Like me, do you sometimes notice life’s on autopilot and wonder, who switched that setting on? Julian Shapiro’s one-page life plan is my favorite way to grab the controls again. Take a sheet of paper and draw three columns. First column: jot the big things that would make future-you proud (finish the novel, stay strong enough to hike with grandkids, keep Sunday dinners alive). Second column: name the projects that push each dream forward. Third column: list the small daily habits that fuel those projects.

Step back.

Now every scribble on today’s to-do list has a direct line to something that actually matters. Check the page every few months: if a habit no longer serves a goal, ditch it; if a goal has no project, either invent one or admit it’s wishful thinking.

It’s a living chat with your future self and it keeps the autopilot off.