Studies at Yale University showed that less than 5% of educated Americans practice personal strategic planning on a daily basis, yet they are the most successful in their personal, professional, and business life.

Each year around New Years Day, people throughout the world take a close look at their lives. Many of them will make a few "resolutions", about things that they will do or not do in the coming year. Most fail to accomplish even the simplest of these resolutions.

Why?

Bernhoff A. Dahl, M.D. is a physician, author, consultant, veteran mountaineer, and expert on personal and organizational strategic planning. Based on his 30-plus years of successful "in the trenches" of group medical practice, a wide range of business ventures, as well as consulting, he knows why we fail at New Year's resolutions and at general planning for our lives..

"The people that do take the time to think of some targets for their lives, that is some goals, tend to choose really big ones, which they can barely define. During three, decades I studied over 500 people in their personal lives, and as an investor or consultant in over 150 venues. The successful ones learned to reduce each goal to specific projects, and then, each project into smaller manageable tasks. Some of these tasks could be completed in just a matter of days or weeks. Since human nature responds well to the phenomenon of 'success breeds success' even a modicum of success tended to lure the person or organization into a successful life with continuous strategic planning."

Another reason for failure in completing our resolutions or planning is that most of us fail to write down our specific goals, projects, and tasks. The process of writing causes one to reduce ones thoughts to words on paper. Of even greater value is that this process of writing produces a document which can be revisted, reviewed, and updated on a regular basis, hopefully on a daily basis.

While it is very productive to have written goals, projects, and tasks, and to review them regularly, any successful strategic planning process must be based on a personal inventory, that is, by asking and answering the most basic question in human endeavor: "Who am I?."

In 2003 Dr. Dahl completed the first edition of Optimize Your Life! The One-page Strategic Planner, which was based on the power of such questions. As one answers this most powerful question, new questions will arise for one to ponder, puzzle out, and write down. However, since the dawn of time, humans have pondered the most powerful question "Who am I?" This question is addressed in the literature of the East, such as Lao Tzu's book Tao Te Ching, to that of the West, such as Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics.

We can visit current popular literature, with a book appropriately entitled "Who Am I?", edited by Robert Frager, Ph.D. The book details the classification of humans into eight general systems and twenty-eight specific type categories. They range from the mystical to the tangible, from astrological types to body typologies, as well as personality types, ranging from those in Eastern traditions to psychological typologies. These include concepts from Freud, Erikson, Horney, Jung, and others.

The successful use of Optimize Your Life! draws from the wisdom of the ages, including the history of humanity, philosophy, religion, and psychology. In our efforts, we will follow the lead of the ancient Greeks, who advised us to view ourselves from three vantage points: body, mind, and soul. Addressing your body type and its current status is relatively easy, for your body is exceedingly tangible and readily identified, examined, and defined. However, dealing with your mind-your intellect-is more difficult. Your mind is more mystical. In the world of education and academics, there are a host of tests to measure intellect. The challenge of defining your soul, spirit, or psyche is even greater, for that world is one of pure mystery. The concepts and teachings at this level of our being, over the past three millennia, have been presented and preserved in many great books and morphed into personality and psychological testing instruments.

In his book, Optimize Your Life! Dr. Dahl has provided some 40 worksheets wherein the reader/writer can address questions and enter answers in an organized fashion. The first worksheet encourages a mind-expanding, brainstorming process to write free text writing to address "Who am I?" During this process one may enter anything that comes to mind that, in any way, may define you, such as favorite foods, movies, music or even your dislikes. You may include good friends or evil enemies. You may include joys as well as sorrows. Just go for it!

The next worksheet in the book is labeled "Highlights of Your Life" wherein you address some of the important events of your life. On the worksheet, you are given some prompted subjects to cover; but you may wish to ignore some or add others on your first pass through the book. This worksheet will deal with your education, skills development, and achievements.

Next comes the worksheet "Influential People" for precious few of us live in a vacuum, for as John Donne wrote, "No man is an island." Herein you will go beyond just you by focusing on key individuals in your life, your current or past roles and relationships with them. This process can be quite intimidating. If you are uncomfortable or unsure about this process of prioritizing, do the best you can. You may choose to return to it later.

The last worksheet "Who am I? Eight Key Questions," deals with a range of subjects designed to gain additional important insights about you, such as "what motivates you, what angers you, what do you like about yourself, what do you not like about yourself…"

This worksheet process does take some time, but the rewards are great for you are creating a firm foundation on which you can address the next questions in life such as "What am I doing now?" and "What do I value? You are a unique product of the cosmos. No one else in the universe, past or present, has your exact genetic makeup unless you are an identical twin. Even if you are an identical twin, you will still be special in matters of the mind and soul. You have been given the greatest gift of all: the gift of life.

Perhaps the most important question that underscores in this book is:

"What will you do with the gift of your life?"

One can take advantage of the spirit and energy of New Year's resolutions by starting the process of lifelong strategic planning. Although there are some"aha moments" of rapid advances and successes it is usually a slow and methodical process.

Diogenes walked the streets of ancient Athens, carrying a lantern as he searched for an honest man. Dr. Dahl's book, Optimize Your Life is, metaphorically, Diogenes' lantern, providing light for you to better look honestly into your being. With this light you can better take charge of your life, lest someone else does.

Enjoy the adventure.

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Optimize Your Life! is a self-development system that features a process for defining, accepting, and improving YOU. This system may work for you regardless of your age, sex, race, social status, education, talents, resources, beauty, ability to learn, old habits, health, etc.