to my personal development and achievements. I will make at least one post per week (permitted that I have stamps on Jpay). So let’s get started!

Chapter one: “What You Will Get From This Book”

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” –Alan Kay

“Never mistake motion for action.” –Ernest Hemingway

This chapter explains that we often times have a plan for our life as we move through life; however, life happens. We experience disappointments and loses. So this book will help us “uncover your rescue plan — your stimulus plan the government cannot provide. It requires your passion, your plan, your progress, and your pursuit. In the end, your new chapter may read better than the empty story you had planned before.”

Several times I have had ideas of what I wanted my life to look like, but never a solid plan. There is a huge difference between having ideas and having a plan. An idea is just something that you think up, and it isn’t very concrete. A plan is concrete; it has steps to follow from point A to point B. Looking back, I realize that I have failed to ever make a plan for my life. I come up with spur of the moment ideas for my life, and sometimes they work for the better; more often times, they fail because I do not see it all the way through. So moving forward, I will develop plans for every major aspect of my life; with mile marker goals to accomplish along the way. Starting today. Of course my plans will have buffer room for changes I may need to make along the way, but I will have solid plans for every major part of my life. The five major parts of my life that I will focus most on is relationships, financial savings/spending, education, spirituality, and my physical well-being.

One area of my life that I have failed up over and over is in personal relationships; family, friends, and significant others. I believe that by focusing on restoring some of those broken relationships, other areas of my life will come together. Some of those broken relationships are unable to be restored; so I will also focus on creating new and healthy relationships.

Financial instability has been a huge stressor in my life, and has caused issues in other areas of my life. I will develop a savings and spendings plan so that I will create a safety net for myself.

Education is important, even at 36 years old. I have earned my GED (19 years ago), and I obtained some college credits (ten years ago); I have some technical training with Graphic Occupations; I have on the job training in several types of carpentry; and I have training with hand trucks, walk behind hand trucks, and forklifts. I know that I could easily secure employment with the knowledge and training I currently have; but I want more.

I struggle spiritually. I believe in Jesus Christ, I just don’t get off into all of the practices that different denominations do that seperates them from one another. So I guess I can say I am Spiritual but not religious. I have been slacking in my prayer life and my studying. So I have to get back on track.

The last major part of my life that I need to develop a plan for is my physical well-being. All of my necessities are met, for the most part. Of course I have to purchase all of my hygiene through commissary, but my state pay covers that. I could use some extra food on top of what they serve us, but I hustle that up by folding laundry and drawing. So at this point in time, the main thing I need to focus on in this area of my life is getting and staying on a workout routine, eating properly and getting enough sleep.

I will develop a plan that encompasses every one of these parts of my personal life. As I go through ” Your Next Chapter”, you will see how my plans all come together. I hope that by me sharing this with you, that you will be inspired to put a life plan together yourself, or revisit yours if you may have one already. One thing to remember is that changes happen. Do not let some road block deter you from reach your goals. You may have to reevaluate how you will reach those goals, but keep on striving.

In my next post I will talk about “Owning your choices” (chapter two of “Your Next Chapter”).

Roger S. Black Jr #729370
Po Box 740
London Ohio 43140

(email available through Jpay.com)