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My plan for 2023: Intention, fulfilment and the best year ever


By Sam Instone - February 02, 2023

One of my favourite distinctions is the difference between a reactive life and a creative, intentional, and planned life.

Typically, many people today are living their lives reactively.

They wait until something happens before they act.

This is where having a creative approach makes a huge difference.

To be able to explore the incredible possibility that it is to be human...

And envisage future possibilities and potential.

Who is your future-self?

That question may seem trite.

But it’s literally the answer to all of your life’s questions.

It’s the answer to what you’re going to do today.

It’s the answer to how motivated you are, and how you feel about yourself.

It’s the answer to whether you’ll distract yourself on social media for hours, whether you’ll eat junk food, and what time you get up in the morning.

Your imagined future-self is the driver of your current reality.

It's up to you to develop the ability to imagine better and more expansive visions of your future-self.

Your current view of your future-self is very limited.

If you seek learning, growth, and new experiences, you’ll be able to imagine a different and better future-self than you currently can.

It’s not only useful to see your future-self as a different person from who you are today, but it's also completely accurate.

Your future-self will not be the same person you are today.

They'll see the world differently.

They’ll have had experiences, challenges, and growth you currently don’t have.

They’ll have different goals and priorities.

They’ll have different habits.

They’ll also be in a different world—a world with different cultural values, different technologies, and different challenges. 

Having a creative approach

To be creative requires an entirely different approach and new behaviours, that help you escape the gravity of the daily grind.

If we're to tap into the extraordinary capacity that we have as humans to plan, reflect upon the limitations within our subconscious, our strengths, our values and items of importance - then I believe we can all upgrade our lives, perform at our best and feel our best!

It's about living ‘on purpose’, fulfilment and the alignment of your capital (be that energy/health, time, attention, or financial capital) with what's important to you.

Click below to watch my video about this.


In the Army, we often said "time spent in reconnaissance in seldom wasted".

This year, I took time out with executive coaching group 2BLimitless, to create what they call an ‘Accountability Document’.

This gave me time to reflect on and create my own future document for 2023 - also known as the deliberately planned scaffolding behind a great year and fulfilling life.

I used some of the world’s great mental models to help me.

First-principles thinking allowed me to step back, cut through limiting beliefs and build my year ahead (and beyond) from the ground up.

It helped me think for myself and unlock creativity.

Inversion helped me think what a miserable year would look like, so I could avoid it.

Having a document like this helps anyone move from linear progression, to exponential results.

You can read my finished document for 2023 here.

If this sounds like something you'd benefit from, contact former senior British Army officer and Ironman Champion, David Labouchere, to organise a chat.