It is very difficult to get anywhere if you don’t know where you are going.

Every now and then an honest assessment of where you are, where you are heading and whether you are on the right path to get where you ultimately want to be is time well spent.

A brilliant and inspiring task to achieve this is to write your professional obituary.

Then write it again.

The first version will be an honest summation of your career and life to date.

The second, a forward-looking overview of how you would like your life to be described if your ambitions, goals and dreams could all be realised by the time of your retirement whether in 10, 20 or 30 years.

Once past the obvious uneasiness of writing an ‘obituary’ this should be a fun, inspiring and useful hour invested whether from a sun-lounger or an office eerily quiet during the Summer slowdown.

Think about your successes and failures, criticisms and plaudits.

What anecdotes might be included?

Most obituaries begin with a story that defines the subject’s career, life or purpose they pursued. What story would define you now and what would you want it to be in the future?

Don’t worry about the length, just concentrate on the key points and then get as creative as you like.

Clients who have completed this task have then been able to plan their next steps in their career; review their current activities; examine what provides their greatest enjoyment; plan their time better; develop new priorities.

So, give it a go. Write your obituary. And make sure you are heading in the right direction…before it is too late.